NEW LEAD BASED PAINT RULE

Many real estate investors have not heard of the new

EPA rule that will take effect on April 22, 2010. It will

affect any housing you own built prior to 1978 when doing

any repair and maintenance activities that disturb 6 sq. ft.

or more of paint per room inside, or 20 sq. ft. or more on

the exterior of a home or building.


Any work that disturbs more than these minimal areas will

be required to be done by a certified lead paint

contractor. And that will translate into much higher

costs. This can even affect electrical or plumbing work

done on the property. Think you can do it yourself or use

your own employees? Think again. The EPA considers rental

income as compensation for purposes of this rule and

therefore you will need to be certified!


So, how do we deal with this? The easy, but expensive,

answer is to hire only certified contractors for any work

on your pre-1978 buildings. In some cases, this may be

your only option. But there may be an alternative or two.

First, it appears simple painting where there is no

preparation work such as sanding, scraping or other

disturbance of the existing surfaces is not covered.

This may be fine for the interior, but often the exterior

needs prep.


A homeowner may also opt out by signing a waiver if there

are no children under age six frequently visiting the

property, no one in the home is pregnant, or the property

is not a child-occupied facility. It is not yet clear if

the owner of a rental property can use this same exemption.


Another exemption is if the house or components test lead

free by a Certified Risk Assessor, Lead Inspector, or

Certified Renovator.


More to come on this subject in the near future.