Certification Required: How New Lead Paint Laws Impact Installers

This is a new tax on homeowners plain and simple.  ‘
The contractors in Minnesota I have been talking to say this could cost in excess of $600-$800 per window or door opening.
With all the extra work they will have to do and the materials they will have to purchase.
It may take 3x as long to complete the installation than prior to this “rule”.

I don’t know why the government has to implement such draconian mandates when these rules do nothing to remove lead from the home!!!
Any lead that was there will still be there after the contractor drives away.

The EPA has a good reference called “Using Barriers to Contain Dust and other Pollutants” Here is the link from their site. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/homes/hip-barriers.html. Barriers should be used to contain the spread of dust and other pollutants from the work area to other parts of the home. A simple barrier consists of 6 mil poly sheeting taped over doors and other openings in the room. Poly sheeting should also be taped over any supply and return registers for the home’s heating, cooling, or ventilation system that are in the room to avoid spreading the pollutants or contaminating the ducts. Having blocked off registers, you should be sure to provide ventilation for the area. An exhaust fan, with provision for make-up air, complements this strategy well. For more information, see the discussion of ventilation containment strategies that create a pressure barrier to prevent the spread of pollutants. ZipWall’s new ZipPole system is a great system for only $169, half the price of the original ZipWall Barrier System. Click here to learn more: http://www.zipwall.com/lp/zippole.html

Jason is right about the financial impact and the “taxation” elements of the program.  As an EPA Certified Renovator I can tell you with authority that there are all kinds of real problems with the policy and its enforcement.  And no, the program requirements don’t remove lead from the home, but as long as the lead is not disturbed it isn’t likely to be inhaled or ingested which is when the problems start, and that is what the rule is intended to control.  Consider this: if you don’t employ lead safe work practices, you also expose yourself and your client.  But if you don’t scrub yourself and your equipment down before you go home, you expose your own family to the toxin. So what? Well you should know that no amount of lead is safe, and exposure is measured in Micrograms.

The links and information Mr. Williams shared, and the Zipwall system are terrific, but be aware that lead dust control and cleanup is much more specifc than just dust control, and the Zipwall system alone isn’t near enough.

Once again CE Pro has no clue what they are talking about. This has absoulutley nothing to do with us and our industry. Go on the epa website and learn to read before you publish such nonsence.

Actually it most certainly does apply.  To oversimplify it: The proposed work surfaces to be disturbed in pre 1978 housing (or any pre 1978 housing or structure occupied or visited by children under 6), MUST be tested by a Certified Renovator or a “real” testing lab; ANYONE who receives compensation for an activity which disturbs more than the minimum prescribed area with a coating that tests positive for lead, MUST be a Certified Renovator, or MUST be trained by one, MUST have the setup, clean up, and breakdown of the containment area supervised and tested by a Certified Renovator; and MUST be a Certified Firm or employee of one.  The regulation does not make a distinction between general contractors,sub contractors, carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, or any other variety of trade.  Unless you are a direct employee of a certified firm, if you receive compensation from the work,and it affects a lead tainted surface, you or your firm have to be a Certified Firm and follow the protocols.  That may sound redundant (and is ridiculous) but the interpretation comes directly from an EPA source.  By the way the minimum disturbance aeas DO NOT apply to windows - the protocols ALWAYS apply to a window, regardless of size. 

Ever drilled a hole in a window sill or frame for a contact? If it has lead paint on it the regulation applies.

As an update… the EPA says there are 236,000 contractors that need to be certified and only 135 companies entities (like CEDIA) offering the 8-hour training and certification. It will be impossible to train everyone by April 22. Buy you should expect a rush on the classes by contractors needing this training as the deadline approaches. So don’t wait.

Reminder that the training is being offered at EHX Spring.

Update: If you install only 3 pairs of in-ceiling speakers on a job (6 square feet) without the certification, you are subject to being fined.

Not necessarily Jason. If installing speakers can be construed to fall under minor repair and maintenance activities. Defined in the Rule as: “Interior work disturbing less than 6 square feet per room of painted surface is exempt from the work practices requirements in the Rule. Cleanup and cleaning verification are not required after minor repair and maintenance activities, unless they involve window replacement, demolition, or prohibited practices”.  So its tricky: if the total area is less than 6sf, maybe its exempt; if each pair of speakers is in a different room, probably exempt; but if cutting holes in the ceiling for speakers could be classified as demolition, even one speaker could trigger the cleanup and cleaning verification requirement.

When was this law passed?  I have been talking to people about installing windows for a couple of years now and this has never been mentioned to me before.  I would have thought this would be a selling point to get a job done prior to April 22.

The law was passed when EPA issued the “Final Rule” April 22, 2008, pursuant to Section 402(c)(3) of the Toxic Substances Control Act.