"Independent rental owners are adapting - and even changing their business models - to accommodate the EPA's burdensome lead-based paint regulations," according to staff writer Lauren Boston's December 2010 Article in the National Apartments Associations publication, UNITS. She continues to write, "Unexpected drop in property visits from government officials. Hundreds of thousand of dollars in fines. Costly training courses and certifications fees. Prolonged renovation projects. These problems are every independent owner's worst nightmare and under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA's) new lead-based paint regulations, they're becoming a reality for some." (Q)What should you do now that the law is nationally effective to best protect yourself? (A) Get your pre-1978 residential property lead-based paint tested and certify as many painted components/units as possible "Lead-Based Paint Free" to be exempt or continually strive towards exemption!
If a pre-1978 property, unit and or specific painted building component is found to be free of lead-based paint as defined by regulation, the requirements of this rule do NOT apply (Hurray) and the potential for unnecessary and costly extra work practices, violations, fines and litigation are eliminated. Rather than assuming the presence of lead-based paint, as is required by this law and complying with its cumbersome requirements, numerous property owners (apartment, coop, condo, unit, house, schools) are taking a proactive approach and working with a state licensed Lead Inspector/Risk Assessor to test their property and exempt themselves and their properties from this EPA Lead-Based Paint Regulation, amongst others. As a nationally respected lead-based paint subject matter expert, I strongly agree with the above and highly suggest you consider obtaining such exemption certification NOW since the nature of this law and the highly litigious world that we operate in, could quickly become the stimulus for future violations, penalties and the basis for unnecessary litigation!
Accordingly, the actions to obtain a "Lead-Based Paint Free Certification" for a particular painted building component or the entire property as identified below should be discussed with your owners, management and/or boards. If the original date of construction of the property(ies) is between 1960 and 1978, please see Property Category Section A below for recommendation. If the original date of construction of the property is pre-1960, please see Property Category Section B below for appropriate recommendation.
Property Category Section A (1960-1978)
What you might be familiar with is the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ban on the use of lead-based paint for residential usage in 1978. However what you might not be aware of is that NYC banned lead paint use for residential property(ies) in 1960. Therefore it is highly unlikely, based on city regulation and this expert's 20 years of NYC experience, that regulated properties built between 1960 and 1978 would contain lead-based painted components. However, the Federal EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule Lead Paint Law still requires all pre-1978 residential properties to comply with its federal requirements regardless of city regulation and the fact that lead paint was banned in NYC years earlier. However, if your property(ies) and/or its painted building components are officially certified by a properly licensed EPA Lead Evaluation firm, as "Lead-Based Paint Free," compliance is no longer required! Accordingly, NYC properties built post 1960 but pre-1978 have an extremely high likelihood of obtaining lead-based paint free certification as a whole or at a minimum on most building components that might need to be disturbed as part of a renovation, maintenance or repair event. Such certification will exempt the property, units, and/or common areas from the requirements of this new federal lead-based paint law as well as protect you from unnecessary violations, fines, costly delays and possible expensive litigation.
Property Category Section B (Pre-1960)
Residential properties built prior to 1960 have a higher potential for lead-based painted building components than those listed above (1960-1978). However, it is incredibly unusual to find a residential property where everything is painted with lead-based paint, unless it is military housing (LOL). In light of this new Federal rule's complicated, cumbersome and litigious requirements, the recommended actions below should be considered for this category of residential property. It is highly recommended that you consider having a limited lead-based paint test of three typical residential units, one common area and one building complex exterior side to obtain the minimum statistical understanding of the potential for lead-based painted building components at a particular subject property (very affordable for value of information obtained - Approx. $495/site). Should no lead-based paint or limited lead-based painted components be identified during this limited lead-based paint inspection, a full inspection in accordance with the federal testing protocol is still strongly recommended. Each painted building component that is tested and is statistically proven NOT to contain lead-based paint can be Federally certified as such and exempted from the ongoing requirements of the law, saving substantial time and money when expected or unexpected paint disturbances of such components must occur. Any costs associated with certifying painted building components as "Lead-Based Paint Free" should be recouped within a very short period of time versus the cost of having to comply with the law's requirement for each inaccurately unwarranted presumed paint disturbance. Should the limited lead-based paint inspection identify multiple random lead-based painted components with different locations of lead from area to area (unit to unit) and it is believed that such findings would be consistent throughout the subject property, the property should consult with an experienced subject matter expert about the incorporation of a formal Lead-Based Paint Regulatory Compliance Operations & Maintenance Program for, if not, violations, penalties, project cost overruns, wasted time, and litigation are likely to become an unwelcomed part of your future.
Lee Wasserman is president of LEW Corporation, Mountainside, N.J. Tags: