New EPA Lead Rules
Posted on Feb 26th, 2010 by Doug Marsh VP, CR, CAPS, GBP | 0 Comments
While lead in paint has been banned in Austrailia and Europe since the 20's the US took another 50 years to address the issue. Now new rules will be in effect starting April 22nd 2010. The "RRP" (renovate, repair, paint) rule applies to housing, public and private that was constructed prior to 1978. My companie's concern is with private residential and the EPA has mandated that Renovation companies become registered with the EPA and have at least one Certified Renovator on site at specific times, available by phone the rest of the time, and keep documents of testing and processes for 3 years. I spent 8 hours in a class room, along with my Project Manager, getting certified. Currently there is an opt out clause for Consumers who do not have a pregnant woman or child under 6 living in the home. Since this is a Federal Law the fines for non compliance are severe ($ 32,500) per day. These rules will radically impact small jobs because the containment and cleanup compliance for changing out, say just a window, will add greatly to the cost of that task. On larger projects there will be additional cost and time added to the budget however, as time goes on, Contractors will learn to adjust and budget cost for these tasks. There are two main issues that struck me as I sat in the class: 1) the inferred liability for a Contractor is daunting since, if it is a home with lead paint, then it is a preexisting condition that likely has already affected the occupants to some extent (or could have); when the project is over then a Contractor really must officially test and document that the work is clean to cover for future issues that may surface. 2) As with a lot of issues (City ordinances for example) the general public and a great deal of Contractors in the market are unaware of this new rule and the impact on the cost of project. Contractor fees and profit are at an all time low in a heavy buyer's market where price rules and the expectation is for the quality to be there regardless of how low the price can be driven. The Contractors that want to be compliant, that will perservere to be here, and honor their warranties will need to educate everyone involved in this matter: to help Consumers know what is involved and how it is affecting their budget and to find if the Contractors they are interviewing and hiring are following these processes and are certified.
Comments