Questions about Repair, Renovation & Painting Rules

Staring on April 22nd, 2010 Requires persons performing work for compensation that disturbs lead-based paint in residential homesbuilt before 1978 be EPA certified & workers are trained, and education and documentation is performed.
 
March 24, 2011 - PRLog -- What is the EPA Renovation, Repair & Painting Rule?

Staring on April 22nd, 2011.  Requires persons or firms performing work for compensation that disturbs lead-based paint in residential homes, child care facilities, child occupied facilities, and schools built before 1978 be EPA certified, ensure necessary EPA certified renovators are on each job, ensure all workers affected are trained in specific work practices to prevent lead contamination, all work is performed according to EPA work practices, pre-renovation education required for residents, and ensure record keeping requirements are met.

Additionally, all persons are required to be licensed/certified by the appropriate state agency where the work is occurring or by EPA.

What are Lead Safe Work Practices?

Steps taken by the workers to ensure that the people who live in or who will live in the house are not affected by lead and lead dust created during renovation.  Additionally the steps are taken to protect the workers and their families from lead taken home with them on clothing and on their persons.

Secondly providing education to the people in the homes or who own the homes and documenting that in fact the education was completed.

Do you know if it applies to YOU?

If you repair houses built before 1978.  If you are a property manager or landlord who owns properties built before 1978 and complete work yourself or have employees who do it for you.  You are affected.

So this would apply to property owners, property managers, their workers, and the people they contract to do repairs.

What are the fines?

Fines can run to $37,500 per occurrence, per day.  Possibly even jail time in some cases

Are they enforcing this rule?

For the first year of the rule they were lax as many people just had not heard of the rule and the lack of available training to accommodate everyone who needed to be certified.  Now in 2011, this rule is now being enforced by the EPA, housing courts, and by the people who are certified turning in the people who are working around the rule.

Some quotes pulled out of recent headlines:

   March 2011:  Connecticut:  Contractor Settles Pre-Renovation Rule Violations, paid out $30,702
   March 2011:  Mass DOS Speaks on Contractor RRP Enforcement
   March 2011:  Builders, Remodelers Work With EPA to Clear Up Confusion Over Lead Rule Enforcement
   January 2011: NARI Letter to the EPA

The most important of these articles is probably the NARI Letter.  NARI if you don’t know is the large National  Association of the Remodeling Industry and their members are in support of the legislation as they have taken the time to become certified firms and are implementing the work safe practices.  Their members are for this legislation and other legislation and licensing simply because it makes the building trades a more regulated industry and protects home owners from the “fly by night” unskilled labor that often times does work on buildings without fully knowing what they are doing.

It’s one thing to be the bad contractor ripped apart by the show “Holmes on Homes” on HGTV and totally another to be sitting in front of a court who is going to fine you.

One last thought on enforcement before we move on.  Several years ago it was illegal for people to download and share music on the internet for FREE.  The thought was how are they going to enforce something like that.  Why would people pay for music online when they can get it from friends for free.  Then the headlines:

   12 Year Old Sued for Music Downloading
   Warning shot fired on illegal downloads . . . fined €2.4m   

So you can see where this is going.  Enforcement may not be there yet . . . but they are getting geared up.  They will be enforcing and soon . . . remember our government needs money and big fines pay bills.

So please ask yourself . . . do you want to be one of the first “examples” of law breakers of this ruling?

Do you want to endanger the health of the you own health as you do the work?  Your children when you bring lead dust home on your clothing and leave it behind in your car where your kid sits, in your carpet where your kid crawls, on the sofa where your kid takes naps.  The children who live in these homes where lead safe practices are not followed.

As our Headlines have been on several other articles

Avoid Fines!

Avoid Prison!

Protect Health!

Get Certified!

Click here to read with live links to articles above
http://mareinet.com/2011/03/24/questions-on-renovation-re...

For more information
http://mareinet.com/2011/03/17/epa-lead-certification-tra...

Article Provided by Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors who is hosting a Certification Training Class for Landlords, Rehabbers, Property Managers, and their Contractors on Saturday April 9th at the Sylvester Powell Jr Community Center in Mission Kansas.  Please Visit MAREInet.com to get Registered or call 816-523-4400 x 222.

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Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors offers networking, education, and legislative action for Kansas City Area Real Estate Investors. In business since 2003.
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