Starting this April, companies that do any construction, renovating or any installation work on a home built before 1978 are required to be lead certified as well as use lead safe practices. Contractors that will be affected by this include painters, carpenters,HVAC, plumbers and electricians to name just a few.
The two components of the new rule are... that starting in April, firms working on pre-1978 homes have to be certified, an employee will ALSO need to be certified as a Certified Renovator. So the company as a whole must be certified as well as an employee have a Certified Renovator Designation.
The course I beleave consits of 8 hours class room time as well as 2 hour hands on time. The firm will have to pay $300.00 for the Certifcation and it is renewable every 3 years.
What does this new law mean for you and I? Well... if you are a home buyer that is looking for the "fixer upper" you may have an added expense of the having to hire the larger company that can afford the Certification costs. These days a large companies carry a larger cost to operate and may pass that cost off to the client.
Realtors and Home Inspectors are going to have to be extremely careful who they recommend to their clients. Recommending a contractor with no Lead Certification may cost the homeowner $32,500.00 a day in fines. (I personally would'nt want a Civil case brought against for recommending the wrong contractor.) Needless to say you could kiss that referral good bye.
In my opion...I think it's a decent law. If it saves one person...it will be worth it. (if you've never eaten a lead paint chip... it tastes like candy....I know.... which now explanes a lot of things.)
The new law can be viewed at EPA.gov and is worth taking a look at.
Written by Hans F. Cramer of Cramer Home Inspection Group, Inc.
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