Heavy Fines Are on the Menu From the EPA If You Are Not Ready for the RRP Rule!

Yes we are here, less than 48 hours away for the newest date when the Environmental Protection Agency will now be holding all home renovators to the compliance rules for Lead Based Paint Renovations. As most home improvement contractors are aware our world has been turned upside down in reference to Lead Paint. Starting on October 1, 2010 the EPA will now begin doing inspections and will begin with the compliance of all parts of the RRP Rule. If your company in not in compliance it could cost you big. The fines starts in the mid thirty thousand dollar range per offense and these fines go against the individual committing the offense.




In case you are not aware of the RRP Rule this is a brief summary:



On April 22, 2008, The EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe work practices aimed at preventing lead poisoning in children and adults. On April 22, 2010, the rule became effective and firms performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified. All individual renovators must be trained by an EPA-accredited training provider, and all firms and renovators must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. However, shortly after the law went into effect the EPA realized that there were not enough trained renovators to fulfill the needs of the individual home owners. When this was realized that asked that all renovators who were trained to continue to use the lead safe work practices. But, there would be no enforcement until October 1, 2010.



This brings us to today where the deadline is now less than 48 hours away. It is very important that as a renovator you are looking more carefully than ever to make sure that you follow the RRP Rule. A few thoughts to ponder about this deadline:



1- If you are not trained it is very important that you become trained. We all know that there will always be some contractors out there who will throw caution to the wind and try to buck the system and ignore this law. By not following the law there may be some short monetary gain but in the big picture the fines are staggering and I would not even want to think what would happen legally if you were responsible for causing lead poisoning to a child. To become a certified renovator, individuals are required to take eight hours of training, of which two hours must be hands-on training, to become certified. This training is good for five years. The cost of this training is set by individual training providers, not by the EPA also, renovation firms must be certified by EPA or by a state authorized by EPA to administer its own program. Firm certification is easy; firms need to send in a two-page application to EPA and pay a fee of $300. The certification is good for five years.



2- The October 1, 2010 deadline is for anyone who has been previously trained. If you have not been trained by this time because of the delay in the system, you will not be fined as long as you have applied to enroll for training or are enrolled for a class by September 30, 2010. Any renovators must have taken the certification classes that were signed up for by December 31, 2010 to avoid these fines for not following the lead safe work practices.



3- By being trained in doing Lead Safe Work Practices you have an advantage over renovators that are not. Because you are trained you will be able to work in any age house. The most recent estimates show that there are over 30 million homes in the United States that have lead based paint in them. This is a large segment of work that you can capitalize on for gaining market share.



4- When talking to potential clients do not go towards the negative sides of the law, always talk positive and explain that this is a protective measure for the safety of children and grandchildren, I don't believe there is one parent or grandparent that would want to bring harm to any child.



In closing may I pass a warning to you and your renovation company to become trained and follow the lead safe work practices. Remember that you have worked very hard to create and maintain your company and ask yourself, Could your company afford a fine in the mid 30 thousand range and would your company survive the fines? In most cases it would most likely not survive.
 
In order to keep you and your company legal visit: LEADPAINTEPASUPPLIES.COM for all of your RRP supplies including: LeadCheck lead test kits, Hard to find items in one package and your HEPA Vacuum cleaner headquarters that are ready to ship, all items ship within 2 business days by Fedex ground or Fedex home delivery.

Musings Of The New Lead Paint Renovation Program (Part 2)

Since what I guess you can call a rant in reference to the Lead Safe Work Practices Law (This would be the new name of the week for this wonderful piece of legislation that has graced us). I have again sat down and thought about a a few more things that make you consider What is this all about?
Tomorrow I am about to start a job that the customer's home is located in a beautiful historical district in the city. At the current time the customer has no children living in the house but the customer is pregnant. This is one of the major sticking points in reference to the lead safe work practices law. The customer's house has a unattached studio where she works and at the current time resides. The home is currently being worked on by the homeowner and is in a state of renovation. This is where I have been thinking about the situation with working in the home.
You would be amazed about how many people still do not know that these laws exist and the process for a safe work area. The Lead Safe Practices law states that RRP Certified Contractor must clean the work area prior to any work beginning after the containment area has been established. I feel as this is a point for concern. I know that the customer has been working in this house doing other projects prior to my project, I would guess without using the lead safe work practices as outlined by the Environmental Protection Agency. You would be amazed about how many people still do not know that these laws exist and the process for a safe work area.
The law also states that after a certified contractor does a project that he or she must clean the area again to eliminate the lead dust contamination. The customer then has a legal right to have the area tested for lead contamination at the contractors expense if they feel it is necessary by a outside firm. Take a moment and ponder these issues:
1- Knowing the society that we live in, What would happen if this customer has complications with her pregnancy or her child is born with some type of lead poisoning issue who would be in the wrong?
2- What protection is built into this law to protect the contractor if they have done everything possible to protect all the parties involved?
3-What would stop the customer from coming back to the renovation company and try to hold it legal for these problems.
4-The way the law is written there is no protection for the contractor involved. The fines go directly to the contractor and not the certified renovation firm?
5-Is it possible for the customer who has been doing work in the house and not using the Lead Safe Work Practices hold the contractor accountable for issues that he or she may not have even caused because the customer contaminated themselves?
Now lets be honest here, I don't want this to appear to come off as a person who does not care for children because I have children and would do anything to protect them to the best of my ability. I do believe that most people feel the same way as I do. But, as a small business owner this type of situation would destroy a business with the types of fines that are built into the law.
This law that was set in place has great core fundamentals but it also leaves a lot to chance and many points that are up for personal interpretation as to what the law means and how it effects all the parties involved.
In closing, As a certified firm with the new EPA Lead Laws I will do anything I can do to keep people safe and healthy. But, there needs to be some sort of responsibility put onto the customer as well in this issue when it is looked at from both sides. Please look for the next installment of: Musings Of The New Lead Paint Renovation Program (Part 3)

In order to keep you and your company legal visit: LEADPAINTEPASUPPLIES.COM for all of your RRP supplies including: Lead Check, lead test kits, Tyvek protective clothing, Hard to find items in one package that are ready to ship, all items ship within 2 business days by FedEx ground or FedEx home delivery.

Musings Of The New Lead Paint Renovation Program (Part 1)

Today I was sitting down and once again reading over the new Renovation Repair and Painting Rule (RRP).  As a contractor I was doing some checking into something that I heard about last week and it really made be concerned about the legal issues with this law.  I began to think about all the parts of the law and the requirements of the containment process when working on a home that was built prior to 1978 that had lead paint detection  test completed on it and they were found to be positive. 

The new law has provided for some very specific items that must be done when lead is found in a residential dwelling that has made my head spin.  Some of the items I have trouble understanding is:

1- The protection of items in the renovation area:  If you are doing a window replacement everything that can be removed from the room is to be removed.  However if it can not be removed it is to be wrapped like a Christmas gift and then around the bottom of the item it is to be taped to the floor so that no dust can get on the item and be a hazard.  However the law requires during the clean up procedure that we are only responsible for horizontal surfaces and not vertical surfaces.  Does this mean that the dust can only travel upwards around certain items and land on the flat surface of this item and yet there is no concerns about other vertical surfaces in the room?

2- The amount of dust that is dangerous: I have read in several places that the amount of lead dust that can be found in a sugar packet is enough to contaminate an area as large as a football stadium.  This raises a flag to me because I wonder if this is the case,  Why do I Only need to tarp of a 10' x 10' area in front of the window or door area that I am working on.  Once this dust travels out of the 10' x 10' area, Is it no longer dangerous?

3- Safety: The EPA obviously has not sat down next to our good friends at the Occupational, Safety and Health Administration (O.S.H.A.) and discussed what kind of dangerous situations they are creating.  I was reading about the fact that all area inside and outside need to be tarped with heavy plastic in order to catch any paint chips that can fly away from the work area.  I was thinking about the safety of laying a plastic tarp down on the ground and then setting a ladder on top of it to reach your work area.  Does this sound a little dangerous to you?

4- Disposal of the trash:  The law states that if I am removing any trash from within a house that I need to bag it and goose neck tie the top of the bag before walking through the house to take it outside.   I find this as crazy on so many levels.  I believe the point that I find the craziest of all of this is the fact that We have now taken a item that is biodegradable when placed in a landfill and now wrapped it in plastic,  Our government speaks about going green, What happened here?  This is the best part: We are removing this so hazardous item from our homes and then we can place it outside on the curb for local trash pick up or if the contractor removes it from the work site he or she will most likely pitch it into a landfill.  Now I am not a scientist here but does this not cause a problem for groundwater when the lead leaches off of the trash into the water supply? 

In closing it seems to me that no one person has stopped and stood back and looked at the crazy law that has been put forward here.  I urge you that you sit back and look at this law if you are a contractor.  Make sure that you are following the law and make sure that you use a lead test kit on  every home that you are going to work on if you believe there is even a slight chance of lead being present.

For now I am moving on and will soon write another edition of Musings of the Lead Paint Renovation Program soon.   

What Does the Lead Safe Work Practices Mean to Small Business Owners?

The world of the small home improvement contractor has been rocked with the financial instability of the country.  Most homeowners are struggling just to make ends meet and pay their bills with the thought that their biggest purchase of their lifetime is being neglected, yes, I am talking about their home. 

As a homeowner myself I believe I am like many other people that try to make at least one improvement to your home each year.  Usually this improvement is to make the time that you spend in your home more pleasant.  But, with the changing times we have begun to focus less on the big screen television, the huge deck in the back of the house, or even the new kitchen.  With all of these items you are looking at making your down time more pleasurable but as a responsible homeowner most people are looking at trying to make their house more energy efficient by spending their hard earned dollars on new energy efficient windows, doors, and insulating products to try and save money.

This past summer many home owners had a new phrase introduced to them called, The Renovation Repair and Painting Rule (RRP) that was kindly brought to us by the (EPA).  The RRP rule is the law that deals with how renovations are performed when there is lead paint detection in any dwelling built before 1978.  The new RRP rule is not actually that new.  However, in April of this year (2010) it became a major headache for the general homeowner.  In the past this law only had to be followed in Houses that were being funded by the Housing and Urban Development Administration (HUD) or in a child occupied facility (schools, daycares, etc.)

Now as you sit back and think about this:

1-  The law states that any house built prior to 1978 must be tested for the toxic substance of lead before most types of work can start.  If lead is found the Lead Safe Work Practices must be followed or the contractor could face very steep fines (these fines start in the low thirty thousand ranges per opening / per day.  At the current time there is only one lead swab test available on the market that is considered to be acceptable for use within this law for testing.  This swab is the Lead Check lead test kit.  When the law first came into effect it was challenging at its best to try and locate these for sale which delayed the business owner as well as the owner trying to get work completed and there were many companies selling these at a highly elevated price which created an opportunity for many people to be taken advantage of.

2-      The EPA has come up with an estimated cost of forty six dollars per window or door to cover the cost of the lead safe work practices.  I know in my area I see billboards and print advertising all the time that show any window can be installed in your home including the window for one hundred ninety nine dollars.  Has the average homeowner added the forty six dollars per opening to cover the cost when trying to figure out what the renovation will involve?  Has the homeowner looked over the quality of the product or the quality of the installation they will receive?  In many cases we have seen that this advertising ploy takes advantage of older people and people who have not even looked at the product they are having installed until it is too late.  I believe that many people are settling for less quality of work and a lesser quality product just to get the job done at what they believe is a good price and regret their purchase shortly thereafter.  I believe because of the cost involved with this work in pre 1978 homes many contractors will stop doing work on these homes because of the profitability which will create a problem for many homeowners.   Also, don’t forget the materials needed to actually perform the work at hand to comply with the law are to be supplies for the Forty six dollars.  This point brings the questions of how many people will hire contractors under the radar so to speak to do the work without following the lead safe work practices and the homeowner will most likely receive less than satisfactory work and will once again give the independent contractor another black eye?  When pondering the thought that the same group of people who came up with this cost to cover this law also paid seven hundred dollars for a toilet seat in the Pentagon…….

3-      While no serious homeowner or parent would want to trade the health of their children to save money is understood.  However, we need to question the timing of this law going into effect.  Our country is coming off of the worst economic crunch is many years and this is only going to create a drag on changing the status of the economy.  You hear many of the government spokes people on the news everyday saying that the backbone of the financial community is small business and that small business is what will bring the country out of the funk that we are experiencing now.  This law, be it very important is also a creating a strangle hold on the smaller independent contractor and will continue to do so.  I believe that any contractor will tell you that this law is a deciding factor when a homeowner is contemplating starting a project in their home.  Should the law have been pushed back for a while until the country was ready for this?

4-      My last point would be to look at the financial impact for the government and the small contractor.  All business owners had to look for a class to take to be certified with a cost of around three hundred dollars.  After taking the class it meant nothing until you registered with the EPA which then cost an additional three hundred dollars (ponder that every company was paying a minimal amount of three hundred dollars (and much more in some cases) to the EPA – how much money has this raised?).  Now you are thinking well this is the cost of doing business, correct it is but also keep in mind this was all happening in the spring when the average small contractor is just struggling to stay in business in the best times.  I believe to make this competitive the cost to cover this extra expense and time would need to be around one hundred twenty five dollars per opening considering a two person crew on a job site.

The lead safe work practices are very important but you need to ask yourself one question:  Is it a safe way of doing work in certain situations or is it a back door to raise revenue?  At this point people that are buying houses trying to start out on their journeys in life and create families need to be aware of the laws and how they will affect them when it comes to having work done on their newly acquired home.  Catching that great deal on that beautiful row home in a metro area may not be the deal that you think!  

If you need supplies for RRP renovation projects or Leadcheck lead test kits visit our site LEADPAINTEPASUPPLIES.COM