Who Should Read this Handbook?
• Anyone who owns or manages housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978.
• Contractors who perform activities that disturb painted surfaces in homes and child-occupied facilities
built before 1978 (including certain repairs and maintenance, and painting preparation activities).
About this Handbook
This handbook summarizes requirements of EPA’s 2008 Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting
Program Rule (as amended in 2010 and 2011), aimed at protecting against lead-based paint hazards
associated with renovation, repair and painting activities. The rule requires workers to be trained to use
lead-safe work practices and requires renovation firms to be EPA-certified; these requirements became fully
effective April 22, 2010.
To ensure compliance, you should also read the complete rule on which the program is based. While EPA has
summarized the provisions of the rule in this guide, the legal requirements that apply to renovation work are
governed by EPA’s 2008 Lead Rule. A copy of the rule is available on EPA’s website at
www.epa.gov/lead/lead-renovation-repair-and-painting-program-rules
.
A companion pamphlet, entitled
The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right: Important Lead Hazard
Information for Families, Child Care Providers, and Schools
(EPA-740-K-10-001), has been prepared in
conjunction with the rule for distribution to persons affected by work that disturbs lead-based paint. (See
page 17 for information on how to get copies of the rule, the
Renovate Right
pamphlet, and other related
materials.)
Other state or local requirements that are different from or more stringent than the federal requirements
may apply in your state. For example, federal law allows EPA to authorize states to administer their own
program in lieu of the federal lead program. Even in states without an authorized lead program, a state
may promulgate its own rules that may be different or go beyond the federal requirements. For more
information on the rules that apply in your state, please contact the National Lead Information Center
at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).
Your feedback is important. Please review this guide and contact the National Lead Information Center
at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) with any comments regarding its usefulness and readability, and improvements
you think are needed.
This document is published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the official compliance
guide for small entities, as required by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996 (SBREFA). Before you begin using the guide, you should know that the information in this guide
was originally published in June 2008, and was revised in July 2010, September 2011, January 2025
and March 2026 to address regulatory revisions. EPA is continually improving and upgrading its rules,
policies, compliance programs, and outreach efforts. To find out if EPA has revised or supplemented the
information in this guide call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).
