Window Replacement Under an RRP-Only Firm - Abatement or Renovation?
A property manager of a 1928 six-unit building plans to replace 14 double-hung wood windows in Unit 3 while the unit is vacant. XRF testing shows lead-based paint on the sashes, jambs, and stools. Disturbed painted surface in each room far exceeds 6 ft². She has a low bid from a firm certified only as an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm, which proposes to remove and dispose of the old windows and install new ones with plastic sheeting on the floor. The bid states that clearance is unnecessary because 'the unit will be empty.' A family with a 2-year-old is scheduled to move in 10 days.
1. Is this job abatement or a renovation subject to the RRP rule, and what does that mean for the firm's certification?
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On these facts it is abatement, not RRP work, and the RRP-only firm is not authorized to do it.
Reasoning: abatement is a set of activities designed to permanently eliminate a lead-based paint hazard - it includes removal of lead-painted components and their replacement. Here the scope is to remove and dispose of lead-painted sashes, jambs, and stools and install new units. That is component removal with permanent elimination as the object; the fact that the manager calls it 'window replacement' or 'renovation' does not control. The 6 ft² interior threshold matters for defining RRP-covered renovation, and it is exceeded in every room anyway, so the job cannot slip under the minor-repair exception either.
Consequences:
- Abatement requires an EPA-certified abatement firm and certified personnel (supervisors, and trained workers), not merely a Lead-Safe Certified Firm.
- Work practices and cleanup under the abatement rule apply, not the RRP work-practice standards.
- Post-abatement clearance is mandatory, regardless of whether the unit is vacant.
Advise the manager that if she uses the RRP-only bidder for this scope, both the firm and she as the person who hired an uncertified abatement contractor face liability. If she genuinely wants a limited-scope project that stays inside RRP, the scope has to change - for example, keeping the original components and not permanently eliminating them - which would not solve her problem.
2. Is the firm right that clearance can be skipped because the unit will be empty?
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No. Vacancy is irrelevant to whether clearance is required - it is relevant only to who must be notified and when reoccupancy is allowed.
The clearance exists because the work generates lead dust that settles on floors, sills, and troughs. A vacant unit is exactly the unit where dust sits undisturbed for weeks and is then stirred up by the cleaning crew of the incoming tenant. The family moving in includes a 2-year-old, which is the population the standard exists to protect.
Also required:
- Clearance performed by a certified inspector or risk assessor who is independent of the abatement contractor - the abatement crew cannot clear its own work.
- Clearance on the required surfaces in each room, with individual samples (no composites).
- No reoccupancy until passing results are documented. With 10 days on the clock, any clearance failure pushes the move-in date; the manager should be told that now, in writing, rather than on day nine.
3. What notification, recordkeeping, and schedule problems should you flag before work begins?
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Several, and they interact with the 10-day timeline:
- Occupant/owner information. Tenants and the owner must receive the EPA lead hazard information pamphlet, and the required notices must be delivered within the regulatory window before work begins (for renovation activity, delivery no more than 60 days before the start). The family moving in 10 days is a future occupant, not a notice recipient yet - which argues for clearing the unit before the lease starts.
- No opt-out. The RRP opt-out for owner-occupied units with no children under six and no pregnant occupant does not apply: this is a rental and a 2-year-old is moving in. Do not let the manager plan around an exemption that is unavailable.
- Records. Renovation records are kept at least three years; abatement records likewise. Recordkeeping must attach to whichever rule actually governs the job - here, the abatement rule - and the record must show the certification, the work practices, and the clearance results.
- Compounding rules. If this building is HUD-assisted or federally owned, HUD's lead-safe housing rule layers on stricter requirements (evaluation, hazard reduction, notice, and clearance). Confirm the funding status before quoting a scope.
- Schedule. Replacement of 14 windows plus specialized cleaning plus independent clearance plus any reclean is not a 10-day certainty. Recommend the manager not sign a lease conditioned on a date the clearance has not yet earned.