Some Denver property owners soon will be paying more for general renovations and remodeling projects after new rules regarding lead-paint removal take effect April 22.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP) requires renovators to be certified and use lead-safe practices when working in pre-1978 properties, which will increase costs for companies and homeowners.
Homeowners are not required to follow the same rules as professional firms when renovating their own homes, though it is highly encouraged by the EPA.
Previous abatement regulations passed in the mid-1990s were followed only when lead-paint hazards, such as chipping, flaking or cracking, were already present in the structure. The new RRP rule applies to all housing and child-occupied facilities built prior to 1978.
More than 80 percent of the housing structures in Denver were built before 1980, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, many of which fall under the EPA’s target properties requiring the use of RRP rules.
Renovations are already more frequent and costly in older homes, said Amy Johnson, office manager for Denver-based remodelers Classic Homeworks, and the new rules will “definitely cost us more time, energy and money.”
And it’s not just contractors who will be paying extra to maintain RRP rules on the job.
“Almost any increased cost we face as a company gets passed down to the clients,” Johnson said.
The company has spent $300 to be certified as a firm to work with lead paint and around $400 to train and certify two employees, who will oversee all projects involving lead paint and ensure that proper RRP mandates are being followed. Despite the $700 and more than six months of research and preparation Classic Homeworks has already seen, the most significant changes will come in April when RRP rules become standard practice and timelines and budgets for every job are extended.
The EPA estimates an average increase of about $140 per job based on economic analysis, but because of the various factors affecting individual jobs, the number is considered only a rough assessment and will fluctuate from one project to another.
Denver architect and homeowner Norman Cable said the new rules would have complicated the $100,000 renovation of his 1876 home, which already was a costly undertaking and labor-intensive.
Cable, 69, and his wife, artist and teacher Susan Bickson, do not have young children living in their home, but they said that if lead-paint safety were a concern for them during the renovation, the cost would have increased substantially.
The EPA acknowledges that the new regulations will increase cost and time on every job required to follow RRP rules, but EPA regional lead coordinator Michelle Reichmuth said these are small sacrifices for the safety of children and homeowners.
Despite the previous lead-paint precautions, the new data proved that children are still being poisoned by lead paint and become susceptible to possible ramifications such as brain damage and behavioral problems.
Colorado Hazard Control contractor Dan Beaver is certified in lead- paint removal and has been training other state contractors under the new EPA rules, which he said are no different than similar asbestos and other abatement procedures currently required.
“The regulations essentially increase dust control to ensure adequate cleanup at the end of a job,” Beaver said. “You might see an extra 20 minutes in the process during final cleanup for an average project, but that extra time alleviates safety concerns when small children are involved.”
Beaver said the regulations are not limited to residential housing but are required for a project involving lead paint in structures that often house children younger than 6 or pregnant women, including day-care centers, schools and apartment buildings.
