Home renovation contractors following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new “lead safe” rules must also ensure that any subcontractors they use are certified "lead safe" and trained on the regulations. 

Home renovation contractors following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new “lead safe” rules must also ensure that any subcontractors they use are certified "lead safe" and trained on the regulations.

“If a general contractor who is lead safe certified hires a subcontractor, the general is responsible for assuring that other company is also certified and their workers are properly trained for the tasks they will perform,” said Chris Zorzy, president of LeadSafe Video Solutions Inc., a Salem, Mass.-based training company. “The general contractor that hires a subcontractor is responsible for any lead safe renovation violations committed by the sub.”

The EPA’s recently enacted Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, more commonly known as the “lead safe” rule, is designed to protect workers and residents of older buildings from dangerous exposure to lead during renovations. Contractors working on homes, schools and other buildings constructed prior to 1978 must be lead safe certified. But a little known provision of the regulation requires that any subcontractor working on the project must also be certified and that the subcontractor’s employees are trained in lead safe practices.

“If a subcontractor wants to work on a job that falls under the new regulations, they have to become certified and make sure their workers receive training in lead safe practices before they enter the job site,” said Zorzy. “Otherwise the subcontractor should not be allowed on the job site and is going to miss out on great deal of the renovation work that takes place on older buildings.”

For more information on the EPA’s Lead Safe Certification program visit www.leadsafevideosolutions.com, or call Lead Safe Video Solutions at (866) 436-5663.