Contractors

 Lead Safety During

Renovations

United States

Environmental Protection Agency

Washington, D.C. 20460

EPA-740-F-002

May 2017

To learn more about working safely 

with lead, contact the National Lead 

Information Center at 

1-800-424-LEAD (5323)

Or visit EPA’s website at epa.gov/lead

Visual inspection for exterior renovations:

A certified renovator must perform a visual inspection 

to determine whether dust, debris or residue is still 

present on surfaces in and below the work area, 

including windowsills and the ground. If dust, debris or 

residue is present, these conditions must be eliminated 

and another visual inspection must be performed.

When the area passes the visual inspection, remove 

the warning signs. Dust clearance testing (performed 

by certified lead professional) is an alternative to 

cleaning verification to determine if the work area is 

ready for re-occupancy.

These simple practices ensure that your jobs are 

better, cleaner, and safer. Your customers will notice 

the difference.

Lead-Safety Shopping List

• EPA’s pamphlet, “Renovate Right: Important 

Lead Hazard Information for Families,

Child Care Providers and Schools.”

(Download it on our website at epa.gov/lead.)

• Barriers and signs

• Tape

• Stapler

• Heavy plastic sheeting

• Utility knife or scissors

• Heavy-duty plastic bags

• HEPA vacuum cleaner

• Paper towels or disposable wipes

• Mop and disposable mop heads

• General-purpose cleaner

• Buckets

• Shovel and rake
As a contractor, you play an important role in protecting public health by helping to 

prevent lead exposure. Ordinary renovation and maintenance activities can create dust 

that contains lead—even small amounts of lead can harm children and adults.

Rules for Contractors

Federal law requires that contractors performing 

renovation, repair or painting work that disturbs leadbased paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools 

built before 1978 follow special requirements:

• Firms must be lead-safe certified.

• Employees must be trained (either as a certified 

renovator or on-the-job by a certified renovator) in 

the use of lead-safe work practices.

• Workers must use lead-safe work practices that 

minimize occupants’ exposure to lead hazards.

Talk to the Residents

When working in homes, child care facilities and schools 

built before 1978, you must:

• Provide EPA’s pamphlet, “Renovate Right: Important 

Lead Hazard Information for Families, Child Care 

Providers and Schools” to residents or the facility 

operator before the job begins.

(Download at epa.gov/lead). 

• You must also provide information to families whose 

children attend the child care facility or school.

• Post signs clearly defining the work area and 

warning occupants and others not involved in the 

renovation to stay outside of the work area.

The work area must be contained so that no dust or 

debris leaves the work area.

What to Do When Working on Interior Jobs

• Remove furniture and belongings, or cover them 

securely with heavy plastic sheeting with all seams 

sealed.

• Close and cover all ducts in the work area with 

taped down plastic sheeting.

• Close windows and doors in the work area. 

• Cover doors with plastic sheeting unless used as a 

work area entrance. If used as an entrance the door 

must be covered with plastic sheeting in a manner

that allows workers to pass through while confining 

dust and debris to the work area.

• Use plastic sheeting to cover floors, including installed 

carpet, a minimum of 6 feet beyond the perimeter of 

the surfaces being renovated or a sufficient distance to 

contain dust, whichever is greater.

• Use precautions to ensure that all personnel, tools and 

other items are free of dust and debris before leaving 

the work area.

What to Do When Working on Exterior Jobs

• Close all doors and windows within 20 feet of the 

renovation. On multi-story buildings, also close doors 

and windows below the renovation. 

• Ensure doors within the work area that are to be used 

are covered with plastic sheeting in a manner that 

allows workers to pass while confining dust and debris 

to the work area. 

• Cover the ground with plastic sheeting 10 feet beyond 

the perimeter of the renovation or a sufficient distance 

to collect falling paint debris, whichever is greater. 

• If the renovation affects surfaces within 10 feet of a

property line, erect vertical containment to ensure dust

and debris doesn’t leave the work area. Vertical 

containment may also be necessary in other situations. 

Do Not Use These Dangerous and Prohibited 

Practices When Working with Lead-Based Paint

• Open flame burning or torching.

• Sanding, grinding, planning, needle gunning, or 

blasting with power tools unless they have a shroud 

or containment system and are equipped with a HEPA 

vacuum attachment. Machines must be operated 

so that no dust is visible outside the shroud or 

containment system.

• Using a heat gun at temperatures greater than 1100°F. 

Waste

• Waste from renovation activities must be contained to 

prevent releases of dust and debris before the waste is 

removed from the work area for storage or disposal.

• At the end of each work day and at the end of the 

renovation, collected waste must be stored so that it 

prevents release of dust and debris.

• When the firm transports waste from renovation 

activities, the firm must contain the waste to prevent 

release of dust and debris.

Leave the Work Area Clean

When the job is complete, you must:

• Collect all paint chips and debris, and seal this 

material in a heavy-duty bag. Dispose of the bag 

as waste.

• Remove the protective sheeting. Mist the sheeting 

before folding it, fold the dirty side inward, and 

either tape shut to seal or seal in heavy-duty bags. 

Sheeting used to isolate rooms must remain in 

place until after removal of other sheeting. Dispose 

of the sheeting as waste.

Additional cleaning for interior renovations:

Clean all objects and surfaces in the work area and 

within 2 feet of the work area in the following manner, 

cleaning from higher to lower:

• Clean walls either vacuuming with a HEPA vacuum 

or wiping with a damp cloth.

• Thoroughly vacuum all remaining surfaces and 

objects in the work area, with a HEPA vacuum. The 

HEPA vacuum must be equipped with a beater bar 

when vacuuming carpets and rugs.

• Wipe all remaining surfaces and objects in the work

area, except for carpeted or upholstered surfaces,

with a damp cloth. Mop uncarpeted floors thoroughly.

• A certified renovator must perform a visual 

inspection to determine whether dust, debris or

residue is still present. If dust, debris or residue 

is present, these conditions must be removed by 

re-cleaning and another visual inspection must 

be performed.

• Perform a final clean-up check. Use disposable 

cleaning cloths to wipe floors, counter tops and 

windowsills in the work area and compare them to 

a cleaning verification card to determine if the work 

area was adequately cleaned. 

• When the work area passes the post-renovation 

cleaning verification, remove the warning signs.

• To order a cleaning verification card and detailed 

instructions, visit our website at www.epa.gov/lead 

or contact the National Lead Information Center at 

1-800-424-LEAD (5323).