Lead Safety: Make Sure Your Contractor is Certified

When individuals are looking into buying a home, testing for lead may not be on the top list of must haves. However, as a property owner means you are ultimately responsible for the safety of your family and tenants. When renovations are done in a home, multi family building or child care center, there might be lead paint and any lead dust can accumulate into unsafe levels. If you are a property owner and are planning in doing renovation in your property, there is a list that you can follow to reassure that your contractor is following specific work practices. Below is a detailed list provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that gives you a guide on what questions to ask your contractor when they are doing the renovation:

*Make sure your contractor is certified, and can explain clearly the details of the job
and how the contractor will minimize lead hazards during the work.
• You can verify that a contractor is certified by checking EPA’s website at
epa.gov/getleadsafe or by calling the National Lead Information Center at
1-800-424-LEAD (5323). You can also ask to see a copy of the contractor’s
firm certification.
• Ask if the contractor is trained to perform lead-safe work practices and to see a
copy of their training certificate.
• Ask them what lead-safe methods they will use to set up and perform the job in your
home, child care facility or school.
• Ask for references from at least three recent jobs involving homes built before 1978,
and speak to each personally.
Always make sure the contract is clear about how the work will be set up,
performed, and cleaned.
• Share the results of any previous lead tests with the contractor.
• The contract should specify which parts of your home are part of the work area and
specify which lead-safe work practices will be used in those areas. Remember, your
contractor should confine dust and debris to the work area and should minimize
spreading that dust to other areas of the home.
• The contract should also specify that the contractor will clean the work area, verify
that it was cleaned adequately, and re-clean it if necessary.

This is a great list to ask your contractor and also a good list to be educated whether you are a tenant or property owner. Alliance Environmental is a certified lead-removal contractor. We follow strict procedures to minimize, control and contain the lead dust created by the removal process.Our team is trained in lead safe work practices of proper containment and removal, thorough site decontamination, and lawful disposal.

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