- About DPH
- Our Services
- Our Programs
- Healthy Living
- Records, Permits & Licensing
- Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration
- Diseases & Conditions
- Training
Childhood Lead Prevention Program
Children's Environmental Health Program
Any contractor, including renovators, electricians, HVAC specialists, plumbers, painters and maintenance staff, who disrupts more than six square feet of lead paint in pre-1978 homes, schools, day care centers and other places where children spend time must now be USEPA Lead-Safe Certified.
San Francisco Building and Health Codes presume that any building built before 1979 has lead-based paint. Owners may hire State-certified lead inspector/assessors to refute this presumption on specific surfaces. Approximately 90% of San Francisco's housing units were built before 1979.
SF Building Code requires lead-safe work practices for any paint-disturbing repair, remodeling, or renovation work on on the exterior of a pre-1979 building or structure and in the interior of a pre-1979 residential rental property or one used for child care. If you are a painter, renovator, or any other worker who may disturb lead-based paint in their work, you must use lead-safe work practices on building exteriors and interiors to protect yourself and others from exposure to lead.
The SF Building Code specifies that you must notify residential occupants at least 3 days before work begins and must provide specific signage to the public warning them of the work in progress.
You must comply with these key requirements for lead-safe work practices:
- Set up the work area to provide containment and prevent migration of all generated paint dust and debris
- Minimize dust-creating work practices
- Clean up carefully and completely
- Do not use prohibited work practices to disturb or remove paint
It is prohibited to use the following methods in San Francisco to disturb or remove paint:
- Scraping, sanding, grinding, abrasive blasting or sand-blasting without containment or a HEPA local vacuum exhaust tool.
- Hydroblasting or high-pressure wash without containment and barrier systems.
- Open flame burning or torching, including propane-fueled heat grids.
- Heat guns operating above 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Federal law requires all renovation, repair, and painting firms (including sole proprietorships) working in housing, or facilities where children are routinely present, built before 1978, to be certified.
To apply follow the instructions online. Certification is simple and quick for firms intending to comply – just submit an application and fee to EPA.
To become a Certified Renovator, a person must complete a renovator training course accredited by EPA or an EPA authorized program which will teach you how to work lead safe.
The certified renovator must perform or direct certain key tasks during the renovation and be present on-site during those key tasks, including while:
The certified renovator must perform cleaning verification after the job is finished.
The certified firm and renovator must make sure that other workers on the renovation job follow lead-safe work practices.
The certified firm and renovator must prepare and maintain records. Use EPA's sample recordkeeping checklist (pdf).
Federal law requires that a Certified Renovator be assigned to each job, and that all involved individual workers that you employ are trained in the use of lead-safe work practices.
Such work requires employees to be either CDPH Lead-Related Construction-certified Lead Supervisors or Workers. Contact the CDPH Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch at 1-800-597-LEAD for further information.
Contractors must also provide identification and proof of certification for the assigned Certified Renovator on the renovation job.
The USEPA's Renovate Right: Important Lead Hazard Information for Families, Child Care Providers, and Schools (pdf) booklet may be used to provide customers and affected tenants general information about legal requirements for safe lead practices during renovation activities. En español (pdf).
The USEPA's pre-renovation disclosure form (pdf) may be used for this purpose.