New Jersey Lead Safe Law amendments

were signed by the governor on September 12, 2024.

Some key points of changes to the NJ Lead Safe Law regarding lead inspections are as follows:

Lead inspections were always interior and tenant-accessible areas in the main structure. The amendment now says detached garages are part of the lead inspection, whereas previously they were not.

Common areas are part of the lead inspection and include, but not be limited to hallways, stairs, foyers, basements, laundry rooms, and the interior of attached or detached garages, if the areas are generally accessible to residential tenants, and the areas are not located within the interior of an individual dwelling unit. So again, a detached garage gets a lead inspection, if the tenant has access.

The law was enacted on July 22, 2022, and you had 2 years to complete the lead inspection or at tenant turnover. The amendment gives you three years from July 22, 2022, or until July 22, 2025.   

Now July 22, 2025, is the latest you can put off a lead inspection, but if a tenant vacates before that date, you must complete the lead inspection.

A municipality shall cause the lead inspection of rental dwelling units and in a building consisting of two or three dwelling units, common areas for lead-based paint hazards at tenant turnover or within three years of the effective date of P.L.2021, c.182 17 (C.52:27D-437.16 et al.), whichever is earlier.

Lead safe certificates are now good for 3 years. As of September 2024, we are awaiting new forms that state the certificates are good for 3 years.  

Once you get a lead-safe certificate, the landlord must provide evidence of a valid lead-safe certification to new tenants of the property at the time of tenant turnover unless by affixing a copy of the lead-safe certification to the tenant's or tenants' lease. Additional landlord obligations require the landlord to maintain a record of the lead-safe certification and include the name or names of the unit's tenant or tenants if the inspection was conducted during a period of tenancy.

Does the existing tenant get a copy of the lead safe certification?

The law does not say landlords must supply the certificate to existing tenants. New tenants must get a copy. The landlord has to give a copy to the municipality and the existing tenant could get a copy from said municipality.   It appears that when the law was written it was thought that there would be a lot of tenant turnover so there would frequently be “new” tenants.  

If a multi-unit building fails the lead inspection?

If a lead hazard is identified in a lead inspection of one of the dwelling units in a building consisting of two- or three-dwelling units, then the lead evaluation contractor or permanent local agency shall inspect the remainder of the building's dwelling units for lead hazards, with the exception of dwelling units that have been certified to be lead-safe.

Why as a landlord you do not want to fail.

An amendment to the law requires that the municipality deliver to the Department of Community Affairs a list identifying each dwelling unit inspected that was determined to contain a lead-based paint hazard. The DCA in turn must submit an annual report to the Legislature indicating the number of inspected dwelling units identified to have lead-based paint hazards. The report shall list the number of inspected dwellings and dwelling units identified to have lead-based paint hazards within each county.  This is a list landlords do not want to be on.

If you have questions regarding New Jersey's Lead Safe law. If you want to know what it takes to pass the lead safe inspection call the experts, Curren Environmental. 

888-301-1050

New Jersey Lead Safe Law will be 2 years old in July of 2024.   The law is attempting to eliminate lead paint hazards inside rental properties in New Jersey.  Landlords are confused regarding what constitutes a Lead Hazard?  

the general definition of a Leda Hazard is as follows:  Lead-Based Paint Hazards: Any condition that causes exposure to lead from dust-lead hazards, soil-lead hazards, or lead-based paint that is deteriorated or present in chewable surfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces, and that would result in adverse human health effects.

New Jersey's lead safe law is interior inspection only so, a lead hazard outside is not covered by the inspection, although technically if you have deteriorated exterior lead paint, that is a hazard, but I digress.    The lead hazard under the law is interior hazards.         

Your lead inspector who Likely is not an environmental consultant, saw damaged paint and flagged a lead hazard.    The photo to the left is deteriorated paint.

Deteriorated Paint means any interior or exterior paint that is peeling, chipping, chalking or cracking or any paint located on an interior or exterior surface or fixture that is damaged or deteriorated.

Older properties have a near 100% chance of having some layer of lead paint, but realistically speaking that lead is covered by multiple coats of non-lead paint, since lead paint was banned in 1978.  

Lead-based paint is usually not a hazard if it is in good condition, and the paint is not on an impact or friction surface, such as a window. Deteriorating lead-based paint (peeling, chipping, chalking, cracking, or damaged paint) is a hazard and needs attention. Lead dust can form when lead-based paint is scraped, sanded, or heated. Dust also forms when painted surfaces bump or rub together. Lead chips and dust can reside on surfaces and objects that people touch.

New Jersey Lead Law assumes that for a visual inspection, any deteriorated paint going to be automatically assumed to be leaded paint and is a hazard and must be addressed.

Interim controls are a set of measures designed to reduce temporarily human exposure or likely exposure to lead-based paint hazards, including specialized cleaning, repairs, maintenance, painting, temporary containment, ongoing monitoring of lead-based paint hazards or potential hazards.

Lead Questions?     Call the Experts

888-301-1050

New Jersey passed legislation requiring lead inspection of rental properties by June of 2024. Before this,  residential properties had only the Federal Title X to deal with, which allowed a buyer to test for lead in building competent before purchase but did not require the owner to do anything if lead was found.  Owners also have to disclose what they know about lead, which for most properties was nothing because they never did any lead inspections.    This new legislation levels the playing field by supplying owners with lead-based data. 

Any property subject to the NJ Lead Safe Law is now providing property owners inspection reports on lead.  New Jersey lead licensing requires licensed firms to document certain facts regarding inspections nad reports.  In addition, the lead inspections have included dust wipe sampling which tests for lead, these data points are now to be disclosed to future renters and buyers. 

Let me go a step further, the law allows you to obtain a Lead Safe or Lead-Free certificate for target rental units built before 1978.    Lead safe is a never-ending loop of inspections for these properties, every 2 to 3 years.  All inspections carry a cost and the cost is greater if renovation or lead remediation is required post-inspection.  You can imagine a pre-1978 rental property that holds a Lead Free designation is more valuable as it will exempt the property from future inspections.  This golden ticket so to speak is being reached for by landlords in the form of XRF Lead Paint Inspections, which are a surface by surface testing of interior building materials.  A rental property that is two-bedroom could have 200 different tests for lead.    Statistically speaking, the age of the dwelling and painting history are huge factors in your odds of finding lead.  And yes, we are seeing lead in properties where the landlord has professed to the building being totally gutted, completely renovated, we replaced everything. Yet lead we find and a report we must supply, which the landlord must now disclose to all future renters and buyers:

Federal law requires that before signing a lease for target housing, including most buildings built before 1978, renters must receive the following from your landlord:

• An EPA-approved information pamphlet on identifying and controlling lead-based paint hazards, Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home (PDF).
• Any known information concerning the presence of lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards in the home or building.
  • For multi-unit buildings, this requirement includes records and reports concerning common areas and other units when such information was obtained as a result of a building-wide evaluation.
• An attachment to the contract, or language inserted in the contract, that includes a "Lead Warning Statement" and confirms that the landlord has complied with all notification requirements.
  • Sample Lessor's Disclosure of Information in English (PDF) and in Spanish (PDF).

To make it simple the bolded red statement means before the NJ Lead Safe law landlords knew little about lead other than suspecting lead was present.  Well now the landlord has data points, reports, inspections data, lead wipe sampling and for those striving for LEAD FREE a map of the lead, which must be DISCLOSED.   Sometimes data sets show that lead based hazards were found, or testing found lead dust exceeding applicable standards, which can constitute a lead-based hazard.  

What you may not realize are the standards for lead dust wipe samples are very low and have only gotten lower and there is a goal that the standard should be at ZERO, for zero tolerance of residual lead.

The lead safe law is going to buildup data points these landlords/owners must disclose to renters and buyers under federal regulations. This is heavily slanted for those properties wanting to achieve a Lead-Free designation as they will undergo an XRF inspection and the lead will be mapped out in the report, which the owner must share.  More often than not when you do a Lead Paint Inspection, which tests all surfaces for Lead, you realize just how popular lead is in paint, stains, and varnishes.    This is stated because we have inspected many "Totally Gutted", and "Completely Renovated" buildings only to find lead is still present on painted and stained surfaces.

If you have to navigate a lead issue, landlord, buyer or seller, call the experts.

Lead Experts, Since 1998

888-301-1050

What is a Lead Free cert?

aka how do I get a lead free certification?

New Jersey's Lead Safe law is requiring landlords to have lead inspections, basically forever.  When lead is added to paint, stain or varnish, it increases durability, speeds drying time and resists moisture, who wouldn't want it.  Lead was also heavily advertised in paint, think of lead paint as todays Ozempic, people want to try it.

Although lead was a very popular additive to paint, maybe your house was built closer to the 1978 ban on lead paint (1971 in NJ) or you did extensive interior renovations.  If so, it would worth it to have a lead paint inspection, which entails surface testing of all surfaces inside a building to test for the presence of lead paint. (stains and varnishes as well).

A Lead Free Certification is valid for a lifetime.

A property is considered "Lead Free" when the property has been certified by a licensed lead paint inspector as “Lead Free”. This requires a Lead Paint Inspection using an XRF Analyzer to test all surfaces for the presence of lead..

At Curren we can discuss your options regarding obtaining a lead free cert and the likelihood of obtaining lead free designation for your property.  We are also fair, if you fail to get lead free or inspectors can pivot and provide lead safe.

Call the Lead Free Experts

856-858-9509

The technical side of a New Jersey Lead Free Certification would go as follow:

Lead free would be issued under N.J.A.C. 5:17.

There is a cert (paper form) from a certified NJ lead evaluation company, like Curren Environmental

The inspection required for Lead Free would follow HUD and 5:17 protocols;

The protocols require onsite testing with an XRF gun.  Common XRF units have a radioactive isotope, Curren's units which are saver do not utilize radioactive material.

5:17-3.6 Reports and certificates…

(b) If, upon performance of an inspection of all painted surfaces in accordance with this chapter, a unit or building is determined to be lead-free, the certified lead evaluation firm shall issue certification on a form prescribed by the Department to the owner and, upon request, to any enforcing agency having jurisdiction to enforce lead safety standards at the premises. The certified lead evaluation firm shall report issuance of all such certifications to the Department in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the Department. 1. The certificate or report shall be signed and dated and shall identify the building, common area(s) or dwelling unit(s) to which it applies. 2. In order to be certified as lead free, the paint shall be tested for lead content through XRF testing, paint chip analysis or another method of testing the lead content of paint permitted pursuant to this chapter. All such testing shall be performed in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and the protocols established in the HUD Guidelines.

(c) If, upon performance of an inspection and risk assessment in accordance with this chapter, a unit or building is determined to be free of lead-based paint hazards, the certified lead evaluation firm shall issue a certification on a form prescribed by the Department to the owner, and, upon request, to any enforcing agency having jurisdiction to enforce lead safety standards at the premises. The certified lead evaluation firm shall report issuance of all such certifications to the Department in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the Department. 1. The certificate or report shall be signed and dated, shall identify the building, common area(s) and dwelling unit(s) to which it applies. The certificate or report also shall include a statement cautioning the owner regarding the need to perform on-going evaluation and maintenance to ensure that the painted surfaces remain in a hazard free condition.

Call the  Experts

856-858-9509