A New Jersey Lead Safe Certificate is good for 2 years but can last 3 years.

When a certificate expires, you have to have another inspection, either after two (2) years or between two (2)  2 years and three years.   The New Jersey Lead safe certification is never-ending and your obligations are perpetual. The law is also very confusing, so let's clear up the biggest question people have which is how long does the lead safe certificate last?

That answer is confusing as is the NJ Lead Law, so let me clarify.

A lead safe certification lasts two years.

But if you have a tenant that occupies a rental unit that has a valid (unexpired) lead safe certificate and that tenant remains a tenant past the 2-year certificate expiration, then the cert can be valid for 3 years (from date of issuance) or shorter if the tenant only stays say 6 months past the 2-year period.

Lead Safe Certification Duration Example

Let's say you have a tenant that signs a 5-year lease.

You get a lead safe cert that’s good for 2 years.

The lead safe certificate will last 3 years because a tenant has occupied the unit during the initial 2 years and the law has a belief that the tenant knowing the property is lead safe would notify the landlord if it became unsafe. This carnal knowledge so to speak allows the cert to last 3 years.

Now at the 3-year mark, you must get a reinspection, even if the tenant is staying. The longest anyone can go without another lead inspection is 3 years.

Following this example, when this dream tenant who has signed a 5-year lease leaves at year 5, you must get another inspection.

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Lead Risk assessors are required to perform dust wipe sampling only in towns that are on the DCA list 2022-23 Lead-Based Paint Inspection Methodology Pursuant to P.L.2021, c.182.  Link below:

2022-23 Lead-Based Paint Inspection Methodology Pursuant to P.L.2021, c.182

Some municipalities that have staff to complete the inspection  want to do both visual and wipe sample., even if the town is visual only.

The law allows municipal inspectors to perform visual and dust wipe even if the municipality is not a dust wipe town.  The law reads as follows:

For dwellings located in a municipality in which less than three percent of children six years of age or younger tested have a blood lead level greater than or equal to five micrograms per deciliter, the inspection may be carried out through visual inspection, as explained in Section 3.3.4, below. However, these municipalities may elect to undertake dust wipe sampling, as explained in Section 3.3.5, below.

3.3.5 (p.15) says:

3.3.5 Dust Wipe Sampling Dust wipe sampling is collected by wiping representative surfaces, including floors (both carpeted and uncarpeted), interior windowsills, and other similar surfaces, and testing in accordance with a method approved by HUD. These samples must be undertaken properly to ensure that results are accurate. N.J.A.C. 5:17 contains requirements for dust wipe sampling. In addition, Appendix 13.1 of the HUD Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing provides the protocol for sample collection. This Appendix is available online at: https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/LBPH-40.PDF. It is recommended that the lead evaluation contractor or permanent local agency also perform a visual inspection when undertaking a dust wipe sampling.

Many municipalities chose to do wipe sampling in addition to visual because it provides a higher level of confident that there is no health risk at the time of inspection.   Attorneys and insurance carriers might prefer it though, so the inspection is more thorough.  Although dust wipe sampling adds cost when not required and it might pick up lead contamination from some source other than paint.

The NJ Lead Safe law has created a lot of confusion for landlords.  Bottom line it pays for landlords to contract their own lead paint inspection for rental units.

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