FAQ Check: Lead Paint in Your Co-op / Condo

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Q. What is lead paint, and why is it dangerous?

A. Wall and ceiling paint that contains lead, as paint did for centuries, is now outlawed because poses a significant health hazard, particularly to children and pregnant women.

Lead poisoning is toxic to organs and tissues including the heart, intestines, kidneys and the reproductive and nervous systems — that last of which can lead to permanent learning and behavioral disorders.  An estimated 120,000 children under 6 tested positive for elevated lead levels nationally in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — which is down from the 890,000 in 1994 and the 434,000 in 2000. In New York City, which already had a Local Law addressing lead paint, there were 1,572 children who tested positively for lead in 2008, down from 20,000 in 1995.

Q. How common is lead paint in apartments today?

A. The vast majority of apartments in New York City do not have lead paint. It's very uncommon on the flat part of a wall. When lead paint is found, it is generally on risers, windowsills, doors and moldings.

Q. What New York City law should I know about regarding lead paint?

A. Local Law 1 of 2004, a.k.a. the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 2003, toughened and superseded Local Law 38 by defining lead hazards; setting standards for lead-dust levels; reducing the lead limits to .7m from 1.0m; presuming that all pre-1960 buildings may have had lead paint; raising the age of concern regarding children from 6 to 7, and requiring owners to requires owners to inspect for lead and to determine if a child under 7 lives in an apartment. It also set deadlines for city inspections and for follow-up inspections.

The law requires that a four-step process  similar to that used for window guards: notification, inspection, remediation and record-keeping.

Note that the law does not require the inspection of single-family homes or of owner-occupied apartments in co-ops or condos, even if small children reside there. Condo and co-op boards, however, must inspect non-owner-occupied apartments (such as rentals, sublets and the super's apartment) when a child 7 years old or younger is living there. Boards must as well inspect the common areas "regularly used for access and egress to a dwelling unit," such as lobbies, hallways and stairwells, though not other common areas, such as boiler rooms or laundry rooms.

Q. I've received the notification letter and told the board a child under 7 years old lives in the apartment. What happens now?

A.  Now the co-op board or condo association must conduct a lead-paint inspection and "remediate" (that is, remove the lead paint) by hiring workers trained in safe lead-removal practices. Areas over 100 square feet in size require EPA-trained workers to do the job.

Notably, the law allows a board or association to shift responsibility for compliance with the lead-paint law, by agreement, to the unit-owner.

Q. What enforcement authority does New York City have?

A. While your condo or co-op board has an obligation to inspect and "remediate" common areas, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) does not have the authority to inspect and issue a violation for lead paint found in a common area. HPD's authority is limited to inspecting a dwelling unit in which a young child lives.

Q.  What if the board doesn't remediate the common areas that contain lead paint?

A. If a building does not inspect and remediate the specified common areas — even if only one child 7 or younger lives in the co-op or condo building — the condo or co-op board can be exposed to a personal-injury lawsuit if a child shows symptoms of lead poisoning.

Q. How about federal law?

A. In April 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established rules under its "Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program." This applies to housing constructed before 1978, and excludes housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities unless any child under age 6 lives there or is expected to. It requires training, certifying and accrediting of renovators, renovation firms and dust-sampling technicians; sets renovation work practices; and set recordkeeping requirements. Certified persons are required for any painting, window/door replacement or anything else that disturbs more than six square feet of paint in an apartment. Enforcement was later delayed until October 2010, in order to give building owners and co-op / condo boards more time to prepare.

For more information, see “Frequent Questions on EPA’s June 18, 2010 Implementation Guidance for the Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule."

Q. How does that law affect me?

A. "Renovation" in this case can mean acts as simple as scraping paint or even removing carpets if it involves pulling up painted baseboards — but that's only if a professional contractor or handyman is doing the work. The new rule doesn't apply to co-op shareholders or condo unit-owners doing their own renovation, repair or painting in their own home.

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