Pre-1978 homes · Massachusetts
Lead paint rules, and how to check any contractor in about two minutes
Concord, Sudbury, Lexington, Wayland, Weston, Lincoln and Carlisle are overwhelmingly pre-1978. Almost no painting company website in this area mentions lead once. Here is what the law actually requires, what it costs, and how to verify anyone who bids on your house — including us.
When the rules apply
Federal and Massachusetts lead-safe renovation rules cover work done for compensation in housing built before 1978, once a job disturbs more than:
- 6 square feet of painted surface inside a single room, or
- 20 square feet of painted surface outside.
Three things override the square footage entirely. Any window replacement is covered, at any size. Any demolition of a painted surface is covered, at any size. And if a whole painted component is removed, the entire surface area of that component counts — not just the part you can see was disturbed.
Two more traps worth knowing, because contractors get them wrong in good faith: separate jobs in the same room within 30 days are added together, and the exemption is lost outright if anyone uses a prohibited practice — open-flame burning or torching, power sanding, grinding or blasting without HEPA exhaust control, or a heat gun at 1,100°F or above.
A full exterior repaint on a pre-1978 house crosses 20 square feet within the first hour of scraping. Interior trim and doors cross 6 square feet in a single room almost as fast. In practice, most real work on an old MetroWest house is covered.
EPA — Renovation, Repair and Painting Program · 40 CFR 745.83 — definitions and thresholds · 454 CMR 22.00 — Massachusetts deleading and lead-safe renovation
Massachusetts is stricter than the federal rule
Massachusetts has been an EPA-authorised state since 22 July 2010, which means the Commonwealth runs its own programme and the federal firm certification is not the credential to ask for. What you want is a Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor licence from the Department of Labor Standards. Licence numbers begin with LR, the licence runs five years, and it costs the contractor $375.
Massachusetts goes further than the federal rule in ways that matter on your job:
- It is unlawful here to perform, offer, or claim to perform covered renovation work without the licence. Advertising it without holding it is itself the violation.
- A certified Lead-safe Renovator-supervisor must be assigned to the project, and the state tells homeowners to expect that supervisor on site while work is in progress. The federal rule only requires them to be reachable by phone.
- Coverage extends to carpentry, remodelling, drywall, electrical, plumbing, floor refinishing, window replacement and demolition — not only to painting.
- Workers need both the state lead training and OSHA Lead in Construction training.
Deleading is a different licence again. Deleading permanently removes or covers lead hazards, usually so an owner can obtain a Letter of Full Deleading Compliance under the Massachusetts Lead Law. It requires a licensed deleading contractor — a separate licence, a separate state list, 32 hours of supervisor training instead of 8, and advance notification to the state. The clean way to hold the distinction: deleading makes a home legally compliant; lead-safe renovation makes ordinary work safe without making the home compliant. If a lender, a buyer or a health inspector is asking you for a Letter of Compliance, you need a deleader, and no painting contractor should tell you otherwise.
How to verify anyone, including us
The Department of Labor Standards publishes the list of every licensed Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor in Massachusetts. It is a downloadable spreadsheet — not a search box — ordered by town, and it shows the licence number, the expiry date, the company, the address and whether the firm carries employees. It takes about two minutes.
Find a licensed Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor (Mass.gov, .xlsx) · Find a licensed Deleading Contractor · Home Improvement Contractor registration lookup
HIC registration is not a lead credential
Ours is #177081 and we publish it everywhere, but a Home Improvement Contractor registration is a consumer-protection registration from the Office of Consumer Affairs. It says nothing whatsoever about lead. Any contractor who answers a lead question by showing you an HIC number has changed the subject, and you should notice.
The five questions, and what a good answer sounds like
- My house was built in ____. Does the rule apply to this job? A good answer references the square footage of the actual scope, not a generic yes or no.
- Are you a Massachusetts-licensed Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor? What is your LR number? A number, immediately, without being asked twice.
- Who is the certified Lead-safe Renovator-supervisor on my job, and will they be on site? A name.
- Will I get the Renovate Right pamphlet and sign for it? Yes — no more than 60 days before work starts, with a signed acknowledgment, and the records kept for three years. It is a federal requirement, adopted wholesale by Massachusetts.
- Is the lead-safe work its own line on the estimate? Yes, with a number next to it.
Ask all five of every bidder. A contractor who is irritated by the questions has answered them.
Read the full homeowner guide to lead paint in Massachusetts →
What it adds to a job
15 – 30%
On the labour of the affected work, when a licensed contractor does it properly. It should be a separate line on the estimate, never buried in a total.
Penalties, so you know this is real
The maximum federal civil penalty is $49,772 per violation, per day. Massachusetts can add administrative penalties of up to $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000 per violation depending on intent and history, and unlicensed deleading is a criminal offence.
Where Target Painting stands on this
Where we stand. Target Painting is not currently licensed as a Massachusetts Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor. We are saying that here, in public, on the page most likely to rank for it — because the alternative is letting you find out after you have signed something.
What that means in practice: we do not quote or perform work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface in a room, or more than 20 square feet outside, in a home built before 1978. If your walk-through shows the job crosses those lines, we will tell you at the walk-through, not after. We will also tell you which licensed firms in your town do this work — the state publishes the list, ordered by town, and anyone can read it.
What we do quote in a pre-1978 home: work that stays under those thresholds, and everything that does not disturb paint at all. In a 1978-or-later home the rule does not apply and there is nothing to discuss.
Checked against the Department of Labor Standards list of licensed Lead-Safe Renovation Contractors, August 2026. The list is public — please check it yourself rather than trusting this paragraph.
FAQ
Lead paint questions homeowners actually ask
How do I know whether my house has lead paint?
Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. If your house went up before then, assume it may be present until someone who is licensed to say so tests it. A certified lead inspector or risk assessor can give you a written determination; that document is also the only route that lets an unlicensed contractor legally work above the thresholds.
There are no young children in my house. Does that exempt the job?
No — and this is the most common false claim in the trade, so it is worth being blunt. EPA used to allow an owner-occupant with no child under six to sign an opt-out and waive lead-safe work practices. EPA revoked it on 22 April 2010 and it stopped being available on 6 July 2010. It does not exist today, in Massachusetts or anywhere else, and no contractor can offer you one.
Children under six matter for a different law: under M.G.L. c. 111 §197 an owner must delead or contain lead paint where a child under six lives. That is the owner’s duty, and it needs a licensed deleader, not a painter.
Can I just sign something and have the contractor skip the containment?
No. It is not a service level you can decline, it is the law, and the dust ends up in the soil where children play. Any contractor who offers to skip it in exchange for a lower price has told you everything you need to know about the rest of their work.
What does it add to the price?
Roughly 15 to 30 percent on the labour of the affected work, depending on how much surface is disturbed and how much containment the site needs. It should appear as its own line on any estimate. If a bidder on a pre-1978 house has no lead line at all, that is not a cheaper contractor — that is a contractor who has not priced the job correctly, or is not planning to do it correctly.
What exactly should I ask every bidder?
Five questions: my house was built in ____, does the rule apply to this job; are you a Massachusetts-licensed Lead-Safe Renovation Contractor and what is your LR number; who is the certified Lead-safe Renovator-supervisor who will be on site; will you give me the Renovate Right pamphlet and a signed acknowledgment; and is the lead-safe work its own line on the estimate. Then verify the LR number yourself. The full explanation is here →
Tell us the year the house was built, and we will tell you where you stand.
It is the first question at every walk-through on an older house, and the answer changes the scope, the price and sometimes who should be doing the work. We would rather have that conversation before you sign anything.