ALERT! Do you work in homes built in 1978 or earlier?

Without question this lead law is the single most destructive piece of legislation ever put upon the people of this country in my 30 years in the business. You know other than ducking $37500.00 fines and executing incredibly mundane & impossibly boring procedures and paperwork all day long this lead rule is really a direct frontal attack against the homeowner and is a shining example of government at its worst. Even if you were desperate enough to give lead a go and be in compliance the customer will not be able to pay the extra that will be required to be in compliance.

Need proof, after 30 years in business I am use to a middle to high 5 figure income, now in this economy I bid jobs at $35.00 per hour and materials with no mark up on anything and I loose job after job to lower bidders, try adding 25 to 35 % for lead, OSHA, State programs and see what happens, they are forcing honest guys to do things they wouldn’t normally want to do.

As I read this blog I am amazed at the lack of anger & outrage toward government over this latest development with the lead. Lets recap what has happened to Maine for instance in the last 3 years. OSHA can now treat the little guy just as if you were a big commercial contractor fines and all, subcontractor description rule changes which will make subcontracting a dicey experience and likely lead to forced participation in unemployment & workers comp programs, LEAD LAW RULE say no more, healthcare . Anyone feeling a little cramped yet?

Some fun and helpful lead reminders from my lead class fellow contractors:

1. Make sure you post your orange EPA designed signs outside the work area in the language of the people that might need to be notified of the work thats going on, by the way it is your responsibility to figure out who the hell they might be and what language they speak but after all you wouldn’t want to hurt anyones feeling by requiring them to speak or read English LOL.

2. You now own and are liable for every paint chip that has ever fallen on the ground or gotten caught in a bush outside or buried just slightly underground since the day that place was built, after all who knows when it got there lets be reasonable.

3. $37500.00 fine per per violation per day, non negotiable. It was put to me this way, they will take your bank account, your house, your truck and trailer, your tools and/or anything else of tangible value they can get there hands on you can be wiped out in one bad job. PS thousands of ways to be in violation.

4. While bringing you plastic wrapped pieces and bags to the dump do not stop for a coffee, relief, or God for bid if the dump should close before you get there, EPA has a special treat for you here, your debris has now been magically transformed and been reclassified into HAZARDOUS WASTE and is now more costly to dispose of than it was just a coffee ago after all you broke the waste flow to the dump after they were nice enough to let you dump into the residential waste stream.

5. Licensed testers must keep all records for 3 years, records that go so far as to say how many square feet you wiped up with one of your Swiffter cloths (by the way 40 SF per cloth is the max) just tring to be helpful.

6. If you are not going to remove all contents from the room your working in make sure the plastic you cover everything with goes completely under the furniture or is taped securely to the floor or carpet, PS don’t worry the glue in tape would never damage a delicate surface or fail to stick to carpet after all this is a certified proceedure by the EPA.

Alright enough already I could go on for ever! In summary if you do lead jobs you are either a lead abatement/cleaning company that remodels or a remodeling company that abats and cleans no middle ground as for me the new name of my company is the 1978 corporation I have too much to loose best of luck to you all.

D. Davis – RRC Inc oopppps I mean D. Davis – 1978 Inc.