Local Law 31 NYC: Deadlines, Testing Triggers, and Penalties

Local Law 31 of 2020 requires owners of New York City residential buildings built before 1960 (and some built between 1960 and 1978) to test every dwelling unit and common area for lead-based paint using an XRF analyzer, keep the records for ten years, and remediate hazards when they appear. The central testing deadline was August 9, 2025. That date has passed, so any covered building without completed XRF testing is already exposed to Class C immediately hazardous violations carrying civil penalties up to $1,500 per violation.¹

Which Buildings Are Covered

The law applies to residential buildings with three or more units built before 1960. It also covers buildings built between 1960 and 1978 if the owner has any knowledge that lead-based paint is present. Rental units in one- and two-family homes fall under the same rules.¹

Testing is not limited to apartments. Hallways, stairwells, lobbies, and laundry rooms count as common areas that must be inspected.¹ Co-ops and condos are not exempt. Boards in pre-1960 buildings carry the same obligations as traditional landlords.

One boundary worth noting: federal lead disclosure rules reach further. EPA’s definition of “target housing” covers pre-1978 housing with limited exceptions for senior housing (where no child under six lives or is expected to live) and studio apartments.² A building outside Local Law 31’s scope may still owe federal disclosure duties.

The August 2025 Deadline Has Passed — Now What

Owners had five years, from August 9, 2020 to August 9, 2025, to complete XRF testing in every covered unit and common area. That window has closed.¹ Testing late does not erase the violation. HPD can and does issue Class C violations for the missed deadline itself, separate from any lead hazards the testing eventually finds.

If your building hasn’t been tested, the shortest path to reducing exposure is to hire an EPA-certified lead paint inspector or risk assessor and get XRF testing done. The inspector and their firm must be independent of the owner and of any company the owner might hire for abatement work.³ If a tenant refuses access, send a notice by certified mail or first class mail with proof of mailing explaining why access is needed, and save the documentation. That paper trail is your evidence if HPD questions why a unit wasn’t tested.⁴

The inspector uses a handheld XRF analyzer to read lead content in every painted surface without scraping. Testing is conducted at the 0.5 mg/cm² action level, and the inspector produces a report identifying each surface as lead-positive or lead-free.¹ That report is the building’s official lead status record.

Ongoing Testing Triggers After the Deadline

Even buildings that met the August 2025 deadline face continuing obligations.

When a child under six begins residing in a unit that has not been tested, the owner has one year from the date the child moves in to complete XRF testing.
At unit turnover, lead-positive door and window friction components identified through prior testing must be abated before or during the turnover, regardless of whether a child will live in the unit.⁵
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene can order an inspection at any time based on a reported case of elevated blood lead levels or a complaint.

Under city law a child “resides” in a unit if they routinely spend ten or more hours per week there.⁶ That captures grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and children in informal daycare arrangements, not just tenants’ own kids.

What to Do When Lead Is Found

Testing is the starting point, not the finish line. What’s required next depends on whether the lead-positive paint is peeling and whether a child under six is in the picture.

Peeling Paint With a Child Under Six Present

This is the most urgent scenario. Hire an EPA-certified abatement firm to correct the hazard using safe work practices such as wet scraping. If the work is being done to address an HPD or DOHMH violation, a certified renovation firm cannot be used — only an abatement company qualifies.⁵ Dry sanding and dry scraping are never permitted.⁷ After the work, an independent EPA-certified firm must perform dust wipe clearance testing to confirm the area is safe.

Peeling Paint Without a Child Present

Repairing peeling lead paint is still best practice, and if there’s an open violation on the surface, the same rules apply: EPA-certified abatement firm, safe work practices, independent dust clearance testing afterward.⁵

Lead-Positive Paint That Isn’t Peeling

Intact lead-positive paint doesn’t require immediate abatement. You must monitor the surface over time, document that monitoring in your annual records, and address it the moment it starts to deteriorate. At turnover, lead-positive door and window friction components get abated regardless of condition and regardless of whether children will live there.⁵

Dust Wipe Clearance Standards

After any work that disturbs lead-based paint, dust wipe clearance testing confirms the space has been properly cleaned. The requirement is triggered any time more than two square feet of paint is disturbed in a pre-1960 building where a child under six lives.⁸

NYC’s clearance thresholds, effective since June 2021:

Floors: below 5 mcg/ft²
Window sills: below 40 mcg/ft²
Window wells: below 100 mcg/ft²

Any area that fails must be recleaned and retested until it passes.⁸ The clearance firm must be EPA-certified and independent of the firm that did the remediation.

Record-Keeping and HPD Audits

All documentation — lead inspection reports, XRF results, abatement records, dust clearance results, inspector certifications — must be kept for at least ten years from the date of inspection.⁴ If the building is sold, the seller transfers every lead-related record to the new owner, who inherits the duty to maintain them for the rest of the ten-year period.

HPD does not require routine portal uploads of XRF results. Instead, you keep the records on file and produce them within 45 days when HPD requests them, whether through a routine audit or in connection with a violation.¹ A Record Production Order typically asks for XRF testing records, documentation of work performed at turnover, proof of safe work practices used, and dust clearance test results.

There is one escape valve for owners with incomplete history. If you can provide at least three consecutive years of documentation (including the current year), you can apply for dismissal of a record-keeping violation by paying $1,000 for each of the ten years where records are missing.⁴ Seven missing years is $7,000 just to clear the violation, before building a compliant system going forward.

Penalties

Penalties escalate by the type of failure, and they apply per violation. A building with multiple untested units or multiple missing records can accumulate thousands of dollars in exposure.

Failure to complete XRF testing: Class C immediately hazardous violation, civil penalties up to $1,500.¹
Failure to produce records on audit: Class C violation, civil penalties ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.¹
Record-keeping violations with incomplete history: $1,000 per missing year if applying for dismissal with fewer than ten years of records.

Class C violations also appear on the building’s public record and can complicate refinancing, sales, and insurance renewals. Beyond city fines, an owner who fails to address known lead hazards faces potential personal injury liability if a child is harmed.

The Annual Notice

Each year, owners of covered buildings must send every tenant a combined notice about lead paint hazards and window guard requirements. Tenants return the form by February 15. The notice asks whether any child age five or younger lives in or regularly spends time in the apartment.⁶

When a tenant reports a child of applicable age, the owner must inspect the unit at least once a year for peeling paint and other lead hazards, use safe work practices to correct what’s found, and share the inspection results with the tenant. If a tenant doesn’t return the form, the owner must personally visit the unit to determine whether a child resides there.⁶ Failing to follow up on unreturned notices is one of the most common compliance gaps HPD catches during audits. Tenants also have an independent duty to notify the owner in writing when a child under six begins spending significant time in the unit.

Federal Rules That Also Apply

Local Law 31 does not operate alone. Federal EPA requirements layer on top of city obligations, and many NYC landlords overlook them.

Lead Disclosure at Lease Signing

Before signing a lease for any pre-1978 housing, landlords must provide tenants with the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards, and share all available inspection reports. The lease must include a lead warning statement, and the landlord must keep signed copies of the disclosure for three years.⁹ Narrow exceptions exist for short-term rentals under 100 days and senior housing without young children.

Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule

Any renovation, repair, or painting project in a pre-1978 building that disturbs lead-based paint must be performed by an EPA lead-safe certified contractor. The homeowner exemption that lets people work on their own homes does not extend to rental properties.¹⁰ For NYC owners who already have XRF data identifying lead-positive surfaces, every maintenance call that touches those surfaces triggers the RRP rule’s contractor certification requirement.

1
Housing Preservation & Development. Lead-Based Paint
2
eCFR. 40 CFR 745.103 – Definitions
3
Housing Preservation & Development. Get Ahead of Lead Briefing December 2022
4
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Final Rule Amendments Regarding Lead-Based Paint
5
NYC Housing Preservation and Development. Frequently Asked Questions – XRF Testing Requirements
6
NYC Health. Protect Your Child From Lead Poisoning and Window Falls Annual Notice
7
NYC311. Lead Paint
8
NYC Health. New Lead in Dust Standards for New York City
9
US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards
10
US EPA. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program