Oregon Lead Paint Rules: Certification, Work Practices, Penalties

Oregon’s lead paint rules apply to homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978, and they reach three groups: people selling or renting those properties, companies paid to disturb painted surfaces in them, and the individual workers who do that work. Sellers and landlords owe disclosure. Paid renovators owe certification and lead-safe work practices. The Oregon Health Authority can fine violators up to $5,000 per violation per day.¹

Which Buildings Are Covered

Two categories trigger the rules. The first is target housing: any home built before 1978, which is when the federal ban on lead-based paint for consumer use took effect.² Homes built in 1978 or later generally fall outside the rules.

The second is a child-occupied facility built before 1978. Under the federal definition Oregon adopts, that means a building or portion of a building visited regularly by the same child under six on at least two days per week, with each visit lasting at least three hours, combined weekly visits totaling at least six hours, and combined annual visits totaling at least 60 hours.³ Daycares, preschools, and kindergarten classrooms are the usual examples, whether housed in residential or commercial buildings.

When Homeowner Work Is Exempt

If you own and live in your home and do the paint-disturbing work yourself without being paid, the certification and work practice standards do not apply to you. That exemption vanishes the moment the property is a rental, the moment it functions as a child-occupied facility, or the moment you hire someone to do the work.⁴

Minor Repair Thresholds

Not every scrape or patch triggers the full rulebook. Interior work affecting six square feet or less of painted surface per room counts as minor repair and maintenance. For exterior work, the threshold is 20 square feet or less.³ The exemption does not apply to window replacement, demolition, or any of the prohibited methods described below. Jobs done in the same room within a 30-day window are added together when measuring whether you’ve crossed the threshold.

What Sellers and Landlords Must Give

If you sell or rent a home built before 1978, federal law requires you to deliver two things before the buyer or tenant signs: a lead-based paint disclosure form identifying any known lead paint or hazards, and the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.⁵ Any inspection reports or risk assessment results you have must also be shared. These duties apply regardless of whether you believe past owners covered or removed the paint.

Buyers get something tenants don’t: a 10-day period to arrange their own professional lead inspection or risk assessment before the purchase contract binds them. The parties can agree in writing to a different window, and the buyer can waive the opportunity entirely.⁶ Landlords do not have to offer any inspection period, but the disclosure form and pamphlet are required for every new lease.

Skipping disclosure exposes you to civil penalties under the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the amounts are adjusted periodically for inflation.⁷ Buyers and tenants who weren’t properly notified can also sue.

Certification for Firms and Workers

Any company paid to disturb paint in pre-1978 housing or a child-occupied facility must be certified by the Oregon Health Authority before starting work.⁸ The firm must have at least one employee holding Certified Renovator status, and that person oversees lead-safe practices on every job.

Applications go to OHA with the fee attached. For lead-based paint activity firms the fee is currently $255, and OHA firm certification runs for three years rather than one, so plan ahead for recertification.⁹

The Certified Renovator credential itself comes from an OHA-accredited training provider. Initial training runs eight hours and includes two hours of hands-on instruction. Keeping the credential requires a four-hour refresher before the current certification expires, and the refresher must include hands-on training every other time. A hands-on refresher yields a five-year certification; the online-only version yields three years.¹⁰

Let the credential lapse and you cannot take the refresher. You have to retake the full eight-hour initial course.¹⁰ That lapse can sideline a crew for days.

Notice Before Work Starts

Before any covered renovation begins in a pre-1978 home, the firm must deliver the EPA lead hazard pamphlet to the owner and the occupants. In a child-occupied facility, the pamphlet goes to the building owner or an adult representative of the facility. For common areas in multi-family buildings or child-occupied facilities, the firm must either distribute renovation notices to tenants or parents, or post informational signs about the work. The firm has to keep a signed acknowledgment of receipt or a post office certificate of mailing as proof. Emergency renovations are exempt from this pre-renovation notice.

Lead-Safe Work Practices on the Job

The work practice standards exist to keep lead dust and debris inside the work area and out of occupied space.

Interior Setup

Before interior work begins, furniture, rugs, and window coverings have to be removed from the work area or covered with taped-down plastic. Ducts opening into the area must be sealed. Windows and doors stay closed, with doors covered in plastic sheeting. The floor must be covered with taped-down plastic extending at least six feet past the surfaces being worked on. Workers, tools, and waste containers have to be free of dust before anyone leaves the work area.¹¹

Exterior Setup

For exterior work, every door and window within 20 feet of the renovation area must be closed. Ground covering has to extend at least 10 feet past the surfaces being worked on, or to the property line if that is closer. When work happens within 10 feet of a property line, the firm must erect vertical containment to keep dust and debris off neighboring buildings.¹¹

Methods That Are Off-Limits

Open-flame burning or torching of painted surfaces is prohibited outright. Power tools that sand, grind, or strip paint may only be used when fitted with HEPA-filtered exhaust attachments.¹¹ Heat guns at temperatures high enough to vaporize lead also fall on the wrong side of the line. These rules trigger the per-day penalty when ignored.

Cleaning and Verification

After the work ends, the firm follows prescribed cleaning procedures to remove all visible dust and debris. The Certified Renovator assigned to the project then performs a post-renovation cleaning verification before occupants return.¹¹

Records You Have to Keep

Firms must keep documentation of every covered renovation for at least three years after completion. The required records include any paint testing results, signed acknowledgments of pamphlet delivery, documentation that a Certified Renovator was assigned and provided on-the-job training to workers, and certification that lead-safe practices were followed. If the firm relied on a test showing no lead was present to skip the full work practice requirements, the records must identify the test kit manufacturer and model, describe which surfaces were tested, and report the results.¹² Oregon or EPA can ask to see these records at any point during the retention period.

When Abatement Rules Apply Instead

Renovation and abatement are separate activities under Oregon law. Renovation is work done for another purpose, such as remodeling a kitchen or replacing siding, that happens to disturb lead paint. Abatement is work done specifically to permanently remove lead-based paint hazards, and it requires additional specialized training beyond the Certified Renovator credential.¹³

Abatement firms need a separate license through the Oregon Construction Contractors Board, renewed annually. Abatement workers and supervisors hold individual OHA certifications valid for three years, with refresher training required for renewal.¹⁴

Penalties and Enforcement

Under ORS 431A.363, the Oregon Health Authority can impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation per day against anyone who performs lead-based paint activities or renovations without proper certification, violates a rule adopted under ORS 431A.355, or fails to comply with an OHA enforcement order.¹

Fines are not the whole exposure. If OHA brings in its own contractors to perform a risk assessment or clean up hazards a firm left behind, the violator pays those costs. Liability can also run sideways: when a firm hires a subcontractor and fails to identify that subcontractor to OHA, the firm shares liability for the subcontractor’s violations.¹ OHA can also suspend or revoke a firm’s or individual’s certification for noncompliance.⁸

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 431A.363 – Civil Penalty for Violation of ORS 431A.355 or 431A.358
2
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC Announces Final Ban on Lead-Containing Paint
3
eCFR. 40 CFR 745.83 – Definitions
4
Oregon Health Authority. Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule
5
Oregon Health Authority. Property Owners, Managers and Realtors
6
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards
7
eCFR. 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards
8
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 431A.355 – Power of Oregon Health Authority to Regulate Lead-Based Paint Activities and Renovation
9
Oregon Health Authority. Inspection and Abatement Professionals
10
US EPA. Renovation, Repair and Painting Program – Renovator Training
11
eCFR. 40 CFR 745.85 – Work Practice Standards
12
eCFR. 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E – Residential Property Renovation
13
Oregon Health Authority. Lead Paint Regulations
14
Oregon.gov. Lead Abatement Contractors License-Business