Why Should I Care About Lead Paint - I Don’t Even Do Any Painting!
What Is HouseAgeCheck.com?
Why Can’t I Just Ask The Customer When Their House Was Built?
What Is Coded Information?
Are Contractors Legally Required To Use Coded Information?
Why Is Your Coded Information So Important To Contractors Running Leads?
What Does The Coding Look Like?
How Do I Get Started?
What Does It Cost?
How Do I Pay?
Where Do You Get Your Information From?
Do You Have Coded Information On Every House In The U.S.?
Do You Guarantee The Coded Information You Provide?
Will The EPA Accept Your Coded Information?
What Is The Best Way For Me To Use Your Coded Information?
Is My Information Secure?
Can’t I Do This Myself?
Are You Affiliated With The EPA?
What Else Does HouseAgeCheck.com Offer?
We hear this quite a bit. The issue really has nothing to do with painting. In the Spring of 2008, the Toxic Substances Control Act or “TSCA” was amended. The purpose of the amendment was to try to solve the problem of lead paint that remains in many houses built before 1978 (the use of lead paint in residential construction was banned in 1977). The primary concern raised by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), members of Congress and many consumer groups, was that construction work in lead paint-contaminated homes can result in lead paint dust and debris. This dust and debris can then cause or contribute to lead poisoning in children and adults.
Unfortunately, forcing the problem of lead paint onto the contracting industry, an industry that had nothing to do with the problem in the first place (a problem which was caused by paint manufacturers and lax government regulation) is arguably a bad solution to a bad problem. But, in a nutshell, TSCA requires that a contractor do three things when performing work on a house built before 1978:
First, provide customers with a special pamphlet titled “Renovate Right: Lead Hazard Information for Families, Child Care Providers and Schools” before starting work.
Second, as of April 22, 2010, the contractor has to test to determine if lead paint may be present at the work area.
Third, if lead paint is present at the work area, the contractor must then use specialized “lead-safe work practices” in performing the job. This means using specialized clothing, equipment, procedures and clearance testing to perform and complete the work. The idea is to reduce or eliminate the risk of lead paint dust resulting from the work. Only contractors that are registered with the EPA are allowed to do this, and only EPA-licensed Certified Renovators and specially trained crews can perform lead-safe work practices.
With the right training and procedures in place, most contractors are able to profitably perform a job even using lead-safe work practices. The overwhelming problem is that it is often impossible to determine if a job will or will not require the use of lead-safe work practices, until you have actually tested the work area for lead paint. Testing takes time, requires the approved test kit, and has to be done by a Certified Renovator. And, by the time testing is done, most contractors have already completed the sales pitch, negotiated the price and may even have signed the contracts. Now you are faced with having to consider re-pricing the job, changing the financing paperwork, perhaps providing a new rescission or cancellation right to your customer, and dealing with the massive amount of paperwork necessary to properly test for lead paint and perform and track lead-safe work practices in the home.
But, what if there was a reliable way to know – ahead of time – if the house was built after 1977 – and that it absolutely does not have lead paint in it? No testing needed! If you knew that, then you wouldn’t even have to think about lead paint. You could canvass, present a sales pitch in the home and even set an appointment over the telephone, without worrying about lead paint tests and lead-safe work practices! And, the reverse is true: if you knew lead paint could be present in the home, you could prepare for it ahead of time, even consider testing for it as part of your sales presentation!
That is the purpose of HouseAgeCheck.com. HouseAgeCheck.com is an informational research and analysis project that was formed to solve this one problem – to offer contractors a means to quickly and effectively determine if a house was built before 1978 or not. If it was, you need to consider lead paint as a factor before you even walk in the customer’s door. But, if not, then you don’t have a concern.
Housing statistics show us this is a very serious and widespread problem facing the remodeling and home improvement industry. 87% of homes built before 1940 have lead paint in them. 69% of homes built between 1940 and 1960 are contaminated with lead paint, as are 24% of homes built between 1960 and 1978. Knowing if you can avoid worrying about lead paint tests and lead-safe work practices ahead of time can save a contractor a huge amount of time, paperwork and money!
You can - and you should – but only as a back up to confirm the findings produced by HouseAgeCheck.com. Reliance on what a customer may tell you is not legally sufficient for the EPA. This makes sense for a number of reasons if you think about it.
First, many people do not know for sure when their home was built. Second, some people simply may not remember. Third, there is a concern that a sales representative may pressure a consumer into offering up a date that may not be accurate in order to avoid the time and expense of using lead-safe work practices (shocking, of course, but you never know). Fourth, expect the customer to say one thing, and your sales representative to say something else once a dispute starts about this.
For all these reasons, and more, the EPA has made clear that it is your responsibility (and your liability) if you install a job without using lead-safe work practices and it turns out the house really did have lead paint in it. You can’t use “the customer told me the house was built in 1980” to avoid being sued and it won’t stop the EPA from fining you up to $37,500 per violation – per day! You may wish to check with your legal counsel for further information on this.
HouseAgeCheck.com will stand behind the coded information we provide as an independent third-party. We suggest you use our coded information, and then after you close the sale, have the customer back-up our findings in writing. If you are interested in a form which can be used in the home for just this purpose, you may wish to contact Kachina Lead Paint Solutions LLC.
Coded information is the term used to describe the process by which the address of a home or building is marked or “coded” to indicate if it was constructed in or before 1977, after 1977, or if there is insufficient information available to reliably make a “year built” determination.
No, it is up to you. The EPA does not care if you use coded information or not. What is important to the EPA (and to a contractor, since the fine for a violation is up to $37,500 per day, per violation!) is making sure that if lead paint is present at the work area, the contractor uses the specialized lead-safe work practices in performing the job. But, by using coded information you can determine ahead of time that lead paint is not present in the home – so you don’t need to worry about lead paint tests or lead-safe work practices!
Well, if a contractor is closing a sale on a house built in or before 1977, they are almost always going to have to test for lead paint. Testing takes time, requires the approved test kit, and has to be done by a Certified Renovator. And, unless you are going to test each home before you make your sales pitch, by the time testing is done the price has been negotiated and contracts have been signed. Now you are faced with having to consider re-pricing the job, changing the financing paperwork, perhaps providing a new rescission or cancellation right to your customer, and dealing with the massive amount of paperwork necessary to properly test for lead paint and perform and track lead-safe work practices in the home.
But, by using coded information you can determine ahead of time that lead paint is not present in the home – so you don’t need to worry about lead paint tests or lead-safe work practices (at least on homes coded as pre-1978!) And, the reverse is true: if you knew lead paint could be present in the home, you could prepare for it ahead of time, even consider testing for it as part of your sales presentation!
Next to each address we clearly code a symbol. A 
means the house was built after 1977 – there is no lead paint to worry about. A 
means the house was built before 1978, so you will need to test for lead paint unless you can argue the job falls under an exception in the law (such as it is a zero-bedroom dwelling or that there are no painted surfaces at the job site, etc.). A 
means that either there was no reliable data available to determine the year built, or the address may have been entered incorrectly such that the results of our research where unproductive.
Simple. Just download our short Registration Form, fill it out and e-mail or fax it back to us. The instructions are right on the form. Then, simply export your address data from your lead tracking software program, and e-mail us the addresses in an .excel, text or .pdf format. If you prefer, you can also download our Data Form and fill in the addresses on our form. Then, e-mail your data or the Data Form to us at: orders@HouseAgeCheck.com. You can also fax your data to us at: (800) 791-4126. We will analyze and clearly code each address, and send the form back to you within hours.
At this time we are attempting to keep costs as low as possible for the industry. Each address analyzed and coded green (year built is 1978 or later) or coded red (year built is 1977 or earlier) is $2.00. Each address analyzed and coded yellow (unable to reliably determine the year built) is $1.00. Additional charges may apply depending on the method and means used to submit data to us, however. Please see our Terms and Conditions of Use for current pricing schedules..
Our charges are applied directly to the credit card information you provide on the Registration Form. We do not charge your credit card until we have completed the coding process and returned your data to you.
HouseAgeCheck.com utilizes a large array of sources to create a national pool of information, and from there we gather our information. Our sources include public and private data, such as multiple listing services, private real estate postings, foreclosure notices, tax assessor records, deed records, etc.
We currently estimate our geographical coverage is approximately 95% of all counties in the United States, with data on approximately 125 million homes. Is that every house in the United States? No, but we are continually seeking to increase our coverage.
We guaranty that our coded information is gathered accurately and correctly from public and private independent third-party sources which we have determined to be as reliable as possible at the time of coding. We will certify that, along with our coding, to the EPA in the event you are under an EPA audit that questions the origination of our coded information. Our coded information is as accurate as such information possibly can be. We have to acknowledge that even legally recorded documents (where some of our information comes from) such as deeds or tax assessments, can still have inadvertent errors. To provide the contractor with an “extra measure” of protection, we suggest having the customer confirm our coded information. If you are interested in a form which can be used in the home for just this purpose, you may wish to contact Kachina Lead Paint Solutions LLC.
Yes. We have never had the EPA refute or refuse to accept coded information. To the contrary, during audits the EPA will often ask to see the specific data used by a contractor in determining if a house was or was not constructed pre-1978. Although HouseAgeCheck.com maintains files for each client, and we can often provide copies of a client’s files in the event of an audit, and we will certify to the EPA the source and manner in which our data is collected and coded for a contractor. We also strongly advise you to keep copies of our coded information for your internal records, and to have the customer confirm our coded information in writing, and add that conformation to your records as well.
Most contractors prefer to send their leads to us for coding at least 12 hours or even a day or two before they are scheduled to visit the house (even though most times we can code and return your submitted addresses to you within a few hours.)
The best way to use HouseAgeCheck.com’s coded information is going to depend on how you have your operations structured. If you send us your leads the day before you are set to run appointments, then you will know before walking in the door whether or not lead paint might be an issue. There are a number of ways to then use that information to immediately save you substantial time and money:
First, once you know that a house does not have lead paint, you can proceed with your demonstration or sales pitch and never even have to mention the issue with the customer.
Second, if our coded information tells you the house was constructed prior to 1978 – then you know lead paint needs to factored in to the transaction. A few contractors decide they are not going to pursue that possible sale because of the potential problems with lead paint. Some contractors decide that if they are going to run an appointment on a house that may have lead paint, then they will use a Certified Renovator to run the appointment. In other words, they have one or more sales representatives licensed as Certified Renovators. That way the sales representative can conduct the lead paint test as part of the sales presentation – and deal with it then and there during the sales presentation.
Other contractors may feel that their operation is too large, and they would need too many sales representatives licensed as Certified Renovators or they are concerned their turn-over in sales representatives is too great to invest in having sales representatives licensed as Certified Renovators. Those contractors often prefer to have re-measure technicians or certain sales managers licensed as Certified Renovators. These people then come out right after the deal closes, usually during the rescission period (if there is one), and conduct the test for lead paint.
Yes - completely. Unless we are required by law, we will not share or disclose your addresses, or the coded information we produce for you, with any third party. Your privacy is one reason we do not even want to see the names of your leads – all we need are the addresses you intend to visit. We do not need to know who lives there, when you plan to visit there, or what you plan to sell to the people who live there. That is strictly your business, and that information is valuable and proprietary to you. No other contractor is ever going to see what you send us, or what we send back to you. We never release the names of our clients to the public. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information on this.
Well, there are some states where some land records are made available to the public through computer portals. For example, some states do provide computerized access to tax assessment records. But there are usually many difficulties in trying to code information on your own:
First, in those states that do have some level of public computer access to land records, the materials are limited to tax assessor records, or perhaps to security instruments.
Second, in those states that do have some level of public computer access to land records, sometimes up to half of the counties are missing from the database (especially the smaller counties).
Third, the records available are often only from the past 10-15 years, when the states first began scanning and computerizing land records. As such, the information is very limited.
Fourth, the records available to the public may or may not contain data reflecting when a house was constructed, and if they do, that data may be difficult to find (imagine scrolling through a 10-page mortgage instrument to try and find a construction date, or reading a tax assessment record to locate that information).
Fifth, many states simply do not make their records publicly available in a computerized database.
Sixth, it will still require one or more workers to seek out and record this information.
No.
Nothing – the HouseAgeCheck.com project was set up to achieve one purpose, and this is all we do.
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HouseAgeCheck.com is brought to you in association with:
Kachina Lead Paint Solutions LLC
Berenson & Co.
NAPAC