Malta, NY, September 3, 2010 - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the time that renovation firms and contractors have to meet the new lead-based paint rules, according to an EPA announcement made earlier this summer.

The new EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule, which went into effect on April 22, 2010, is intended to reduce the prevalence of childhood lead poisoning and requires renovation firms and individual renovators to get RRP certification before renovating homes built before 1978.  For information about the regulations, see New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulations for Lead Safe Practices in Renovations.

The extension gives renovation firms and contractors more time to become RRP certified before the EPA takes enforcement action for violations of the new requirements.

What the New Extension Means for Firms and Contractors:

• Renovation Firms now have until October 1, 2010 to meet the new requirements and EPA will not take enforcement action for violations of the RRP certification requirements before that time.

• Individual Renovators will have until September 30, 2010 to be registered in, or to be enrolled in a certified renovator class that will train contractors to be in compliance with the rules.  Individual renovators must complete their training by December 31, 2010.

Renovators who have not yet completed the training requirements should review EPA’s model training materials.

To find accredited training programs in your state or region, visit Accredited Training Programs or contact your local BPI Affiliate to find training courses in your area.

For detailed questions and answers about the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule, see EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule Frequent Questions.

About the Building Performance Institute
The Building Performance Institute, Inc., (BPI) is the nation’s premier building performance credentialing, quality assurance, and national standards setting organization. BPI supports the development of a highly professional building performance industry through individual and organizational credentialing and a rigorous quality assurance program.  BPI is approved by the American National Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI) as an accredited developer of American National Standards.

BPI offers the following:

• Certification of individuals in building analyst, heating, AC/heat pump, shell/envelope, and multi-family designations
• Accreditation of contractors committed to delivering quality, home performance improvements
• Quality assurance to verify conformance with BPI Standards and provide feedback for continuing improvement
• Affiliation of training organizations that deliver BPI services in their market
• Open, transparent, consensus developed national technical standards based on sound building science

BPI, in cooperation with the building performance industry stakeholders, establishes a professional performance bar at a level appropriate to ensuring the consistent delivery of exceptional building performance services for those entrusting the BPI brand.

For more information about BPI, visit: www.bpi.org.

Tags: BPI, EPA Lead Paint Rules Renovations

This entry was posted on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Populus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.