What About Asbestos and Lead in a Pre-1978 LA Home?
If your house was built before 1978, federal law requires that anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in it be certified in lead-safe work practices - and asbestos work over a threshold area must go to a contractor certified for it. Testing and clearance commonly add 1-3 weeks at the front of a project. Neither finding is a reason to abandon a remodel; both are reasons to test before demolition rather than after.
Lead: what the federal rule requires
The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule requires that "anyone paid to perform work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 be certified" in lead-safe practices. That applies to firms of every size, including sole traders.
Homeowners doing their own work on their own home are generally outside the rule, with exceptions - including landlords, childcare operators, and people buying and renovating houses for profit.
Source: EPA, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program.
Asbestos: who is allowed to touch it
CSLB is explicit that a contractor may not carry out asbestos-related work involving 100 square feet or more of surface area of asbestos containing materials unless the licence holds the C-22 Asbestos Abatement classification, or the qualifier for the licence has passed the asbestos certification examination.
That is the whole of what we will tell you about handling it, deliberately. Abatement is specialist, separately regulated work. Our job is to tell you who is licensed to do it and to build around their programme - not to advise you on the removal itself.
Source: CSLB, Asbestos Certification.
Where it usually turns up in an LA house
In houses of this age the usual candidates are textured ceiling finishes, floor tile and the adhesive under it, pipe and duct wrap, some wall board compounds, and roofing and siding products. Lead is most often in paint on original windows, doors and trim, where opening and closing has been wearing it for decades.
None of that is a reason for alarm while it sits undisturbed. It becomes a live question at the moment somebody starts cutting, sanding or pulling it apart, which is exactly what a remodel does.
Test first, and sequence around the result
The order that works is: test before design is finalised, not after demolition has started. A result that arrives early is a scheduling item. The same result arriving in week two of a build stops the job, because the trades on site are not the ones permitted to deal with it.
Practically, that means sampling in the areas the scope will actually disturb, and letting the result set the sequence. It is the same argument we make about contingency on a pre-1970 house: the surprise is not the problem, the timing of the surprise is.
What it does to the budget
Honestly: it depends on what is found and how much of it the scope disturbs, and we are not going to print a figure we cannot stand behind. What we can say is that the cost of testing is small relative to a remodel, and the cost of discovering the answer mid-build is not.
A whole-home project in our own completed record has run $36k-$440k. Against numbers of that size, testing early is one of the cheapest pieces of certainty available.
Frequently asked follow-ups
Does a pre-1978 house definitely contain lead paint? +
Not definitely, but it is common enough that the federal rule treats the whole housing stock of that age as presumed until tested. 1978 is the year lead-based paint was banned for residential use, which is why it is the line the rule draws.
Can I just paint over lead paint? +
That is a question for a certified professional rather than for us, and the answer depends on the condition of the surface and what the work will disturb. What we can tell you is that sanding, scraping or demolition of painted surfaces in a pre-1978 home is what triggers the certification requirement.
Who actually does asbestos removal? +
A contractor certified for it - CSLB requires either the C-22 Asbestos Abatement classification or a passed asbestos certification examination for work at or above 100 square feet of surface area. It is separate, specialist, separately regulated work, and a general remodeling contractor is not the right party for it.
Will this delay my project? +
Testing and clearance commonly add 1-3 weeks when handled at the front of a project. Handled mid-build, the delay is longer and less predictable, because the work stops while a separately licensed party is engaged and scheduled.
Should I test even if I am only doing a kitchen? +
If the kitchen is in a pre-1978 house and the scope disturbs painted surfaces or original flooring, the same rules apply as they would to a larger job. A smaller scope reduces how much you disturb; it does not change what the law requires of whoever disturbs it.
Want the same answer applied to your specific project? Onn personally reviews every inquiry.
Written by Onn Cohen-Meguri, founder and designer at Design Onn Point. Onn has spent 20+ years designing and building in Los Angeles. CSLB #1133368.
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