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As I hope you've all been following, come April 2010 anyone who does any work in a house built prior to '78 that disturbs painted/varnished surfaces will have to be certified in the new lead based paint regs (get caught and its a $30,000+ fine per day, per occurrence).
If you're not aware of it and you work in older houses, I highly recommend you get going on certification. More and more companies are being approved to teach the certification course (I believe at this time there are 22 companies approved) but I wouldn't wait until the last minute.
The requirements in the new regs are very stringent when it comes to renovation--and particularly painting. The bottom line is you'll have to raise your rates for just about any work involving an older house to deal with these requirements.
If you're looking to drum up some work, I'd highly recommend you send a letter to everyone in your database about this. Explain in broad strokes what the new regs will mean to them if they own an older home and motivate them to get going on any projects they may be considering.
I'll be going through certification with my people in October, but from what I've already heard we're not talking about a small increase here. Most people are more motivated by pain than they are pleasure--and showing them how you can save them money by moving forward now may help you get your calendar filled back up for the fall.
The EPA's fact sheet on the new rules:
http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/rrpfactsheet2008.htm
EDIT:
Here are some links to start with:
Compliance guide--great summary of how to determine if this rule applies to you: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/sbcomplianceguide.pdf
The EPA's page on the RRP Rule: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
EPA list of accredited training providers by state: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/trainingproviders.htm
If you're not aware of it and you work in older houses, I highly recommend you get going on certification. More and more companies are being approved to teach the certification course (I believe at this time there are 22 companies approved) but I wouldn't wait until the last minute.
The requirements in the new regs are very stringent when it comes to renovation--and particularly painting. The bottom line is you'll have to raise your rates for just about any work involving an older house to deal with these requirements.
If you're looking to drum up some work, I'd highly recommend you send a letter to everyone in your database about this. Explain in broad strokes what the new regs will mean to them if they own an older home and motivate them to get going on any projects they may be considering.
I'll be going through certification with my people in October, but from what I've already heard we're not talking about a small increase here. Most people are more motivated by pain than they are pleasure--and showing them how you can save them money by moving forward now may help you get your calendar filled back up for the fall.
The EPA's fact sheet on the new rules:
http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/rrpfactsheet2008.htm
EDIT:
Here are some links to start with:
Compliance guide--great summary of how to determine if this rule applies to you: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/sbcomplianceguide.pdf
The EPA's page on the RRP Rule: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
EPA list of accredited training providers by state: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/trainingproviders.htm