Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market
The EPA’s new rules for Lead Renovation, Repairs and painting went into effect last week. Any Kansas City homeowner living in a home built prior to 1978 should seek a contractor who is EPA certified in the methods for containing all renovation-related lead dust — both during and at the completion of the project. As with most regulations, this won’t be cheap either, if you’re considering replacing your windows or siding or making a general room addition.
The EPA has a broad definition of “remodeling” that includes any activity disturbing a painted interior surface area that’s over two square feet and any exterior surface areas that’s over 20 square feet. Failure to comply with the EPA’s requirements could result in penalties of up to $37,500 a day per violation. It’s a delicate issue to argue with any regulations designed to protect the public. But, even by the EPA’s own estimation, this could add up to $167 onto the cost of an average home remodeling project.
I’ve spoken with Kansas City home builder insiders who tell me that figure doesn’t come remotely close to how much they’ll have to charge to meet the EPA requirements. One general contractor told me they are already adding on 15% to all remodeling projects involving homes built prior to 1978. I don’t where to find a good estimate, but I’ll bet more than half of the homes in the U.S. were built prior to 1978. So this change is generally going to have a major effect on consumers.
If there’s any saving grace for homeowners, it’s that the contractor is the one who would be fined – not the homeowner’s who hire the contractor. So it’s not the consumers job to make sure the contractor is EPA certified. I wonder how many homeowners will simply NOT even ask the question out of fear that it could immediately add 15% on to the cost of their home remodeling project. Though that could be a poor decision since more than 1 million children a year are affected in some way by lead poisoning.
Posted by Jason A. Brown