If your house was built before 1978, the answer is almost certainly yes, and it is not a preference. It is a federal requirement that applies to the contractor, not to you.

Most East Bay homeowners have never been told this, because a contractor who is not certified has no reason to bring it up.

The Short Version

The EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule took effect on April 22, 2010. It requires any firm paid to disturb painted surfaces in housing built before 1978 to be certified, and to use trained certified renovators who follow lead-safe work practices. In California, the EPA administers this program directly — California is not one of the states authorized to run its own version.

This article covers which projects trigger the rule, how much of the local housing stock falls under it, what lead-safe work looks like on site, and what to ask a contractor before hiring.

The Thresholds That Trigger the Rule

The rule applies to pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities when a project disturbs more than:

  • 6 square feet of interior painted surface per room
  • 20 square feet of exterior painted surface

Those are small numbers. A single interior door and its casing can exceed six square feet. Prepping one side of a house exceeds twenty square feet before the first hour is out. In practice, nearly any real repaint of a pre-1978 home falls under the rule.

Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in 1978. Current practice requires assuming that painted surfaces in any structure built before that year contain lead unless it has been tested, and in California only state-certified lead inspectors and risk assessors can perform that testing.

Why This Matters More in the East Bay Than Most Places

American Community Survey data for the Oakland area, 2018 to 2022, shows 68.2 percent of housing built before 1970, with another 21.2 percent built between 1970 and 1999. More than two thirds of the housing stock predates the lead cutoff by at least eight years.

Berkeley, Alameda, and older Oakland neighborhoods skew older still. Victorians, Craftsman bungalows, and shingle-sided homes across these cities routinely carry layered coatings applied over decades, which is exactly the condition the rule was written for.

A pre-1978 home is not a problem. An uncertified contractor scraping one is.

What Lead-Safe Work Actually Looks Like on Site

This is where the difference becomes visible. A certified firm working a pre-1978 home follows required practices including:

  • Containment of the work area to keep dust and chips from spreading
  • Prohibited practices are off the table: open-flame burning or torching, uncontained power sanding or grinding, and high-heat guns
  • HEPA vacuuming and controlled cleanup rather than sweeping
  • Daily cleanup rather than end-of-project cleanup
  • Cleaning verification at the end of the job, wiping the cleaned area and comparing the cloth against a standard card
  • Distribution of the EPA’s “Renovate Right” pamphlet to the client before work begins

A crew dry-sanding an old exterior with an uncontained orbital sander and blowing the debris off the driveway is not cutting corners on process. They are performing a prohibited practice, and the dust does not stay on the property.

One Distinction Worth Understanding

Lead-safe renovation is not lead abatement. They are separate categories with separate certifications.

Renovation, repair, and painting work is about performing the job without creating a lead hazard. Abatement is about permanently removing the hazard, and it requires a certified lead abatement contractor. Painting over lead-based paint with ordinary paint is neither — it is a coating over an intact surface, and it does not eliminate what is underneath.

A contractor who tells you a fresh coat “takes care of” lead is describing something the rule does not recognize.

What to Ask Before You Hire

  • Is your firm lead-safe certified, and can I see the certificate?
  • Was my home built before 1978, and how will you handle it if so?
  • What containment and cleanup will be in place each day?
  • Will you perform cleaning verification at the end of the project?
  • Are you also licensed and insured, and can you provide a certificate of insurance?

A certified contractor answers all five without hesitation, because the documentation already exists. Hesitation on any of them is the answer.

Where We Stand

Arana Craftsman Painters is lead-safe certified and follows the required protocols on interior and exterior work in pre-1978 homes. We hold CA C-33 Painting and Decorating Contractor License #1085077, carry commercial liability insurance, and have completed more than 4,000 residential painting projects across the Bay Area since 2004. Every project carries a 5-year warranty with yearly check-ins, and we retain project records for five years.

Certificates of insurance and licensing documentation are available on request. Property managers and commercial clients ask for them routinely, and homeowners are entitled to the same. Learn more about our team and process.

Get a Straight Answer About Your Home

A consultation runs about 60 minutes. A project consultant will confirm your home’s construction era, walk the surfaces, and explain exactly what lead-safe practices your project will require and what they will look like day to day. There is no charge for it.

Call 510-405-3279 or schedule a complimentary consultation today.