Lead Paint Rules for Kitchen Remodels in Pre-1978 Homes

If your home was built before 1978, a kitchen remodel will probably disturb painted surfaces that could contain lead: walls behind cabinets, soffits, window and door trim, and sometimes the old cabinets themselves. Sanding, cutting and demolition turn that paint into dust. Washington regulates how paid contractors handle it. This page covers the rules as of October 2026 and what they mean on a real job.

Which rule applies in Washington

The national standard is the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule. In Washington it is administered by the state. The Department of Commerce Lead-Based Paint Program provides "training, certification and compliance enforcement" under chapter 70A.420 RCW and chapter 365-230 WAC.

WAC 365-230-300 applies the state rules "to all renovations performed for compensation in target housing and child-occupied facilities". Commerce describes who needs certification in practical terms: any firm or individual that will "Offer, bid, or contract to work on pre-1978 properties", for work including "Home renovations", "Remodels", "Painting" and "Any work that disturbs paint in a pre-1978 property".

The core requirement is in WAC 365-230-330(1): "Renovations must be performed by certified firms using certified renovators".

When the rule does and does not apply

The small-job exclusion is narrower than it looks. The six-square-foot limit is per room, the exterior limit is twenty square feet, and the exclusion disappears if the work involves window replacement, demolition of painted surface areas, or prohibited practices. Pulling a wall of cabinets and the soffit above them is demolition, not minor repair.

What a certified firm does differently

Lead-safe work is mostly about keeping dust where it is made. WAC 365-230-330(1)(a) and (b) describe what you should expect to see on a job in a pre-1978 kitchen:

• Warning signs that define the work area.
• Containment set up so that "no dust or debris leaves the work area".
• Floors covered with taped-down plastic "six feet beyond the perimeter of surfaces undergoing renovation".
• Ducts, windows and doors in the work area closed and covered.

On a kitchen that usually means the room is sealed off from the rest of the house during demolition, heating and cooling registers are covered, and the household uses a different route in and out. Those measures overlap with ordinary dust control, which is one reason a temporary kitchen should be set up outside the plastic. Practical planning for that period is in living through a kitchen remodel.

The pamphlet you should receive

WAC 365-230-320(1) sets the timing: "No more than sixty days before beginning renovation activities in any residential dwelling unit of target housing, the firm performing the renovation must" provide the owner with the pamphlet. The firm must then either obtain your written acknowledgment that you received it, or obtain a certificate of mailing at least seven days before the renovation.

The pamphlet is a specific document. WAC 365-230-310 defines it as "the EPA pamphlet titled 'The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right'". If you are asked to sign an acknowledgment, you should have the pamphlet in hand when you sign.

This is separate from the contractor disclosure every Washington homeowner receives on jobs of $1,000 or more. That notice is explained in contracts, deposits and change orders.

How to check a firm's certification

1. Ask for the certificate. A certified firm holds a Department of Commerce certificate. Commerce says certificates "are valid up to 5 years", so check the expiration date.
2. Look at Commerce's published lists. Its Business and Homeowner Resources page offers downloadable spreadsheets: "Certified RRP Companies - Alphabetical List" and "Certified RRP Companies - by City and County".
3. Check the enforcement records. The same page links "Enforcement Action Records" and "Suspended and Revoked/Denied Companies".
4. Contact Commerce with questions: LBPInfo@Commerce.wa.gov or 360-586-5323.

Lead certification is a different credential from contractor registration. Both should check out. The registration lookup is covered in how to verify a contractor in Washington.

If you are doing the work yourself

The state rule covers renovations "performed for compensation", and the EPA says: "In general, the RRP Rule does not apply to homeowners doing RRP projects in their own pre-1978 homes." The EPA adds that it does apply "if you rent all or part of your home, operate a childcare center in your home or if you buy, renovate and sell homes for profit".

Being outside the rule does not make the dust any safer. The work practices certified firms are required to use (containment, covered floors, closed and covered ducts and openings) are the reasonable model for a homeowner too, and the Renovate Right pamphlet is free to read before you start. If any part of your kitchen project is hired out, the rule applies to the firm you pay for that part. What else an owner may and may not do is in DIY kitchen remodeling in Washington.

Lead and asbestos are separate questions

Older kitchens raise both, and the rules, agencies and people involved are different. Lead is a Department of Commerce program focused on paint. Asbestos in Clark County is regulated by the Southwest Clean Air Agency and L&I and concerns materials such as old sheet flooring and its adhesive. A lead-safe certificate does not cover asbestos work. See asbestos and kitchen remodels in Clark County.

Where JDI fits

If your home predates 1978, tell any contractor you interview at the first conversation and ask to see its Commerce certificate. That includes us. JDI Construction offers a free in-home consultation, and you can start on our Vancouver kitchen remodeling page.