Home remodeling contractors' survey finds recent federal regulation is causing "a significant increase in the cost" of remodeling projects nationwide.
Conducted by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, the survey indicates EPA's one-year-old Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule is irrelevant to homeowners who do not have small children living in their home and expensive to those who have or expect children.
Furthermore, the regulation “is certain to negatively impact scores of small remodeling businesses” currently struggling to survive and in a wider scale further slow down the housing market recovery, NARI said, because EPA is expected to add more layers to the existing regulation.
Revisions include the addition of “lead clearance testing” to renovations in homes built prior to 1978, which translates into higher renovation costs for a single project for homeowners.
The regulation’s loophole, according to president of Merrick Design and Build Inc. in Kensington, MD, David Merrick, is that "lead clearance testing only applies to contractors, not to homeowners." Which is why the impact of the new regulation will be much higher on small contracting business owners with already tight budgets who must comply with EPA requirements.
The survey raises concerns for the future of the remodeling industry suggesting the aforementioned LRRP rule will trigger "new exposure" to bankruptcy risk.
As it currently stands, NARI said, citing input received from surveyed contractors and homeowners, the additional cost of EPA’s LRRP rule "deters homeowners' use of lead-safe certified contractors" leading to a trend that "could cause more harm to vulnerable populations of children and pregnant women."
