The Environmental Protection Agency finalized the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule on Feb. 10, and included language that makes online recertification valid for three years compared with five years for the hands-on training courses. It also can be used only every other recertification cycle, according to the EPA.
The online training recertification rules are needlessly complicated, said NAHB Remodelers Chair Tim Shigley in a statement.
"As a longtime advocate for a simplified recertification process, NAHB Remodelers appreciates that the EPA's changes provide some flexibility, but the limited and convoluted parameters of the online training option are unnecessarily complicated and could affect the number of renovators who opt to become recertified," he said.
Any contractor who works in a home that may contain lead paint must be certified under the RRP rule.
The recertification deadline for renovators who received certification on or before March 31, 2010, is March 31. Renovators who received certification between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011, will have one year added to their five-year certification.
