News Release Distributed 09/10/15

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center will offer a half-day Lead Certified Renovator refresher class on Sept. 22.

Contractors who disturb paint in pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities are required to maintain Lead-Safe Certification and follow certain practices according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. Lead-Safe Certification expires after five or six years, depending on when the contractor was last certified, and must be renewed.

“These work practices greatly decrease the risk of lead contamination and poisoning caused by common home renovation, repair and painting activities,” said Claudette Reichel, AgCenter extension housing specialist. “Exposure to even tiny amounts of lead paint dust can cause irreversible harm, especially to the developing brains of young children.”

Previously certified contractors can brush up their skills and take the recertification test at the LaHouse class, Reichel said. It will be held from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Registration is $125 and includes the course book, activities and certification test. Participants who pass the test will receive official EPA certificates from EnviroEd, a national EPA-accredited training provider.

The class also counts for four CEUs for Louisiana residential contractors.

Registration, fees and more information about the class and the RRP rule are available here. The next initial Lead Certified Renovator training will be on Nov. 17.

LaHouse is located at 2858 Gourrier Ave. across from LSU Alex Box Baseball Stadium.

Olivia McClure