Cal. Civ. Code § 5:17-2.1
Certification required
Operative Text
(a) Effective January 1, 1996, no individual, partnership, corporation or other business entity shall engage in either the business of lead evaluation or the business of lead abatement, unless certified by the Department in accordance with section 15 of P.L. 1993, c.288 (N.J.S.A. 52:27D-428) and these rules. 1. For lead abatement jobs performed on superstructures where public bidding procedures are applicable, projects with an advertisement date that precedes September 24, 1997 may proceed without a certified lead abatement contractor. (b) Any individual, corporation, partnership or other business entity seeking certification in accordance with these rules shall either be certified or shall employ individuals certified by the Department of Health in accordance with section 3 of P.L. 1993, c.288 (N.J.S.A. 26:2Q-3) (see N.J.A.C. 8:62) and shall designate a person, certified as a lead abatement supervisor by the Department of Health, at each job site to be responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements of P.L. 1993, c.288 and of these rules. (c) Contractor certification shall not be required for the following individuals or activities: 1. An owner undertaking work on his or her own premises using his or her own employees, provided that those employees are certified by the Department of Health; 2. A homeowner performing lead abatement work himself or herself on a dwelling unit that he or she owns and occupies as a primary place of residence; 3. Any business firm engaging in painting, woodworking, structural renovation or other indoor or outdoor contracting services that may result in the disturbance of paint, provided that the firm does not hold itself out as certified by the Department or otherwise represent that it has specialized competency to perform lead evaluation or abatement work; or 4. A person with proof that he or she has completed a State-approved or HUD-sponsored training class to be a "clearance technician," when that person is taking a dust wipe sample in the work area following renovation, remodeling, repair or maintenance work; provided, however, that the activities that may be performed without evaluation contractor certification shall be limited to performing dust wipe sampling in the work area and providing a report with the results of the dust wipe analysis. A clearance technician is not qualified to perform evaluation, and is not qualified to perform clearance after a lead abatement, unless the clearance technician is employed by a certified evaluation contractor. (d) A corporation, partnership or other business entity may be denied certification if any stockholder, director, officer, partner or other person having an economic interest in the organization shall have violated any of the provisions of these rules or been denied certification for cause. This provision shall also apply to any business organization having a parent or subsidiary relationship to any such business organization. (e) Local health departments or other public agencies performing lead evaluations shall not be required to obtain contractor certification to perform evaluations within their jurisdictions.
N.J.A.C. § 5:17-2.1 establishes that, as of January 1, 1996, any individual or business entity engaged in lead evaluation or lead abatement work in New Jersey must hold a certification issued by the Department, in accordance with P.L. 1993, c.288. The rule also defines several limited exemptions—such as owner-operators using certified employees, homeowner-occupants working on their own primary residence, and trained clearance technicians performing dust-wipe sampling—where contractor-level certification is not required. Business entities can be denied certification if key stakeholders have prior violations or certification denials, and local public health agencies conducting evaluations within their own jurisdictions are exempt from the contractor certification requirement.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under N.J.A.C. § 5:17-2.1, property owners who hire outside contractors for lead evaluation or abatement work on their properties should verify that those contractors hold current Department certification before work begins. An owner who chooses to perform abatement using their own employees may qualify for an exemption, but only if those employees are individually certified by the New Jersey Department of Health. Owners who occupy a dwelling unit as their primary residence and perform abatement themselves may also qualify for an exemption, though the scope of permissible uncertified activity is narrowly defined by this provision.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
N.J.A.C. § 5:17-2.1 gives tenants a basis to inquire whether any contractor performing lead evaluation or abatement work in their home holds the required Department certification, since uncertified work generally violates this rule. Tenants who believe lead work is being performed by an uncertified contractor may consider raising this as a concern with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs or a local health department, or consulting a tenant-rights organization familiar with New Jersey lead-safety law. Reviewing the exemptions listed in this provision can help tenants understand when certification is and is not required before deciding how to proceed.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated November 3, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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