Health · Built before 1978
Lead Paint in Homes Built Before 1978
Homes built before 1978 are presumed by federal law to contain lead-based paint somewhere in the home, unless testing shows otherwise.
What it is
In 1978, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead-based paint for residential use. HUD's Title X disclosure rule treats any home built before that year as presumed to contain lead-based paint, even if it's been painted over many times since.
Why it matters
Lead paint in good condition and left undisturbed is generally low-risk. The concern is paint that's chipping, peeling, or gets disturbed by renovation — sanding, scraping, or demolition can release lead dust, a documented health hazard, especially for young children and pregnant women.
What's worth doing next
A lead-based paint inspection or risk assessment by a certified professional can confirm whether it's present and where. For a home built before 1978, that's worth having done before any renovation work that disturbs painted surfaces, even if it wasn't flagged as a specific concern during the walkthrough.
Code changes like these are prospective — they apply to new construction going forward, not retroactively to homes already built. A home that predates a given standard isn't out of compliance with anything; it just predates it. Tarn surfaces this as a consideration worth having evaluated, not a verdict on the home.
See if this applies to a specific address
Enter the year built alongside an address search, and Tarn checks it against this and every other code-era risk factor automatically.
Other code-era risk factors
- Polybutylene Pipe in Homes Built 1978–1995
- Older Electrical Panels in Homes Built Before 1990
- Aluminum Branch Wiring in Homes Built 1965–1973
- Knob-and-Tube Wiring in Homes Built Before 1950
- Smoke Alarm Interconnection in Homes Built Before 1993
- Deck Lateral Load Anchoring in Decks Built Before 2015
- Water Heater Age Beyond Typical Lifespan