Lead paint in older homes: safe work practices for renovation builders

Older homes are one of the most common sources of renovation work in NSW, and they are also one of the places where a builder can expose the crew, the owners and the children in the house to a hazard that nobody planned for. Lead paint was used widely in domestic buildings before its use was restricted, and it sits on windows, doors, skirting, weatherboards and metal fittings, often under several later coats. It is harmless while it stays intact. The risk starts when the paint is disturbed.

This article sets out how to identify lead paint in an older house, how to control the dust when it is removed, how to keep lead separate from asbestos and crystalline silica, and how to handle the waste that comes out of the job. It is written for the builder or supervisor who is running the work, not for the specialist who does the testing. It does not replace the work health and safety obligations that apply to the job, which you should check against the current regulations and the guidance for your state.

The organising idea is simple. Lead is a hazard you make when you disturb it, so the plan has to be made before the first scrape, sand or cut, not after the first bag of dust has gone into the skip.

Why disturbed lead paint is a problem

Lead is a hazardous chemical, and the body does not clear it efficiently. Over time it builds up, and it does most damage to the nervous system and to developing children. The main routes of exposure on a building site are not dramatic. They are dust settling on hands and food, fine particles breathed in during sanding, and fumes from paint that has been heated. Each of those is a way lead gets from the wall into a person. The article on lead paint disturbance during renovations covers the same mechanism from the crew’s side.

That is why the dust is the real hazard, and why the work practices matter more than any single piece of equipment. A builder who sands a window frame dry in a room with the door open has created a hazard that will travel through the house on clothing, on the vacuum and on the ute. The people most at risk are often not the workers. They are the children and the pregnant women who live in the house, and the people who come back to clean the rooms once the renovation is over.

The obligation sits with the person who controls the work. Lead is a hazardous chemical under the work health and safety laws, and disturbing lead paint creates exposure that has to be managed. The specific duties, including any health monitoring and notification requirements that apply to lead risk work, change over time, so check the current regulations and the relevant guidance before you price the job.

Finding where the lead paint is likely to be

The age of a house is a starting point, not an answer. Lead paint was used across the older housing stock, but the painting history of each home is different, and a surface that was repainted in the last few decades may have been covered with lead-free paint over lead-bearing layers underneath. Walk the job with the list of likely surfaces in mind: window frames and sashes, doors and their architraves, skirting and cornices, weatherboards and their trims, metal guttering and downpipes, and any decorative metalwork.

Look at the condition of the paint as well. Chipping, cracking and flaking paint is the most likely to release dust, and it is also the paint that a builder is most likely to scrape. Paint that is intact is less likely to create dust, but any work that cuts, sands or heats it will change that. Note the surfaces on a simple sketch of the house, marked by room, so the testing and the work plan refer to the same places.

Do not assume that the paint on one wall is representative of the whole house. Older homes are often painted differently in each room, and a previous owner may have stripped one area and left another untouched. A plan that treats the whole house as lead-bearing until it is tested is the safe default, and it costs far less than a clean-up that has to cover every room after the fact.

Testing before the work starts

Testing is how the plan stops being a guess. Arrange for a competent person to sample the surfaces that will be disturbed, and have the samples analysed by a laboratory that can report the result. Field test kits give a quick indication but are not a substitute for a proper analysis when the result will decide how the work is done and how the waste is classified.

Ask for the results in writing, with the location of each sample recorded against the sketch. A result that cannot be matched to a room is of limited use when the crew asks which surfaces they can scrape with the window open. File the report with the job records, and make sure the site supervisor and the subcontractors have read the part that applies to their work.

Testing does not remove the need for controls. A negative result for one surface does not mean the next surface is clean, and a result from the outside wall does not tell you what is under the skirting in the back bedroom. Where the paint is unknown, treat it as lead-bearing and keep the controls in place until the testing has covered the surfaces the work will affect.

Keeping lead separate from asbestos and silica

An older house can carry more than one hazard, and they often appear in the same wall. Fibro sheeting may contain asbestos. Brick, tile and render cut with a grinder release crystalline silica. Lead paint sits on the timber and the metal around them. The mistake is to plan for one hazard and assume the controls for it also cover the others. They do not. A wet method that controls silica may spread lead paint dust if the paint is being scraped in the same operation.

Map each hazard before the work starts. Mark the locations where asbestos has been identified or is suspected, and the locations where silica will be produced by cutting or grinding masonry, and then overlay the lead paint surfaces. Where the hazards overlap, the work plan needs to say which controls apply to which task, and in what order the tasks happen. Asbestos may require a licensed removalist, depending on the quantity and the type of material, and the rules for licensed removal apply independently of the lead controls.

The sequence matters. Remove the asbestos material first under its own controls, clear the area, and then carry out the lead paint removal in a space that has been properly cleaned. Crystalline silica from cutting should be managed with its own dust controls, as the guide to controls for respirable crystalline silica explains, and the lead work should not start until the silica work has finished and been cleaned up. Mixing the tasks is how a crew ends up cutting a wall with a grinder while another worker scrapes lead paint in the same room.

Dust control while the paint is removed

The best control is to avoid creating dust in the first place. Where practical, remove lead paint by methods that keep it wet or that take the paint off in larger pieces rather than powder. Wet scraping and the use of the right stripping products, applied by people trained to use them, keep the dust down. Avoid dry sanding, and do not use a power sander on lead paint without a dust extraction system that captures the fine particles at the tool.

Heat is the other source of fume. Heat guns and other high-heat methods can vaporise lead, which then condenses as fine particles the crew breathes in. Use methods that do not heat the paint to that point, and make sure the equipment is set to the lowest effective heat. Where a method is not suitable for the surface, choose a different method rather than pushing harder on the wrong one.

Containment keeps the dust where it was made. Seal the work area with plastic sheeting, close doors and vents, and keep the occupants out of the zone. Make sure the air flow in the house does not carry dust into the rooms that are not being worked. Clean as you go, because a dusty floor is a source of dust for the next person through the door. Never sweep dry dust, and never use a domestic vacuum that exhausts fine particles back into the room.

The cleaning step is where many jobs fail. Wet wipe the surfaces, then HEPA vacuum the zone, and wet wipe again. Do not clean up with the same cloths and mops for the whole house. Dispose of the cleaning materials as lead waste, and check the zone visually before the containment comes down.

Personal protection and decontamination

Respiratory protection is only as good as its grade and its fit. Choose a respirator rated for lead dust, fit test every worker who will wear it, and check the seal each time it is put on. A respirator that is worn loose, or pushed up on the forehead during a break and then put back on without a check, offers little protection. Disposable coveralls, gloves and eye protection should be worn in the zone and removed before anyone leaves it.

Set up a decontamination route before the work starts. Workers change out of contaminated clothing in the zone, bag their disposable items as lead waste, wash their hands and face before eating, drinking or smoking, and leave their boots in the designated area where possible. Eating, drinking and smoking in the work zone are not acceptable, and that includes the ute where the crew keeps their lunch.

Keep the occupants and the neighbours in mind. Tell them what the work is, when it will happen and what they need to keep away from. In an occupied home, plan the work so that children and pregnant people are not in the affected rooms, and make sure the clean-up is finished before they return.

Waste handling from the zone to the licensed facility

Lead paint waste is not general waste. Scraped paint, used cloths, disposable coveralls, plastic sheeting and vacuum bags from the zone should be contained in sealed, labelled containers and kept separate from the rest of the skip. Do not put lead waste into a general skip bin, and do not leave it on site overnight in an open container that children or animals can reach.

Classify the waste with the receiving facility before it leaves the site. The classification determines how the waste is transported and where it can go, and the facility will ask for the test results that support it. Use a transporter and a facility that can accept the waste, and keep the transport and disposal records with the job file. A docket that shows the waste reached a licensed facility is part of the evidence that the job was done properly.

Covered transport matters too. Load the containers so they do not break open on the way, and secure them in the vehicle. A load of contaminated waste that spills on a public road is an incident the builder will be asked to explain, and it is also a way the hazard leaves the site.

Worked example: an older weatherboard cottage

A builder in Sydney’s inner west is renovating an older weatherboard cottage, with a rear extension and new kitchen and bathroom. The owners are living in the house during the work. The builder has the house tested before the first demolition, and the results show lead paint on the window sashes, the architraves and the skirting, with the fibro at the rear of the house also found to contain asbestos.

The builder’s plan separates the work into three phases. The asbestos fibro is removed first by a licensed removalist, under its own controls, while the owners are kept out of the rear of the house. The cutting of the masonry for the new footings is then managed with its own dust controls. The lead paint on the sashes and architraves is removed last, in sealed rooms, by wet scraping with extraction, while the owners move their belongings into the front rooms and the children stay with a relative for the duration of the paint removal.

The mistake the builder avoids is the tempting one of scraping the sashes dry on the first morning, before the testing results arrive, because the crew wants to make progress. The builder holds that work until the results are in and the zone is set up. The final clean-up is done with a HEPA vacuum and wet wiping, the surfaces are checked before the containment comes down, and the lead waste goes to a licensed facility with the docket on file.

The lesson is that the same house can carry three hazards at once. The builder who treats them as one problem will eventually miss the dust from one of them, and the owner will be the one who finds it.

What to record for the job file

The records are the proof that the plan was followed. Keep the test results and the sketch of sampled surfaces, the work plan that sets out the controls for each hazard, the training and fit-test records for the crew, the clean-up checks, and the waste dockets. Keep them with the rest of the job file and make sure the supervisor knows where they are. For the training side of that record keeping, the guide to how NSW builder CPD works explains what a licensed builder has to maintain.

Lead paint is one part of a renovation that also brings its own obligations for smoke alarms and the other safety items in an older house. The article on smoke alarm requirements in renovations covers that side of the same job.

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Published 8 October 2026. General information for builders, not legal, financial or engineering advice for a specific job. Check current requirements with the relevant regulator or standard before relying on them.