Key takeaways
- Lead paint in older homes is a separate hazard from asbestos, and it needs its own testing and controls, so a renovation should not be planned on the assumption that only one of them is present.
- Dry scraping, dry sanding, heat stripping and abrasive methods release lead dust or fume into the work area and the house, so the method should be chosen to keep the paint wet or contained.
- Clean up with wet methods and a vacuum fitted with the right filtration, because dry sweeping and ordinary household vacuums spread lead dust into the rest of the home.
- Occupants, and particularly children and anyone who is pregnant, need to be kept away from the work and the cleaning, and they need to be told before the job starts.
- Lead-contaminated waste and cloths need to be bagged, labelled and disposed of under the waste rules that apply, and it is worth checking those rules before the first bin is filled.
Lead paint is one of the quieter hazards on a renovation. It does not look like asbestos, it is not usually sitting in a sheet or a board, and nobody warns the crew about it at the start of the job. It is simply the paint on the walls, the window frames and the doors of an older home, and it becomes a hazard the moment it is scraped, sanded, cut or burned.
This article is about lead paint in older homes, and it is written as a separate subject from asbestos. The two hazards can sit in the same house, they call for different testing and controls, and a renovation plan that treats one as the other will miss something. The focus here is the renovation crew: how to test, how to control the work, how to clean up and how to deal with the waste, so that the crew and the occupants are not exposed by a job that looked routine.
The stake is the health of the people in the house, the crew and the family who will live there after the builder has gone. Lead exposure is cumulative and the effects are not visible at the time, which is why the risk is so easily underestimated. It also surfaces later, when a child is tested, when a worker raises a concern or when a regulator asks what was done, and by then the builder has no way of showing that the risk was considered.
Why an older home needs a test, not an assumption
Older homes were often painted with lead-based paint, and the age of the house is the reason to suspect the paint. It is not proof. Some older homes were repainted with lead-free paint at some point, some have lead in only a few layers, and some have none. The only reliable way to know what is on the surfaces you are about to disturb is to have them tested, and the test should cover the areas the work will affect rather than a single sample taken from the front room.
Use a qualified tester or a laboratory. A quick field test can indicate a problem, but it is not a substitute for a proper assessment where the work is going to disturb the paint, and the result should be recorded against the areas it relates to. A test on the front wall tells you nothing about the timber trim in the back bedroom. The results shape the whole plan, from the method of removal to the cleaning afterwards, so they have to be specific.
Keep the results on the job file. If the paint is found to contain lead, the results are the basis for every control decision that follows, and they are the record that shows the risk was assessed before the work began.
The methods that release the most dust
The disturbance is the hazard, and some methods disturb far more than others. Dry scraping releases dust straight into the air at breathing height. Dry sanding is worse, because it creates a fine dust that stays airborne and spreads through the house. Heat stripping with a heat gun or a torch can turn the paint into fume and fine particles, which is why it is not a routine method on this kind of work. Abrasive blasting and power cutting of painted timber produce large amounts of dust in a short time.
The method should be chosen to keep the paint wet or contained. Wet scraping and wet removal reduce the dust that is generated, and containment with sheeting keeps the rest of it in the work area. The method has to suit the surface and the extent of the work, and it has to be planned before anyone picks up a tool. Changing the method halfway through a job, because the first approach is too slow, is how the exposure gets out of hand.
Check with SafeWork NSW about any restriction on the method for the specific work, and about any notification or licensing that applies to the job. Those requirements depend on the work and the amount of lead involved, so they should be checked for the job in front of you rather than assumed from a general rule.
Lead in. The mistake that costs the most is dry scraping or sanding old paint and then cleaning up with a broom and a household vacuum, because the dust reaches the crew, the occupants and every room the work has touched, and the house is then contaminated in a way that is expensive to undo.
Controls the crew can actually use
Controls are the arrangements that protect the crew while the work is done. Containment with plastic sheeting around the work area keeps the dust in one place. Wet methods reduce what is generated. Respiratory protection suited to lead dust is part of the control, not a substitute for the others, and it only works if it fits the wearer, is maintained and is used properly, which means the crew need to be trained in it. Where the same job also throws up other fine dust, from concrete, brick or tile, the controls should cover that as well, as set out in the article on silica dust from construction materials.
Protective clothing should be chosen for the work and removed carefully before anyone leaves the work area. Disposable coveralls and gloves are the usual approach, and the used items go into the waste stream rather than into the house. Do not allow eating, drinking or smoking in the work area, and provide a clean area for the crew to wash before breaks.
The controls are only as good as the discipline that goes with them. A crew that is in a hurry will take the mask off to talk, or will step out of containment to get a tool, and the exposure happens in those moments. Supervise the work, and stop it if the controls are not being used.
Cleaning up without spreading the lead
Cleaning is where many lead problems are created. A broom sends fine dust into the air and back into the corners of the room. A household vacuum blows the finest particles out through its exhaust and leaves the rest in the bag, which is then opened later. Neither should be used on lead dust. Use wet methods throughout, wiping surfaces with damp cloths that are bagged as they are used, and use a vacuum fitted with the filtration suited to the job.
Work from the top of the room down, so that the dust that falls is picked up by the next pass. Clean the containment sheeting before it is removed, and clean the tools before they leave the area. Check the surfaces visually once the cleaning is finished, but do not rely on the look of the room as the measure of its safety. Where the work was significant, a clearance check by a qualified person is the proper way to confirm the area is clean.
Do not leave the cleaning until the end of a long day, when the crew are tired and the wipes are dry. Build the cleaning into each stage of the work, so that the dust does not accumulate across the house.
Waste, cloths and the disposal route
Lead-contaminated waste is a waste stream of its own. The paint scrapings, the used wipes, the disposable clothing and the plastic sheeting from the containment all carry the hazard, and they cannot go into the general bin without a check on the rules that apply. Bag the material as it is produced, seal the bags, label them clearly and keep them separate from the rest of the waste until the disposal route has been confirmed.
The waste rules that apply to contaminated material depend on what the material contains and how it is handled, and they sit alongside the work health and safety rules rather than replacing them. Confirm the route with the waste facility before the first load is taken, and keep the records of what was taken, where and when. A skip that was filled without checking the route is a problem that can follow the builder long after the job is finished.
The occupants’ belongings and the surfaces of the house need the same attention. Anything that has been in the work area should be cleaned before it is returned to the house, and any soft furnishings that cannot be cleaned properly should be discussed with the owner before the decision is made.
Working safely with suspected lead paint
- 1Test before you disturbHave the paint tested in the areas the work will affect, and record the results against the plan.
- 2Plan the controlsChoose wet methods, containment and suitable respiratory protection based on the results.
- 3Protect the occupantsKeep occupants and children out of the work and cleaning areas, and tell them the arrangements in writing.
- 4Clean with wet methodsWipe and vacuum with suitable filtration, and never sweep the dust dry.
- 5Bag and dispose of the wasteSeal, label and dispose of contaminated material under the waste rules that apply.
Protecting the occupants and the neighbours
The people who live in the house are the ones most at risk after the crew has left, because the dust that was not cleaned properly stays in the rooms they use. Children are at particular risk, because they are more likely to put their hands in their mouths and to be on the floor where the dust settles. Pregnant women are also at particular risk, and the risk to the developing child is the reason the advice is so strict. Keep both groups out of the work and the cleaning, and make sure the house is clean before they return.
Tell the occupants before the work starts what is being done, what the arrangements are and when the house will be safe to re-enter. Put it in writing, with the dates, so there is no confusion later. Ask about children and pregnancy in the household, because those details change the arrangements.
Neighbours can be affected too, through dust that drifts from an open window or a poorly contained work area. Keep the containment tight, close the windows of the work area and keep the dust from leaving the site. A neighbour who sees dust on their car or their washing will remember the job for a long time.
Worked example: the cottage with the original timber trim
Consider a builder in the inner west of Sydney who took on a renovation of a small cottage built in the middle of the last century. The owners wanted the original timber trim and the window frames stripped back to the timber, and the builder had planned to sand the paint off by hand. The job looked routine. The house had been painted many times and the paint was flaking in places.
Before the work began, the builder had the paint tested. The results showed lead in the older layers on the trim and the window frames, and the builder had to rethink the whole approach. The method changed to wet removal in the work area, the containment was set up around the rooms being worked on, and the crew were fitted with respiratory protection and trained to use it. The owners were told what the work involved, and the children were arranged to stay with family for the period of the disturbance.
The cleaning was done with wet methods and a vacuum with the right filtration, and the waste was bagged and held until the disposal route had been confirmed. The builder also arranged a clearance check at the end, carried out by a qualified person. The job took longer than the builder had first planned and cost more in materials and time. Without the test, the crew would have been sanding dry and the house would have been contaminated. The extra cost was small beside what the alternative would have been.
Keeping the records that protect the business
The records are the proof that the risk was considered. Keep the test results, the method statement, the record of the controls used, the training records for the crew, the notice given to the occupants, the waste records and any clearance check. Put them on the job file and keep them for as long as the business keeps any other job record.
Keep the records even when nothing goes wrong. A lead problem can surface years after the work, when a child is tested or when the house is sold, and the builder who can show the testing, the controls and the cleaning is in a much stronger position than one who cannot.
Before the first tool comes out
- Paint in the work areas has been tested and the results are on file.
- The method chosen keeps the paint wet or contained, and heat stripping is not planned.
- The crew have the respiratory protection suited to lead dust and have been trained to use it.
- Occupants and children have been told, and the arrangements are agreed in writing.
- Containment and wet cleaning materials are on site before the work starts.
- The waste containers and the disposal route have been confirmed under the rules that apply.
Lead and asbestos on the same job
Many older homes contain more than one hazard, and lead paint is often found alongside asbestos in the same house. The two hazards call for different testing and different controls, and a plan that handles one well can still miss the other. Check for both before any demolition or heavy disturbance, and do not let the presence of one hazard lead you to assume the other has been ruled out.
The asbestos rules are their own subject, and the detail is covered in the article on asbestos in renovations. The point for this article is that the lead assessment is not a substitute for the asbestos assessment, and the reverse is also true. Where both are present, the plan has to deal with both in the right order, and the crew have to be trained for both.
Building lead awareness into every older-home job
The simplest protection is a standard step in the pre-start for any older home. Ask when the house was built, check the paint history if it is known, and decide whether testing is needed before any disturbance begins. Build the controls and the cleaning into the program, so they are not an afterthought. A builder who does this on every older-home job will rarely be surprised by the paint, and the crew will know what is expected of them.
The courses on PointCPD cover the continuing professional development you need for your own licence, and the safety and compliance topics sit alongside the day-to-day decisions made on site. For the rules that apply to your own renewal, the guide to how NSW builder CPD works is a sensible place to start.
The PointCPD home page lists the courses available now.
Questions builders ask
Do I need to test the paint before a renovation in an older home?
Yes. The age of a house is a reason to suspect lead paint, not proof of it, and the only reliable way to know is to have the paint tested. Use a qualified tester or a laboratory, and record the results against the areas where the work will happen. Plan the controls from the results, not from a guess.
Can I use a heat gun to strip lead paint?
No, not as a routine method. Heat can turn lead paint into fume and fine dust, and it spreads the hazard into the air the crew breathes and the rooms around the work. Choose a method that keeps the paint wet or contained, and check with SafeWork NSW about any restriction on the method for the specific work.
Do the occupants need to leave the house during the work?
Occupants need to be told before the work starts, and they should be kept out of the areas being worked on and the rooms being cleaned. Children and anyone who is pregnant should not be in the house while the disturbance is happening. Put the arrangements in writing and agree them with the occupants before the job begins.
How should I clean up after disturbing lead paint?
Use wet methods throughout, wiping surfaces rather than sweeping them. A vacuum used for lead dust should be fitted with the filtration suited to the job, and the household vacuum should never be used. Bag the cloths and the plastic sheeting as you go, seal the bags and keep them separate from the general waste.
Is lead paint the same as asbestos?
No. They are different hazards with different risks and different controls, and a house can contain both. Asbestos has its own rules and its own testing requirements, which are covered in the asbestos article on this site. Check for both before demolition or heavy disturbance, and do not assume the absence of one means the absence of the other.
Who regulates lead paint on a renovation site in NSW?
SafeWork NSW regulates the work health and safety side, including the controls the crew must use and any notification or licensing that applies to the work. The waste rules that apply to the disposal of contaminated material sit separately. Check both before the job starts, and keep a record of the advice you were given.
Sources
- Asbestos in the home · Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency
- Electrical safety · Safe Work Australia
- Pools and pool safety · NSW Government
Published 7 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.
