--- title: Costs Of RRP Challenging Many Businesses And Likely To Go Higher! description: Costs Of RRP Compliance Challenging Many Businesses and Likely To Go Higher. Contractors reporting costs putting them out of business. image: https://www.shawnmccadden.com/hs-fs/file-15759262-jpg/images/going_out_of_business_sign-wr.jpg --- [![Shawn McCadden](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/hs-fs/hub/81069/file-1539748069.jpg)](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/) # Welcome to RRPedia Your Interactive Resource for EPA RRP Information ## ![RRPedia logo](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/hs-fs/file-1549005086-jpg/images/RRPedia_Logosmall_-wr-1.jpg)Looking for accurate information about the EPA RRP rule? RRPedia has been created by Shawn McCadden to help remodelers and others affected by the New EPA Renovation Repair and Painting Rule.  ## Please read *[RRPedia Use and Contribution Information](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/using-and-contributing-to-rrpedia-/) *before using or contributing to RRPedia.   --- # You Can Browse For RRP Topics By Using The Tags List To The Right ## [Costs Of RRP Challenging Many Businesses And Likely To Go Higher!](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/bid/52703/Costs-Of-RRP-Challenging-Many-Businesses-And-Likely-To-Go-Higher) Posted by [Shawn McCadden](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/author/shawn-mccadden) on Tue, Jan 11, 2011 @ 06:00 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ## **Costs Of RRP Compliance Challenging Many Businesses and Likely To Go Higher!** Renovators have justified their concerns about the additional costs of complying with the EPA RRP Rule based on two different but interdependent reasons.  First is the cost to the business.  Businesses that do comply have to pay to become a certified firm, pay training fees for the required certified renovator training, pay the wages of the certified renovator while he/she trains non-certified workers, pay the wages of employees while they attend training, and must purchase all of the tools, related equipment and personal protection equipment needed by workers to do the work.   Second, they cite the additional labor and material costs to perform the work.   ![RRP Challenges and RRP Problems](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/hs-fs/file-15759262-jpg/images/going_out_of_business_sign-wr.jpg)   These additional costs might not be all that burdensome if all contractors doing RRP work shared the same burdens and where able to recover these costs through the selling prices of their jobs.  But, the additional costs become an extreme burden for many businesses if and when they are in competition with illegally operating businesses that avoid the additional costs and therefore are offering lower prices to consumers.  Many contractors are reporting that the additional costs are putting them out of business.   **Ready for some more bad news?**   The costs of compliance are likely to go up even higher, for complying businesses as well as for consumers.  - First, the [proposed dust wipe amendment](http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/LRRP-Clearance-NPRM_PrepublicationCopy_2010-04-22.pdf), if approved, will definitely increase projects costs and will result in delaying when the consumer can get back into the renovated space.  - Second, in addition to the costs related to the dust wipe testing, because contained areas cannot be re-inhabited until the tests show no lead dust, consumers may need to seek alternate living arrangements while waiting for test results to come back from laboratories.  - Third, because of the lack of a cost effective lead test kit that will recognize lead based on the legal definition of lead equal to or in excess of 1.0 mg/cm\2\ or 0.5% by weight, many projects that would not require lead safe practices must still be performed using lead-safe practices.  **Here is excerpt from the final rule preamble:** ![RRP Costs](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/hs-fs/file-15733275-jpg/images/calculator_with_paper_tape-wr.jpg)“Number of events and individuals affected: In the first year that all of the rule requirements will be in effect, there will be an estimated 8.4 million renovation, repair, and painting events where lead-safe work practices will be used due to the rule. As a result, there will be approximately 1.4 million children under the age of 6 who will be affected by having their exposure to lead dust minimized due to the rule. There will also be about 5.4 million adults who will be affected. After improved test kits for determining whether a painted surface contains lead-based paint become available (which is assumed in the analysis to occur by the second year of the rule), the number of renovation, repair, and painting events using lead-safe work practices is expected to drop to 4.4 million events per year. No change in the number of exposures avoided due to the rule is expected because the improved test kit will more accurately identify paint without lead, thus reducing the number of events unnecessarily using the required work practices.” So, because the EPA falsely assumed that the improved test kits would be available by September 2010, 4.4 million RRP projects will bear the additional cost of lead-safe practices that would not be required if the improved test kits were available.  That one bad assumption by EPA, based on the bogus and underestimated average additional cost of $35 per project, will result in **$140 million in additional costs** for projects “unnecessarily using the required work practices”.   What do you think about that?   What would consumers think about that? Topics: [Effects of the RRP Rule](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/effects-of-the-rrp-rule), [Estimating Considerations](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/estimating-considerations), [Statistics](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/statistics), [Amendments](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/amendments), [Tools and Supplies](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/tools-and-supplies), [Lead Test Kits and Testing](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/lead-test-kits-and-testing) [![cs-ye-234x16](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/hs-fs/hub/81069/file-1553381212.gif)](http://www.copyscape.com/duplicate-content/) ### Subscribe to RRPedia by Email and get notified about new postings as soon as they happen! ### Are You Documenting Yor Crew's Compliance With The RRP Rule?  [![download free RRP checklist](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/81069/dd6aace9-6cb0-4ad2-a55a-09846d7f5b5e.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/81069/dd6aace9-6cb0-4ad2-a55a-09846d7f5b5e) ### Still Using a Yellow Pad for Your Estimating? 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[Worker Training (15)](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/rrpedia/topic/worker-training) ### I just wanted to say thank you for your efforts to keep us informed.  *"Thank you again for the hundreth time for keeping a vigil on this business nightmare. Your site is one of the best resources we have to stay on level ground"*  **Christian Peter**   *"I am quite impressed with all the confusion out there at Shawn McCadden’s clear and concise voice that continues to help contractors and those involved in this industry truly understand the rule. His efforts should be applauded."*  **Christopher Wagner, LBPFiles**   *"RRPedia is an accurate and contractor friendly interpretation of the very complex and confusing EPA RRP rule"* * * *"Thanks for taking the time to write the blog.  It's about the only place one can go to get some serious info on this dreadful subject"*   *"I would like to begin by thanking Shawn for all of his postings and education that he has been sharing with the remodeling industry. He has personally been extremely helpful in guiding me through various interpretations of the RRP rule, his advice and knowledge are priceless."* **Michael A. Mahoney*** * ### Suggest or Contribute a RRPedia Topic ### Want a Simple Summary of the EPA RRP? #### Shawn McCadden has created an EPA RRP Summary for Remodelers. *"Hi Shawn, **Nice RRP write up on the website.   I've already forwarded a link to it to a number of local builder types."*   #### [Click here to go to the summary.](https://www.shawnmccadden.com/epa-rrp-summary-for-remodelers-by-shawn-mccadden/)  You can also download it if you want your own copy. ### Add this widget to your Web page, blog, or social networking site. A widget is a CDC.gov application that displays the featured content directly on your web page. Click the buttons to see the next tip to prevent lead poisoning.