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RRP Experts? Be Careful When Searching For RRP Information and Advice

Posted by Shawn McCadden on Sun, Apr 15, 2012 @ 05:00 AM

 RRP Experts?  Be Careful When Searching The Internet For RRP Information and Advice

Dean Lovvorn, lead inspector

 

 

Guest Blogger:  Dean Lovvorn is a residential remodeler who has done numerous RRP projects.  He is also a Lead Inspector, Lead Risk Assessor and EPA RRP Renovator Instructor. He is well informed about the RRP rule and it's history.

 

 

RRP Experts?

Bring up EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule around a group of contractors and the sparks will begin flying.  The debate can get as heated as discussing politics.  In fact, politics often gets brought into the discussion.  Everyone has an opinion and many times those opinions are portrayed as facts.  I’ve jumped into these dog fights and often times the line between fact and fiction become blurred.

Misinformation about RRPThere have been some discussions where a particular contractor talks about how RRP is impossible to follow; only to find out the contractor has never done an RRP job … or even taken the course.  Others talk about how they don’t need anyone to tell them how to clean up after a lead based paint project.  Yet, they have never done a lead dust test to see if they really are cleaning up correctly.  One contractor talked about how his employees were safe working around lead paint, but had never done air monitoring to see if it was true.  Once, I had a contractor tell me I was doing risk assessment wrong.  Yep … you guessed it.  He never had done a risk assessment, taken a risk assessor course or even taken a lead safe work practice class of any type.

I’m sure as a professional contractor you’ve had a homeowner question how you were doing something and make suggestions to you.  Amazingly, just because they watch do-it-yourself programs on TV … they start believing that they have some expertise in the subject.

 

Opinions vs. Facts...

There is a phenomenon called “backfire”, recently discovered by political scientist.  In an article written by Joe Keohane on Boston.com, he writes …

“Most of us like to believe that our opinions have been formed over time by careful, rational consideration of  facts and ideas, and that the decisions based on those opinions, therefore, have the ring of soundness and intelligence”.  “In reality, we often base our opinions on our beliefs, which can have an uneasy relationship with facts”.  “And rather than facts driving beliefs, our beliefs can dictate the facts we chose to accept”.  “They can cause us to twist facts so they fit better with our preconceived notions”.  “Worst of all, they can lead us to uncritically accept bad information just because it reinforces our beliefs”.  “This reinforcement makes us more confident we’re right, and even less likely to listen to any new information”.

RRP Education and trainingThe reality is an expert is someone who has education and experience in the subject being discussed.  I like how Wikipedia states it … “experts have a prolonged or intense experience through practice and education in a particular field”.

You would do yourself a great favor, if you find a mentor, coach or expert to learn from … even if they disagree with you.

 

Looking for a Mentor or Coach to help you with RRP and or your business?  Contact Shawn today to personally discuss your goals and how he can help.

 


Topics: New Business Realities, Mentoring/Coaching, Guest Blogs, Opinions from Renovators