Whenever used in this chapter:
(a) Abatement. "Abatement" shall mean any set of measures designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards. Abatement includes: (i) the removal of lead-based paint and dust lead hazards, the permanent enclosure or encapsulation of lead-based paint, the replacement of components or fixtures painted with lead-based paint, and the removal or permanent covering of soil-lead hazards; and (ii) all preparation, cleanup, disposal and post abatement clearance testing associated with such measures. Abatement does not include renovation, remodeling, landscaping or other activities, when such activities are not designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint hazards, but, instead, are designed to repair, restore, or remodel a given structure or dwelling, even though these activities may incidentally result in a reduction or elimination of lead-based paint hazards. Furthermore, abatement does not include interim controls, operations and maintenance activities, or other measures and activities designed to temporarily, but not permanently, reduce lead-based paint hazards.
(a-1) Effective February 10, 2021, for the purposes of this chapter, the term "multiple dwelling" includes a private dwelling where at least one dwelling unit within such dwelling is occupied by persons other than the owner of such dwelling or a member of such owner's family, provided, however, that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to a dwelling unit that is occupied by such owner or a member of such owner's family, except otherwise provided by law.
(b) Applicable age. "Applicable age" shall mean under six years of age.
(c) C.F.R. "C.F.R." shall mean the Code of Federal Regulations.
(d) Chewable surface. "Chewable surface" shall mean a protruding interior window sill in a dwelling unit in a multiple dwelling where a child of applicable age resides and which is readily accessible to such child. "Chewable surface" shall also mean any other type of interior edge or protrusion in a dwelling unit in a multiple dwelling, such as a rail or stair, where there is evidence that such other edge or protrusion has been chewed or where an occupant has notified the owner that a child of applicable age who resides in that multiple dwelling has mouthed or chewed such edge or protrusion.
(e) Commissioner. "Commissioner" shall mean the Commissioner of the New York city department of housing preservation and development or of its successor agency.
(f) Common area. "Common area" shall mean a portion of a multiple dwelling that is not within a dwelling unit and is regularly used by occupants for access to and egress from any dwelling unit within such multiple dwelling.
(g) Contractor. "Contractor" shall mean any person engaged to perform work that disturbs lead-based paint pursuant to this chapter.
(h) Department. "Department" shall mean the New York city department of housing preservation and development or its successor agency.
(i) Deteriorated subsurface. "Deteriorated subsurface" shall mean an unstable or unsound painted subsurface, an indication of which can be observed through a visual inspection, including, but not limited to, rotted or decayed wood, or wood or plaster that has been subject to moisture or disturbance.
(j) Disturb. "Disturb" shall mean any action taken, which breaks down, alters or changes lead-based paint. Lead-based paint disturbances shall include, but not be limited to wet sanding or scraping or routine painting and maintenance.
(k) Door. "Door" shall mean every door in a dwelling unit including, but not limited to, the entrance door to the unit, closet doors, and cabinet doors where such cabinets are affixed to the walls of the dwelling unit.
(l) Encapsulation. "Encapsulation" shall mean the application of a covering or coating that acts as a barrier between the lead-based paint and the environment and that relies for its durability on adhesion between the encapsulant and the painted surface, and on the integrity of the existing bonds between paint layers and between the paint and the substrate. Encapsulation may be used as a method of abatement if it is designed and performed so as to be permanent. Only encapsulants approved by the New York state department of health or by another federal or state agency or jurisdiction which the department has designated as acceptable may be used for performing encapsulation.
(m) Enclosure. "Enclosure" shall mean the use of rigid, durable construction materials that are mechanically fastened to the substrate in order to act as a barrier between lead-based paint and the environment.
(n) Firm. "Firm" shall mean a company, partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, association, or other business entity that performs lead-based paint activities to which the United States environmental protection agency has issued a certificate of approval pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 745.226(f).
(o) Friction surface. "Friction surface" shall mean any painted surface that touches or is in contact with another surface, such that the two surfaces are capable of relative motion and abrade, scrape, or bind when in relative motion. Friction surfaces shall include, but not be limited to, window frames and jambs, doors, and hinges.
(p) HEPA-vacuum. "HEPA-vacuum" shall mean a vacuum cleaner device equipped with a high efficiency particulate air filter capable of filtering out monodispersive particles of 0.3 microns or greater in diameter from a body of air at 99.97 percent efficiency or greater.
(q) Housing Maintenance Code. "Housing Maintenance Code" shall mean Chapter 2 of Title 27 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York.
(r) Impact surface. "Impact surface" shall mean any interior painted surface that shows evidence, such as marking, denting, or chipping, that it is subject to damage by repeated sudden force, such as certain parts of door frames, moldings, or baseboards.
(s) Lead-based paint hazard. "Lead-based paint hazard" shall mean any condition in a dwelling or dwelling unit that causes exposure to lead from lead-contaminated dust, from lead-based paint that is peeling, or from lead-based paint that is present on chewable surfaces, deteriorated subsurfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces that would result in adverse human health effects.
(t) Lead-based paint.
(1) "Lead-based paint" shall mean paint or other similar surface coating material containing 1.0 milligrams of lead per square centimeter or greater, as determined by laboratory analysis, or by an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. If an x-ray fluorescence analyzer is used, readings shall be corrected for substrate bias when necessary as specified by the performance characteristic sheets released by the United States environmental protection agency and the United States department of housing and urban development for the specific x-ray fluorescence analyzer used. X-ray fluorescence readings shall be classified as positive, negative or inconclusive in accordance with the United States department of housing and urban development "Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing" (July 2012) and the performance characteristic sheets released by the United States environmental protection agency and the United States department of housing and urban development for the specific x-ray fluorescence analyzer used. X-ray fluorescence readings that fall within the inconclusive zone, as determined by the performance characteristic sheets, shall be confirmed by laboratory analysis of paint chips, results shall be reported in milligrams of lead per square centimeter and the measure of such laboratory analysis shall be definitive. If laboratory analysis is used to determine lead content, results shall be reported in milligrams of lead per square centimeter. Where the surface area of a paint chip sample cannot be accurately measured or if an accurately measured paint chip sample cannot be removed, a laboratory analysis may be reported in percent by weight. In such case, lead-based paint shall mean any paint or other similar surface-coating material containing more than 0.5 percent of metallic lead, based on the non-volatile content of the paint or other similar surface-coating material.
(2) The federal department of housing and urban development has provided a performance characteristic sheet approving a commercially available x-ray fluorescence analyzer tested at the level of 0.5 milligrams of lead per square centimeter. Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subdivision, on and after December 1, 2021, "lead-based paint" shall mean paint or other similar surface coating material containing 0.5 milligrams of lead per square centimeter or greater, as determined by laboratory analysis, or by an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. X-ray fluorescence readings shall be classified as positive or negative in accordance with such performance characteristic sheet or other guidance. If laboratory analysis is used to determine lead content, results shall be reported in milligrams of lead per square centimeter. Where the surface area of a paint chip sample cannot be accurately measured or if an accurately measured paint chip sample cannot be removed, a laboratory analysis may be reported in percent by weight. In such case, lead-based paint shall mean any paint or other similar surface-coating material containing more than 0.25 percent of metallic lead, based on the non-volatile content of the paint or other similar surface-coating material.
(u) Lead-contaminated dust.
(i) "Lead-contaminated dust" shall mean dust containing lead at a mass per area concentration of 10 or more micrograms per square foot on a floor, 50 or more micrograms per square foot on window sills, and 100 or more micrograms per square foot on window wells, or such more stringent standards as may be adopted by the department of health and mental hygiene, the board of health, or as otherwise provided by local law.
(ii) Notwithstanding paragraph (i) of this subdivision, on and after June 1, 2021, "lead-contaminated dust" shall mean dust containing lead at a mass per area concentration of 5 or more micrograms per square foot on a floor, 40 or more micrograms per square foot on window sills, and 100 or more micrograms per square foot on window wells, or such more stringent standards as may be adopted by the board of health, provided that, if the federal environmental protection agency or a successor agency, or the federal department of housing and urban development or a successor agency, adopts lower definitions of lead-contaminated dust, the board of health shall define in the Health Code such lower levels as required by local law.
(v) Lead contaminated dust clearance test. "Lead contaminated dust clearance test" shall mean a test for lead-contaminated dust on floors, window wells, and window sills in a dwelling, that is made in accordance with § 27-2056.11 of the Housing Maintenance Code.
(w) Peeling. "Peeling" shall mean that the paint or other surface-coating material is curling, cracking, scaling, flaking, blistering, chipping, chalking or loose in any manner, such that a space or pocket of air is behind a portion thereof or such that the paint is not completely adhered to the underlying surface.
(x) Permanent. "Permanent" shall mean an expected design life of at least 20 years.
(y) Remediation or Remediate. "Remediation" or "Remediate" shall mean the reduction or elimination of a lead-based paint hazard through the wet scraping and repainting, removal, encapsulation, enclosure, or replacement of lead-based paint, or other method approved by the commissioner of the department of health and mental hygiene.
(z) Removal. "Removal" shall mean a method of abatement that completely eliminates lead-based paint from surfaces.
(aa) Replacement. "Replacement" shall mean a strategy or method of abatement that entails the removal of building components that have surfaces coated with lead-based paint and the installation of new components free of lead-based paint.
(bb) Resides. "Resides" shall mean to routinely spend 10 or more hours per week in a dwelling unit, provided however, that this subdivision shall not take effect until January 1, 2020.
(cc) Rule or rules. "Rule" or "rules" shall mean a rule or rules promulgated pursuant to Section 1043 of the Charter.
(dd) Stabilization. "Stabilization" shall mean repairing any physical defect in the substrate of a painted surface that is causing paint deterioration, and removing loose paint and other material from the surface to be treated, and includes compliance with all applicable safe work practices.
(ee) Substrate. "Substrate" shall mean the material directly beneath the painted surface out of which the components are constructed, including wood, drywall, plaster, concrete, brick or metal.
(ff) Turnover. "Turnover" shall mean the occupancy of a dwelling unit subsequent to the termination of a tenancy and the vacatur by a prior tenant of such dwelling unit. Such term shall not mean temporary relocation of an occupant for purposes of performing work pursuant to Article 14 of the Housing Maintenance Code.
(gg) Underlying defect. "Underlying defect" shall mean a physical condition in a dwelling or dwelling unit that is causing or has caused paint to peel or a painted surface to deteriorate or fail, such as a structural or plumbing failure that allows water to intrude into a dwelling or dwelling unit.
(hh) Wet sanding or wet scraping. "Wet sanding" or "wet scraping" shall mean a process of removing loose paint in which the painted surface to be sanded or scraped is kept wet to minimize the dispersal of paint chips and airborne dust.
(ii) Window. "Window" shall mean the non-glass parts of a window, including but not limited to any window sash, window well, window jamb, window sill, or window molding.
(jj) Work. "Work" shall mean any activity performed in accordance with Article 14 of the Housing Maintenance Code that disturbs paint.
(kk) Work area. "Work area" shall mean that part of a building where paint is being disturbed.
(Amended City Record 11/8/2019, eff. 12/8/2019; amended City Record 1/11/2021, eff. 2/10/2021; amended City Record 10/13/2021, eff. 12/1/2021)
An owner must remediate all lead-based paint hazards and underlying defects in a dwelling unit and in the common areas of a dwelling where a child of applicable age resides in accordance with the applicable work practices set forth in 28 RCNY § 11-06.
(Amended City Record 2/14/2025, eff. 3/16/2025)
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