Cincinnati, OH Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)
Key Facts
- Lead threshold: sale/use
- 0.009% metallic lead
- Hazard removal trigger
- 0.5% or 1.0 mg/cm2 lead
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor of the first degree
- Each violation
- Counted as a separate offense
- Enforced by
- Cincinnati Health Department
- Governing chapter
- Regulation 00053, General Sanitation
Summary
Cincinnati's Board of Health bans selling, giving away, or using paint with more than nine-thousandths of one percent (0.009%) metallic lead on any surface accessible to children, and treats loose or flaking lead paint above five-tenths percent (1.0 mg/cm2) as a hazard the department can order removed. Violating § 00053-15 is a first-degree misdemeanor, with each violation a separate offense.
§ 00053-15. - Regulating the sale and use of paint containing more than nine thousandths percent (0.009%) of metallic lead. (B)Lead paint.(1)No person shall possess, sell, hold for sale, give away or leave in any place paint containing more than nine thousandths percent (0.009 %) of metallic lead, based upon total non-volatile content of the paint, unless the labeling bears the following statement: "Contains lead. Harmful if eaten. Do not apply on toys, furniture, interior or exterior surfaces which might be accessible to children."...(4)When the department finds that there is paint or other material containing more than five-tenths percent or 1.0 mg/cm2 or more of metallic lead based on the non-volatile content of the paint on the exterior or interior surfaces of any property...it may order the removal of the paint or removal of the property, under such safety conditions as it may specify, and the refinishing of the exterior or interior surfaces with a suitable finish which is not in violation of this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 48 Update 4).
Full Breakdown
Cincinnati Board of Health Regulation § 00053-15 sits inside the city's General Sanitation chapter and layers a local lead-paint standard on top of any state or federal rule. 009%) metallic lead, based on the paint's total non-volatile content, unless the container is labeled "Contains lead. Harmful if eaten. " The exemption covers marine paints, roof cements and coatings, automotive finishes not sold at retail, and paint sold to government agencies, industrial plants, utilities, or metal contractors. 009% ceiling to children's toys and furniture and to any paint actually applied to interior or exterior surfaces small children can reach.
0 mg/cm2, of metallic lead on a property's interior or exterior surfaces, subsection (B)(4) lets the department order the paint, or the property itself, removed, under safety conditions it specifies, and refinished with a compliant coating. Subsection (C) treats loose and flaking paint above that same five-tenths percent threshold on surfaces accessible to children as a hazard that must be removed, covered, or made inaccessible in a lead-safe manner, particularly once the coating is identified as the probable source of a lead-poisoning case. Enforcement runs through the Cincinnati Health Department under Board of Health Regulation 00053; § 00053-19 sets the penalty.
Violations & Fines
§ 00053-19 makes any violation of Regulation 00053, including the § 00053-15 lead paint restrictions, a misdemeanor of the first degree, and states each and every violation is a separate offense, so noncompliance can stack per surface or per instance the hazard remains. The Health Department can also independently order removal of hazardous lead paint or the affected property under § 00053-15(B)(4), apart from any criminal penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What lead level is illegal in paint sold in Cincinnati?
Can the city order lead paint removed from my house?
What happens to loose or flaking lead paint?
What's the penalty for violating Cincinnati's lead paint rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cincinnati
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