Linden, NJ Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)

Chapter BH7, Lead-Based Paint Hazards, adopted February 28, 2023 by Ordinance No. A. ) at the local level. Under Section BH7-2, owners or their agents must register every rental dwelling with the Health Officer within 10 business days of a change of owner, and register any change in tenancy within five business days of tenant turnover. Section BH7-3 requires the Board of Health, or their designee, to conduct a periodic lead-based paint hazard inspection of every rental dwelling unit at each tenant turnover or within two years of the law's effective date, whichever is earlier, and thereafter every three years or at tenant turnover, whichever comes first.

An owner may instead hire a private lead evaluation contractor certified by the NJDCA to perform the inspection. Units are exempt from the periodic inspection cycle if they hold a lead-free certification, were built during or after 1978, sit in a multiple dwelling registered with the state Department of Community Affairs for at least 10 years with no outstanding lead violations, are single-family or two-family seasonal rentals occupied less than six months a year without consecutive lease renewals, or already carry a valid lead-safe certification.

A lead-safe certification is valid for two years, and owners must attach a copy to each new tenant's lease and keep records of it. If a hazard is found, the owner must remediate using abatement or hazard-control methods approved under the state Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act, after which the Board or the owner's contractor re-inspects to certify the unit lead-safe. If a hazard is found in a building with two or three rental units, the remaining units in that building must also be inspected, except any unit already holding a lead-free certification. Fees for registration and inspection are set in the city's Chapter BH6 fee schedule.