New Brunswick, NJ Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)

Chapter 15.80 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code, adopted 4-19-23 as Ordinance O-042306, implements the state Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act locally. Section 15.80.020.A requires the owner or landlord of every single-family, two-family and multiple rental dwelling to have the property inspected for lead-based paint hazards through visual assessment and dust wipe sampling. The owner can hire a private lead inspector, meaning a person certified by the state department of community affairs, instead of using the city's inspector; otherwise one of the city's lead inspection agencies performs the work.

The initial inspection was due before July 22, 2024, or at tenant turnover, whichever was earlier. After that each unit is inspected at tenant turnover or every three years, whichever is earlier. Section 15.80.020.C exempts units certified free of lead-based paint, units built during or after 1978, units in a multiple dwelling registered with the department of community affairs for at least ten (10) years with no outstanding lead violations from the last cyclical inspection, seasonal one- or two-family rentals under six months a year without consecutive lease renewals, and units holding a valid lead-safe certification.

If hazards are found, the owner remediates at his or her own cost through abatement or hazard control, and an inspector then certifies the hazard is gone. A clean inspection earns a lead-safe certification valid for two years. Owners must show that certification and the most recent tenant turnover to the city at the cyclical inspection, give it to new tenants at turnover, attach a copy to the lease, and keep a record.

Fees under Section 15.80.020.G track the city contractor's cost for dust wipe sampling, plus a one hundred dollar ($100.00) filing fee for the certification and a state-required twenty dollars ($20.00) per dwelling unit under N.J.S.A. 52:27D-437.16(h). In a common interest community the unit owner, not the association, pays.