Pawtucket, RI Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)
Key Facts
- Coverage
- dwelling units, rooming houses, rooming units, facilities
- Named surfaces
- sills, frames, doors, walls, ceilings, chair-rails
- Sampling trigger
- loose, flaking or chipping paint
- Sample handling
- enforcing officer submits for lab analysis
- History
- added 1973, amended 1996 (Ch. No. 2420)
- Fine
- up to $500 per offense, per day
Summary
Pawtucket's Housing Code bans lead paint or other hazardous material on the interior surfaces of any dwelling unit, rooming house or facility under City Code § 247-107, naming window sills, frames, doors, walls, ceilings and chair-rails. When paint is loose, flaking, chipping or falling and a lead hazard is suspected, the enforcing officer must sample the surface and send it for lab analysis.
Lead paint or potentially hazardous material on the interior surfaces of any dwelling unit, rooming house, rooming unit or facility is prohibited. Such interior surfaces include but are not limited to window sills, window frames, doors, door frames, walls, ceilings, chair-rails and spindles or other appurtenances. ... In each instance where the interior surfaces exhibit a condition of loose, flaking, chipping or falling paint, and there is reason to believe that the presence of lead paint or toxic material exists as a potential hazard, the enforcing officer shall take samples in a manner prescribed by the appropriate authority and submit said samples for analysis to the appropriate authority.
Full Breakdown
Added in 1973 by Chapter No. 1424 and amended in 1996 by Chapter No. 2420, § 247-107 sits inside Article IX of the Housing Code, which governs maintenance of dwellings generally. Subsection A prohibits lead paint or any other potentially hazardous material on interior surfaces of a dwelling unit, rooming house, rooming unit, or facility, and lists window sills, window frames, doors, door frames, walls, ceilings, chair-rails and spindles as covered surfaces, without limiting the ban only to those items. Subsection B builds in the inspection trigger: whenever an interior surface shows loose, flaking, chipping or falling paint and there is reason to believe lead or another toxic material is present, the enforcing officer, working under the Director of Zoning and Code Enforcement, must take samples following a method the appropriate authority prescribes and submit them for laboratory analysis.
The section does not specify a lead concentration threshold or a remediation deadline; those follow through the chapter's general enforcement path. A confirmed hazard is handled like any other Housing Code violation: the Director issues a notice of violation under § 247-21, which becomes a compliance order if no hearing is requested within 10 days, and the owner can appeal to the Housing Board of Review under §§ 247-37 to 247-49. If the hazard is severe enough to threaten health directly, the Director may skip the notice step and issue an immediate compliance order under § 247-24.
Violations & Fines
Section 247-18 makes any Housing Code violation, including an interior lead paint finding under § 247-107, punishable by a fine of up to $500 per offense, with each day of continued noncompliance treated as a separate violation. The City Solicitor may also pursue an injunction, abatement order, or other equitable remedy against the owner in addition to any fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is lead paint illegal inside Pawtucket homes?
Who tests for lead paint if my landlord's paint is chipping?
What happens after a lead paint sample comes back positive?
Does the lead paint ban only apply to rental units?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pawtucket
Compare Pawtucket to another location·View the Rhode Island building safety overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.
Lead Paint in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle lead paint.