Pontiac, MI Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)

Pontiac City Code §§ 70-26 through 70-30 form the city's standalone Lead Based Paints article. Section 70-26 bars anyone from selling, offering for sale, using, or applying lead-based or toxic heavy-metal coating on any exposed surface of a dwelling or dwelling unit, or on any fixture or object installed in one. Section 70-27 sets the trigger for enforcement: a paint or coating sample testing at 0.06 percent lead or more of the total weight of the dried film counts as a hazard to occupants, as does a referral from state or county health officials, a hospital, or another health agency reporting an elevated blood lead level in a resident.

Section 70-28 empowers the administrator of the building and safety engineering division, or an authorized agent, to inspect for flaking, peeling, chipped, or loose paint, plaster, or structural material and to pull specimens for lab analysis whenever such conditions are found in housing. Section 70-29 requires that once analysis confirms lead at or above the 0.06 percent threshold in a dwelling housing children under six, the administrator must inform the tenants in writing of the finding and the hazard it poses to their children. Section 70-30 goes further, declaring hazardous lead-based paint a public nuisance and authorizing the administrator to notify the owner by registered mail, require corrective work within 30 days, and pursue vacating the building if the owner misses that deadline.

A state law reference notes a physician's separate duty under MCL 333.5111 to report a minor's lead poisoning diagnosis, but the abatement and notice mechanics here are the city's own.