Howard County, MD Building Safety: Lead Paint (2026)

700(a), then added local amendments in subsection (b). 1, dedicated specifically to lead-based paint, which did not exist in the base national code. It requires the owner of any dwelling unit covered by this code, which includes single-family rentals, apartments, boarding houses, and condominiums under the amended 'dwelling unit' definition in subsection 202, to comply with the Maryland Department of the Environment's lead-based paint requirements and to provide the disclosures state law requires to tenants. Distinctively, Howard County goes further than simply cross-referencing state law: the owner must submit a copy of the MDE lead certification directly to the local jurisdiction, giving the County its own paper trail independent of MDE's registration system.

This sits inside the County's broader rental-licensing framework, since the same Director of Inspections, Licenses and Permits who administers the Property Maintenance Code also issues, and can revoke, rental housing licenses. Lead-based paint compliance is therefore not just a state disclosure obligation, it is a condition tied to the local rental license itself.