EPA Lead Paint Pamphlet: Which One You Need and Where

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Anyone buying, renting or renovating a home built before 1978 will eventually be handed an EPA lead paint pamphlet, and many people sign for it without knowing which one it is or why it matters. There are actually two federal pamphlets. “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” goes with sales and leases. “The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right” goes with renovation, repair and painting work. Each is tied to a different federal rule, a different set of people who must hand it out, and a different moment in the transaction. This guide explains both, where to download the current versions, what changed in the 2026 edition, and how the pamphlet fits with the disclosure form and the buyer’s inspection window. It summarizes EPA and CDC guidance current as of October 2026; it is not legal advice, so confirm specific obligations with a real estate attorney or the EPA.

Part of our Lead Paint & Lead Testing guide — start there for the full picture →

The Two EPA Lead Pamphlets at a Glance

The fastest way to sort out which pamphlet applies is to ask what is happening to the property: is it changing hands, or is someone about to disturb painted surfaces?

Both are free, both are published by the EPA, and both can be printed or photocopied for distribution. If you came here for the download links, skip to the section on where to get them. If you need to understand obligations, read on.

Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home: Sales and Rentals

Congress passed the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, known as Title X. Under Section 1018, the EPA and HUD issued what the EPA calls the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule. The EPA states that the rule applies to most pre-1978 private housing, public housing, federally owned housing and housing receiving federal assistance, and that sellers, landlords, property managers and real estate agents are all responsible for compliance.

What must happen before signing

According to the EPA, before a homebuyer signs a sales contract or a renter signs a lease, federal law requires sellers, landlords, real estate agents and property managers to:

• Give the buyer or renter a copy of the Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home pamphlet.
• Disclose any known information about lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in the home or building, which may include where the paint is and its condition.
• Provide all available records and reports on lead-based paint and hazards, including, for multi-unit buildings, records for common areas and other units from building-wide evaluations.
• Include a “Lead Warning Statement,” either attached to or written into the contract or lease, confirming the seller or landlord has complied.
• For buyers only, provide a 10-day period to conduct a lead-based paint inspection or risk assessment.
• Keep a signed copy of the disclosures for three years after the sale is completed or the lease begins.

The key word is “before.” A pamphlet handed over at closing, or after a tenant has moved in, misses the point of the rule, which the EPA describes as helping people make more informed choices based on the information they receive.

Housing the rule does not cover

The EPA lists several exemptions: housing built after 1977; zero-bedroom units such as efficiencies, lofts and dormitories (unless a child under six lives or is expected to live there); leases of 100 days or less with no renewal or extension; housing specifically for the elderly or people with disabilities (again, unless a child under six lives there or is expected to); housing that a certified inspector or risk assessor has found to be free of lead-based paint; and foreclosure sales. The 1978 cutoff exists because, as the EPA notes, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned residential lead-based paint in 1978. Our guide to the 1978 lead paint disclosure cutoff walks through edge cases such as homes with later additions.

Landlords and rentals

Landlords and property managers carry the same core duties as sellers, minus the 10-day inspection period, which applies to buyers. Renters also have no obligation to waive anything. For the full set of landlord steps, see our guides to landlord lead-based paint disclosure and lead-based paint disclosure for rentals.

Renovate Right: The Pamphlet for Renovation Work

The second pamphlet belongs to a different rule. The EPA’s 2008 Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, as amended, requires firms that perform renovation, repair and painting projects disturbing lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities and kindergartens built before 1978 to be EPA- or state-certified and to use certified renovators who follow specific lead-safe work practices. The EPA notes that this includes in-house maintenance staff and many types of outside contractors, and that the requirements became fully effective on April 22, 2010.

The EPA describes the Renovate Right pamphlet as including general information about legal requirements for lead-safe work practices for homeowners, tenants, child care providers and parents during renovation activities. The renovation firm provides it to the owner, and to occupants in the case of rentals, before work starts. Under the regulation, the pamphlet is delivered no more than 60 days before the work begins, and the firm typically obtains a signed acknowledgment or documents delivery. If you hire a painter, window installer, plumber or general contractor to work on a pre-1978 home, receiving this pamphlet is a sign the firm knows the rule applies.

Jobs that fall outside the rule

The EPA’s contractor guidance excludes minor repair and maintenance that disturbs six square feet or less of paint per room inside, or 20 square feet or less on the exterior. It adds two important caveats: window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces are always covered regardless of square footage, and prohibited practices remain prohibited regardless of size. Components a certified renovator has determined to be lead-free, using an EPA-recognized test kit or lab analysis of paint chips, are also outside the rule’s work-practice requirements.

Homeowners doing their own work

The RRP Rule applies to firms paid to do the work. A homeowner repainting their own pre-1978 home is not handing a pamphlet to anyone, but the lead hazard is the same. The pamphlet is still worth reading before scraping or sanding, especially in a home with young children.

Where to Download Each EPA Lead Paint Pamphlet

Go straight to the EPA. Mirror copies on other sites can lag behind revisions, and that matters more than usual right now because the sales-and-rentals pamphlet was revised in 2026.

Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home

The EPA hosts it on its “Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home – Real Estate Disclosure” page. That page offers portrait and booklet layouts plus a supplement for each language. Note that an older EPA address for the pamphlet that some sites still link to no longer resolves, so use the page listed in the references below.

Renovate Right

The EPA’s “Renovate Right” page offers color and black-and-white versions in both booklet and portrait layouts, in English and Spanish. It also provides an insert for anyone still holding stocks of the April 2010 version, which replaces page 10 of that older brochure.

Printing and bulk copies

The EPA says its documents may be printed or photocopied for distribution as long as the text and graphics are readable, and that you can have a commercial printer produce them. It also points readers to the Government Printing Office at (202) 512-1800 or the GPO Bookstore, and to the National Lead Information Center (NLIC) to speak with an information specialist. The NLIC can also be reached at 1-800-424-LEAD.

What Changed in the 2026 Edition

According to the EPA, the revised 2026 version of Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home reflects new dust-lead action levels (previously called dust-lead clearance levels) and dust-lead reportable levels (previously called dust-lead hazard standards) that took effect on January 12, 2026. The EPA says these levels are referenced on pages 6 and 11. The edition also reflects an updated definition of abatement, effective January 13, 2025, on pages 10 and 11.

Do you have to throw away old copies? No. The EPA states that it does not require users to discard older versions of the pamphlet, but to make sure the updated information reaches buyers and renters, anyone still using a prior version should provide the supplement in the appropriate language. For agents and property managers with boxes of the older booklet, the practical move is to staple the supplement to each copy or switch to the 2026 PDF.

Languages Available

The EPA says the revised 2026 version is available in English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Korean, Polish, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, and that an Arabic version will be available soon. Older pages around the web list other languages, sometimes from earlier editions, so check the EPA page for what is current.

Renovate Right is available in English and Spanish on the EPA’s page.

Two practical notes for Front Range landlords and agents. First, the EPA says the Lead Warning Statement should be in the same language as the rest of the contract. Second, if a buyer or renter reads another language more comfortably, offering the matching pamphlet costs nothing and makes it far more likely the information is actually read.

How the Pamphlet Fits With the Disclosure Form

The pamphlet is only one of several pieces. The disclosure itself, usually a signed form attached to the contract or lease, records what the seller or landlord knows, which records were provided, and the buyer’s or renter’s acknowledgment that they received the pamphlet. The EPA publishes sample seller’s and lessor’s disclosure forms in English and Spanish that can be used for this purpose.

Our guides go deeper on each part: the overall lead-based paint disclosure process, how to fill out the lead-based paint disclosure form line by line, and how the federal lead-based paint disclosure rule interacts with Colorado real estate forms. If you are trying to understand the pamphlet’s role specifically within the paperwork, see the lead-based paint disclosure pamphlet guide.

The buyer’s 10-day inspection opportunity

Buyers get a 10-day period to conduct a lead-based paint inspection or risk assessment. The EPA notes that the parties may mutually agree in writing to lengthen or shorten that period, and that buyers may waive it. If a buyer is concerned about lead-based paint, the EPA suggests hiring a certified inspector before committing to buy, and points to its Lead-Based Paint Professional Locator to find one. In a competitive Front Range market, buyers sometimes waive the window to strengthen an offer; that is a legal option, but it is worth understanding what is being given up before checking the box.

After the Pamphlet: Inspections and Testing

The pamphlet explains the hazard. It does not tell you whether a particular house has it. For that, there are a few routes, from most to least definitive.

Lead-based paint inspection

A certified inspector tests painted surfaces throughout the home, often with an XRF analyzer, and reports which components contain lead-based paint. This is the most complete answer for a purchase decision. See our guide to lead-based paint inspection for what the report contains.

Risk assessment

A risk assessment looks at the condition of paint, dust and soil to identify hazards that exist now, which is often the more useful question for a family with young children. Both services are priced differently; our guide to lead-based paint inspection cost outlines what drives the price.

Home test kits

Chemical swab kits give a quick indication on accessible surfaces. EPA-recognized kits are the type a certified renovator can use to determine components are lead-free under the RRP Rule. See our guides to an EPA-approved lead test kit and a home lead test kit, or browse options in our lead test kit shop. Kits are screening tools, not a substitute for a certified inspection when a purchase or a child’s health is on the line.

Why it matters for children

The CDC states that there is no safe level of lead in the blood, and that even low levels are associated with developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral issues. It notes that children younger than six are more likely to be exposed because of hand-to-mouth behavior, and lists chipping or peeling paint in homes built before 1978 among common sources. The CDC recommends a blood lead test as the best way to find out whether a child has been exposed, and suggests hiring a certified lead inspector to find out if a home has lead. The EPA, for its part, notes that lead-based paint is usually not a hazard if it is in good condition, but that deteriorating paint is a hazard that needs prompt attention.

Practical Checklist for Sellers, Agents and Landlords

The EPA is explicit that sellers, landlords, property managers and real estate agents all share responsibility for compliance, so the pamphlet is rarely one person’s job alone. A simple routine keeps a pre-1978 transaction clean:

1. Confirm the build year. County assessor records along the Front Range usually show it. If the home was built before 1978 and no exemption applies, the rule applies.
2. Gather records. Pull any prior lead inspection, risk assessment or abatement reports, including building-wide reports for condos and apartments.
3. Use the current pamphlet. Download the 2026 edition, or attach the EPA supplement to older copies.
4. Deliver early. Send the pamphlet and disclosure with the listing packet or rental application rather than at signing, so the buyer or renter has time to read them.
5. Get signatures and keep them. Store the signed disclosure and acknowledgment for at least the three years the EPA requires; many agents and landlords keep them longer.
6. Repeat for renovations. If a contractor will disturb paint before or after the sale, expect the separate Renovate Right pamphlet from that firm.

Colorado layers its own health-department lead program on top of the federal rules, mainly around certification of the professionals who inspect, assess and abate lead hazards. Requirements change, so landlords and agents with questions about state-level obligations should check with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment or a real estate attorney rather than relying on a summary. The federal pamphlet and disclosure duties described here apply regardless.

Buyers can use the same list in reverse: ask for the records, confirm which edition of the pamphlet you received, and decide early if you will use the 10-day inspection window.

Related Pamphlet Questions

Search terms for these documents vary, and so do the questions behind them. If your interest is the EPA’s role specifically, see our page on the EPA lead-based paint pamphlet. If you are an agent or attorney focused on the statutory side, the federal lead-based paint pamphlet guide covers the Title X framework. For a plain-language walk through the pamphlet’s contents, try the lead-based paint pamphlet overview.

A few quick answers that come up often:

• Does a buyer have to sign that they received it? The disclosure paperwork typically includes an acknowledgment of receipt, and the EPA requires the signed disclosures to be kept for three years.
• Can it be delivered electronically? The EPA allows electronic delivery of the required disclosure information to renters and buyers under certain conditions; check the EPA’s real estate disclosure page for the current requirements.
• What if it was never provided? The EPA’s disclosure rule page includes a way to report a violation. Download the pamphlet anyway so the information reaches the household, and keep records of what was and was not provided.

For more on lead in older homes, including testing, abatement and renovation, start at our lead paint guide hub or the wider asbestos and lead resource center.

References

• Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home – Real Estate Disclosure — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Renovate Right: Important Lead Hazard Information for Families, Child Care Providers and Schools — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X) — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• About Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Buying or renting a pre-1978 home along the Front Range and want the paint checked before the inspection window closes? Get in touch with our team and we will help connect you with a certified lead inspector in your area.

Lead paint test kits

Instant swab kits flag lead on painted surfaces in minutes — useful before a renovation in any pre-1978 home.

Product	Why	Buy
3M LeadCheck Swabs	EPA-recognized instant swabs.	Amazon — $13.99
Lead Test Kit (lab-based)	Mail-in for a documented result.	Amazon — $75.00

Compare more picks in our full buying guide →

Prices and availability are accurate as of November 5, 2026 and are subject to change. Product data via the Amazon Product Advertising API.

We may earn commission from links on this page. Lead-form submissions are forwarded to local inspector partners. How we research and review.