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Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing

Jeffrey Havelin, P.E.


Course Outline

The purpose of this (one-Hour) course is to provide Architects or Professional Engineers with a fundamental understanding and technical knowledge associated with Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing.

Lead-based paint, a toxic material, was widely used in North America on both the exteriors and interiors of buildings until well into the second half of the twentieth century. If a "historic" place is broadly defined in terms of time as having attained an age of fifty years, this means that almost every historic house contains some lead-based paint. In its deteriorated form, it produces paint chips and lead-laden dust particles that are a known health hazard to both children and adults

This course is intended to serve as an introduction to the complex issue of historic lead-based paint and its management. It explains how to plan and implement lead-hazard control measures to strike a balance between preserving a historic building's significant materials and features and protecting human health and safety, as well as the environment. It is not meant to be a "how-to guide" for undertaking the work. Such a short-cut approach could easily result in creating a greater health risk, if proper precautions were not taken.

This course is based entirely on the web version of the National Park Service Preservation Brief 37 which is entitled “Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing” as published by the National Park Service- U.S. Department of the Interior.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.


Learning Objective

This course will specifically review and provide an understanding of the methods, procedures, and benefits of Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing:


Intended Audience

This course would be very informative for Architects or Professional Engineers that are involved with historic buildings and structures.


Benefit to the Attendees

This course addresses common causes of deterioration and presents repair, restoration, and protection options for buildings with lead paint.


Course Introduction

This course is intended to serve as an introduction to the complex issue of historic lead-based paint and its management. Almost every historic house contains some lead-based paint. In its deteriorated form, it produces paint chips and lead-laden dust particles that are a known health hazard to both children and adults

The premise of this course is that historic housing can be made lead-safe without removing significant decorative features and finishes, or architectural trimwork that may contribute to the building's historic character.


Course Content

This course is based entirely on the web version of the National Park Service Preservation Brief 37 which is entitled “Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing” as published by the National Park Service- U.S. Department of the Interior.

The link to the course materials is as follows:

Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing

(http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief37.htm)

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.


Course Summary

The primary role of the consultant is to ensure the life of the building, a knowledge of historic construction techniques and the special problems found in older buildings is essential. The consultant must assist the owner historic housing to make the building lead-safe without removing significant decorative features and finishes, or architectural trimwork that may contribute to the building's historic character.


Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.