18.4 Abatement Report, 2026 Hazard Statement, Owner Copies, and 3-Year Retention
Key Takeaways
- A certified supervisor or project designer prepares the abatement report (40 CFR 745.227(e)(10)). An inspector or risk assessor writes the sampling results, not this report, unless they also hold supervisor or project-designer certification.
- Required contents: start and completion dates; each certified firm's name and address and each supervisor's name; the occupant protection plan; name, address, and signature of each inspector or risk assessor who did post-abatement sampling and the sampling date; dust-lead and soil results and each recognized laboratory's name; a detailed description of methods, locations, reasons for methods, and suggested encapsulant/enclosure monitoring.
- On or after January 12, 2026, when dust results are below action levels and at or above reportable levels, the report must include the mandatory dust-lead hazard statement in 745.227(e)(10)(vii) — Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home language about remaining reportable dust-lead.
- Recordkeeping under 745.227(i): the certified firm or individual who prepared the report or plan keeps it no fewer than 3 years and provides copies to the building owner. Current 745.227 has no 12-year clearance-record sentence.
- Owner copies become the owner's known records of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards for Subpart F disclosure (745.107): remaining reportable dust-lead is still a hazard the owner must disclose on sale or lease even when the job completed below action levels.
The report is how the job ends on paper
Quick Answer: A certified supervisor or project designer shall prepare the abatement report (40 CFR 745.227(e)(10)). It must include start and completion dates; each certified firm's name and address and each supervisor's name; the occupant protection plan; name, address, and signature of each certified risk assessor or inspector who conducted post-abatement sampling and the date of sampling; dust-lead and soil results and each recognized laboratory's name; and a detailed written description of the abatement — methods, locations, reasons for selecting those methods, and suggested monitoring of encapsulants or enclosures. On or after January 12, 2026, when post-abatement dust results are below the action levels and at or above the reportable levels, the report must include the dust-lead hazard statement in (e)(10)(vii). 745.227(i) requires the certified firm or individual who prepared the report or plan to keep it no fewer than 3 years and to provide copies to the building owner. There is no 12-year clearance-record sentence in current 745.227.
Curriculum topics 745.225(d)(3)(vi) and (xiii) are the occupant protection plan / abatement report and recordkeeping. Chapter 8 wrote the OPP before work. This section is the closeout packet after 5 / 40 / 100 (or a documented exterior visual) and after any reclean/retest from Section 18.3.
Who writes it — and who only signs the wipes
745.223 already assigned the report: a certified supervisor is certified to supervise and conduct abatements and to prepare occupant protection plans and abatement reports. A certified project designer is certified to prepare abatement project designs, OPPs, and abatement reports. An inspector or risk assessor is certified to sample. Unless that person also holds supervisor or project-designer certification, they do not author the (e)(10) report.
Do not turn the laboratory PDF into "the abatement report." Do not let a project manager who is not certified as supervisor or project designer sign it. Do not skip the report because the owner "saw the rooms."
(e)(10) contents checklist
If a page is missing, you do not have a complete abatement report:
| (e)(10) element | What belongs | Exam / field fail if missing |
|---|---|---|
| (i) Start and completion dates | Actual dates abatement began and ended, including reclean/retest days that pushed completion | A notice date is not a completion date. Occupancy before completion is not a date game. |
| (ii) Each certified firm name and address, and each supervisor assigned | Every firm that conducted the abatement; every supervisor who covered prep, work, or cleanup | Subcontractor firm omitted; "the usual crew" with no supervisor name |
| (iii) Occupant protection plan | The (e)(5) OPP, unique to the dwelling or COF, prepared before abatement by a supervisor or project designer | A generic two-pager reused from another address; an OPP written after the fact |
| (iv) Inspector / risk assessor name, address, signature, and sampling date | Each person who did post-abatement sampling | Unsigned sampling; supervisor signature substituting for the assessor; no date |
| (v) Dust-lead results, soil analyses if applicable, and each recognized laboratory's name | The NLLAP packet, including fails and retests, not only the last passing round | "Visual OK" with no lab; a non-recognized lab; soil abatement with no soil numbers |
| (vi) Detailed description | Methods used; locations of rooms and/or components; reason for each method; suggested monitoring of encapsulants or enclosures | "Windows replaced" with no rooms; enclosure with no monitoring note; no why for the method |
| (vii) Dust-lead hazard statement (on/after Jan. 12, 2026, when triggered) | The mandatory language below when results are below action levels and at or above reportable levels | Omitting it on a 4 µg/ft² floor job; inserting it instead of recleaning a 9 µg/ft² fail |
(vi) is where enclosure and encapsulant jobs stay honest. Chapter 12 already required a monitoring schedule in the design. (e)(10)(vi) requires the report to suggest monitoring of those barriers. A replacement job still needs locations and reasons (friction sashes, deteriorated LBP, owner-chosen method, etc.). "We always replace windows" is not a reason tailored to the component.
Worked example — thin report. Dates, firm, and a lab sheet. No OPP attached. No assessor signature. Method line says "abatement." That file is not (e)(10). The owner cannot disclose what you never wrote. Fix it before you call the job complete on paper.
The 2026 mandatory dust-lead hazard statement
(e)(10)(vii) is not optional marketing copy. On or after January 12, 2026, when post-abatement dust-lead testing results are below the dust-lead action levels and at or above the dust-lead reportable levels, a dust-lead hazard statement with the following language must be included. EPA's words:
Although the completed abatement project achieved dust-lead below action levels, some dust-lead hazards remain because any reportable level of dust-lead is considered a dust-lead hazard by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a residential dwelling or child-occupied facility. In order for abatement work to be considered complete under EPA regulations, dust-lead levels must be below the action levels, which are established based on reliability, effectiveness and safety. To continue to reduce lead exposure from dust, the EPA pamphlet entitled Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home includes recommendations such as: using a vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter on furniture and other items returned to the work area, and regularly cleaning hard surfaces with a damp cloth or sponge and a general all-purpose cleaner. For more information on how to continue to reduce lead exposure, see Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.
When it fires: at least one post-abatement dust result is reportable (the lab printed a number, not a less-than) and every result used to complete the job is below 5 / 40 / 100 (after any reclean/retest). Classic case: floor 4 µg/ft² reported as 4.
When it does not fire:
- Every dust result is a less-than below a reportable level and below the action levels — no reportable remainder on those samples.
- A result equals or exceeds an action level — the job is not complete. Reclean and retest (Section 18.3). Do not use (vii) as a waiver.
- Exterior-only visual completion with no interior dust results in the file — (vii) is triggered by post-abatement dust-lead testing results, not by a dripline visual. If the same project also has interior wipes that are reportable-but-below-action, (vii) still belongs.
Paraphrase on the exam: completion below action levels is not a finding of no dust-lead hazard. The pamphlet language is ongoing cleaning (HEPA on returned furniture, damp-clean hard surfaces), not a second abatement. The supervisor does not have to HEPA the owner's sofa after move-back as part of (e)(8); the statement tells the owner that remaining reportable dust is still a hazard and points at the pamphlet.
Worked example — 4 µg/ft² floor, statement omitted. Lab 4 µg/ft² floor, sills and troughs below action levels. Report has dates, OPP, signatures, methods — and no (vii) statement. The sampling passed. The report did not. Add the statement. Do not pretend 4 is "non-detect enough."
Worked example — 9 µg/ft² floor, statement used as a dodge. Floor 9 µg/ft². Supervisor inserts (vii) and hands keys over. Wrong. 9 exceeds 5. Reclean and retest. (vii) is for below action levels and at/above reportable, not for fails.
Three years, owner copies, no 12-year federal EPA sentence
745.227(i) is two sentences:
- All reports or plans required in this section shall be maintained by the certified firm or individual who prepared the report for no fewer than 3 years.
- That firm or individual also shall provide copies of these reports to the building owner who contracted for its services.
This section means 745.227 — inspection reports, hazard screens, risk assessments, OPPs, abatement reports, notifications you prepared as the firm. The preparer keeps them. If the firm prepared the abatement report, the firm keeps it. If a project designer prepared it as the individual, that individual (and typically their firm) keeps it. Three years is a floor ("no fewer than"), not a shred-on-day-1,096 instruction.
There is no 12-year clearance-record retention sentence in current 745.227. Older training decks and some state or HUD program rules may say something longer. Do not teach 12 years as the federal EPA abatement number. If a state authorized program or a HUD contract requires longer, follow the stricter file rule — and still know that 745.227(i) itself is 3 years plus owner copies.
Give the owner the OPP, the abatement report (including lab sheets, assessor signatures, and the 2026 statement when triggered), and other 745.227 reports you prepared on that contract. Email plus a hard copy is how you prove (i). A copy that never left the van is not "provided."
Worked example — firm dissolves. The certified firm shuts down 18 months after the job. (i) still required those records to be kept no fewer than 3 years from preparation. Winding up a company does not vaporize TSCA files. Plan custody. The owner should already have copies; that does not excuse the preparer from the 3-year keep.
Disclosure implications for the owner
40 CFR 745 Subpart F (745.107) requires sellers and lessors of target housing, before a purchaser or lessee is obligated, to:
- Provide the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.
- Disclose known lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards, including location and the basis for the determination.
- Provide any records or reports available pertaining to LBP and LBP hazards, including common areas and, in multi-family housing, records that were part of an evaluation or reduction in the housing as a whole.
When you hand the owner an abatement report that says dust is below action levels and includes the (e)(10)(vii) statement (or a lab row at 4 µg/ft²), the owner now knows two things: the abatement completed, and reportable dust-lead hazards remain on the named floors or interior sills. Completion does not wipe that knowledge. The next sale or lease must disclose those records. Hiding the report because "we cleared" is how owners walk into 745.107 trouble.
The supervisor is not the seller's disclosure agent. The supervisor's job is to write an accurate report, keep it ≥3 years, and give the owner copies. Telling the owner "you can advertise a lead-free house" after a 4 µg/ft² floor is false. Telling a tenant they may skip damp-cleaning because action levels were beaten contradicts the statement EPA made you print.
Supervisor closeout test. (1) Report authored by a certified supervisor or project designer? (2) Every (e)(10)(i)–(vi) box filled, including assessor signature and NLLAP names? (3) If any dust result is below action levels and reportable, is (vii) in the file verbatim? (4) Failed wipes show reclean and retest, not a statement sticker? (5) Owner has copies? (6) Preparer has a 3-year keep plan — not a 12-year myth and not a shred-at-substantial-completion myth?
Official sources: 40 CFR 745.227(e)(10), (i) (abatement report contents, 2026 dust-lead hazard statement, 3-year retention, owner copies); 40 CFR 745.223 (supervisor and project designer prepare abatement reports); 40 CFR 745.107 (seller/lessor disclosure of known LBP hazards and available records).
Who is required to prepare the abatement report under 40 CFR 745.227(e)(10)?
On or after January 12, 2026, post-abatement floors are 4 µg/ft² (reported as 4, not as a less-than) and all other dust results are below action levels. What must the abatement report include under 40 CFR 745.227(e)(10)(vii)?
How long must the certified firm or individual who prepared 40 CFR 745.227 reports or plans keep them, and who else must receive copies?
The owner receives an abatement report showing floors at 4 µg/ft² (below the action level, reportable) plus the 745.227(e)(10)(vii) statement. The owner plans to rent the unit next month and wants to advertise "no lead hazards — we cleared." What should the supervisor understand about 40 CFR 745.107?
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