9.1 Five-Business-Day Notification Contents and Electronic Filing
Key Takeaways
- A certified firm must notify EPA of lead-based paint abatement activities. Except for EBL or emergency-order jobs, the original notification must be received by EPA at least 5 business days before the start date (40 CFR 745.227(e)(4)(i)).
- Business day means Monday through Friday with the exception of Federal holidays (40 CFR 745.223). Do not count Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holidays, and do not treat a sent or attempted filing as received.
- Notification must be accomplished electronically. Instructions are at https://www.epa.gov/lead or from the NLIC at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) (745.227(e)(4)(vii)).
- The firm is the notifying party. The notice still lists the project supervisor's name and EPA certification number, plus firm identity, dates, building type, property address including unit, quantity, a brief description, and the firm representative's name, title, and signature (745.227(e)(4)(vi)).
- No firm or individual shall engage in abatement before notifying EPA, and work shall not begin on a date or at a location other than specified in the original or updated notice (745.227(e)(4)(viii)–(ix)).
Five business days, received electronically, by the certified firm
Quick Answer: A certified firm must notify EPA of lead-based paint abatement activities. Except for EBL or emergency-order jobs, the original notification must be received by EPA at least 5 business days before the start date (40 CFR 745.227(e)(4)(i)). A business day is Monday through Friday except Federal holidays (745.223). Notification must be accomplished electronically. The firm is the notifying party; the notice still lists the project supervisor's name and EPA certification number.
Inspection, risk assessment, and RRP renovation are not this notice. This paragraph is the abatement-start gate in EPA-administered jurisdictions. In an authorized State, you notify that State's program on that State's timeline — which may be stricter. The federal 5-business-day clock is the EPA-administered baseline, not a nationwide hall pass. Always check the jobsite's jurisdiction before you mobilize (Chapter 3).
The firm notifies; the supervisor is named
745.227(e)(4) opens with the duty-holder: "A certified firm must notify EPA of lead-based paint abatement activities as follows." The individual supervisor does not file "as the supervisor" and thereby cover an uncertified company. 745.227(e)(4)(ix) then closes the gate: "No firm or individual shall engage in lead-based paint abatement activities, as defined in § 745.223, prior to notifying EPA of such activities according to the requirements of this paragraph." Both layers are named. An uncertified firm with a certified supervisor, or a certified firm that never files, both fail.
The notice still has to identify who will run the job. 745.227(e)(4)(vi)(I) requires the name and EPA certification number of the project supervisor. (vi)(D) requires the firm's name, EPA certification number, address, and telephone number. (vi)(L) requires the name, title, and signature of the representative of the certified firm who prepared the notification. Those are three different slots: the firm, the supervisor of record, and the firm representative who signed the filing. They can overlap (a sole proprietor supervisor who signs), but the exam will split them.
Worked example — supervisor files, firm is silent. Dana is a certified supervisor. The company that employs her is not certified. Dana uploads a complete electronic notice using her individual number. Fail. The notifying party must be a certified firm, and that firm must exist. Chapter 2 already taught that after March 1, 2000, firms that perform or offer to perform lead-based paint activities need their own certificate.
Worked example — firm files, wrong supervisor number. The certified firm files on time but lists last month's supervisor, whose card expired, because "we will assign someone Monday." The notice contents are false. The project still needs a certified supervisor under 745.227(e)(2), and the notice must name that person and that person's EPA certification number.
Five business days is not five calendar days
745.227(e)(4)(i): except for the EBL/emergency shortcut in (e)(4)(ii), "The original notification must be received by EPA at least 5 business days before the start date of any lead-based paint abatement activities."
Two words do the damage on exam items: received and business.
| Word in the rule | What it is | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Received | EPA has the electronic notice | "We hit send after hours and it bounced"; "we mailed it Friday"; "the owner knew" |
| Business day | Monday through Friday except Federal holidays (745.223) | Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal holiday (New Year's Day, MLK Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and any other day treated as a Federal holiday) |
| 5 business days before the start date | Count back five business days from the planned start; do not count the start date itself; do not count weekends or Federal holidays | Five calendar days; "a work week"; "Monday to Monday if we skip the weekend in our heads" |
Worked example — Friday file, Monday start. The firm files Friday afternoon and wants to start Monday. Between Friday and Monday sit Saturday and Sunday, which are not business days. You have not given EPA five business days. Friday is one business day before Monday. Fail.
Worked example — holiday sandwich. Planned start is Monday, November 30, 2026. Thanksgiving Day 2026 is Thursday, November 26 (Federal holiday). Count backward from Monday the 30th, skipping the holiday and the weekend:
- 1 business day before = Friday, November 27 (the day after Thanksgiving is not a Federal holiday)
- 2 = Wednesday, November 25 (Thursday the 26th is skipped)
- 3 = Tuesday, November 24
- 4 = Monday, November 23
- 5 = Friday, November 20
EPA must receive the original notice no later than Friday, November 20. Filing the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (the 25th) looks "almost a week" on a wall calendar and is still only two business days before the 30th. Fail.
Worked example — received, not intended. The firm representative completes the form on Tuesday and assumes the electronic system "will go through." The submission errors. Nobody checks. EPA never receives a notice. The crew starts the following Wednesday. 745.227(e)(4)(i) is a received-by rule, not a we-tried rule. 745.227(e)(4)(ix) then bars any firm or individual from engaging in the abatement before notifying.
Do not count the start date as one of the five. Do not treat a Saturday start as extra credit. If you must start on a Monday after a Friday Federal holiday, that holiday dropped out of the count and you need an earlier filing.
Electronic filing is mandatory
745.227(e)(4)(vii): "Notification must be accomplished electronically." Instructions are at https://www.epa.gov/lead or from the National Lead Information Center (NLIC) at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).
That sentence is the method. A paper notice left on a regional-office counter, a fax confirmation sheet, or a certified-mail receipt does not accomplish this paragraph. If the electronic system rejects the filing, you do not have a received notice. Call NLIC or follow EPA's current electronic instructions rather than improvising a paper workaround. Electronic filing does not shorten the 5-business-day clock and does not shrink the contents list in (e)(4)(vi).
Contents checklist — 745.227(e)(4)(vi)
Every notification — original, updated, or cancellation — must include:
| Cite | Required item | Field note |
|---|---|---|
| (A) | Notification type | Original, updated, or cancellation |
| (B) | Start date | The date activities will start — the 5-business-day clock and the "shall not begin on a date other than specified" rule both hang on this date |
| (C) | End date | An approximation using best professional judgement — it may be an estimate; it is still required |
| (D) | Firm identity | Name, EPA certification number, address, telephone number |
| (E) | Building type | e.g., single family dwelling, multi-family dwelling, child-occupied facility |
| (F) | Property name | If applicable |
| (G) | Property address | Including apartment or unit number(s) if applicable |
| (H) | EBL or emergency documentation | Only if you are using the abbreviated clock in (e)(4)(ii) |
| (I) | Project supervisor | Name and EPA certification number |
| (J) | Quantity | Approximate square footage / acreage to be abated |
| (K) | Scope | Brief description of abatement activities to be performed |
| (L) | Firm representative | Name, title, and signature of the representative of the certified firm who prepared the notification |
Missing the unit number is how two apartments in the same building become a location problem in Section 9.2. Missing the supervisor number is how a firm files a notice that does not identify a legal supervisor of record. Putting "TBD" in the start date is not a start date.
745.227(e)(4)(viii) then nails the start: lead-based paint abatement activities "shall not begin on a date, or at a location other than that specified" in the original or updated notification. The notice is not a vague neighborhood courtesy. It is the date and address EPA thinks you are working.
Authorized-state overlay, and what this notice is not
If the jobsite is in an EPA-authorized State or Tribal program (Chapter 3), you notify that program on that program's timeline. Some authorized programs use more than 5 business days, a different portal, or extra local forms. An EPA electronic filing does not satisfy a State that runs its own notice. Conversely, in EPA-administered states and in Indian country without an authorized program, 745.227(e)(4) is the rule: 5 business days, received, electronic, full contents.
This notice is also not the RRP pre-renovation pamphlet, not the occupant protection plan (Chapter 8), and not the later abatement report (Chapter 18). Those documents can share facts with the notice. None of them is the notice.
Official sources: 40 CFR 745.227(e)(4) and 40 CFR 745.223 (business day).
Under 40 CFR 745.227(e)(4)(i), when must EPA receive the original notification of an ordinary (non-EBL, non-emergency) lead-based paint abatement?
Who must notify EPA of lead-based paint abatement activities, and whose credential must still appear on that notice?
A certified firm completes an electronic abatement notice on Friday afternoon for a Monday start. The submission errors, EPA never receives it, and the crew starts Monday. Which statement is correct?
Planned start is Monday, November 30, 2026. Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 26, a Federal holiday. How do you count the 5-business-day original notice?