Remodeler, industry consultant, and Remodeling magazine columnist and blogger Shawn McCadden believes "a day without education is wasted." It says so on the front page of his website. So then it's no surprise that McCadden has wrapped his arms around the industry's newest education question mark: the EPA's Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule. "The risks and liabilities of the rule are many and have created a lot of heartburn for those who are trying to comply," McCadden says. "And the risks and liabilities for those who are ignoring the rule are tremendous."

Q1.Is your business an RRP certified firm?
Q2.Does your business have a certified renovator available to supervise RRP projects?
Q3.Related to the new EPA RRP rule, what are your top two concerns?
Q4.How/Where did you first find out about the EPA's RRP rule?
Q5.Would you report a contractor who is operating illegally and not following the RRP rule on a job where it is required?
Q6.What is the single most important reason you became a certified firm?
Q7.Have you read the RRP rule in its entirety?
Q8.Are you in favor of the amendment to require dust wipe testing?
Q9.What is the primary source for the tools and supplies you will need to do RRP-related work?
Q10.Do you think some kind of government-regulated rule is necessary to prevent lead poisoning/contamination?
Q11.How confident are you in the accuracy and reliability of the EPA-approved lead test kits?
Q12.Other than the required certified renovator training, have you attended any other training specifically related to the RRP rule?
Q13.Do you plan to eventually become a certified firm?
Q14.What is the single most significant reason your business hasn't become certified yet?
Q15.What is the most likely reason you would become a certified firm?
Q16.What do you think about reporting illegally operating competition not following RRP requirements when required to do so?
Q17.If you do eventually become a certified firm, where do you plan to purchase the tools and supplies needed for RRP-related work?

As such, Remodeling recently teamed up with McCadden to develop a survey for the Remodeling Reader Panel to take the temperature of the industry with regard to RRP. In some ways, the results are good. It seems that Remodeling readers are as much as six times more likely to be in compliance with RRP requirements than the industry at large. In other ways, the results are disappointing. While approximately two-thirds of Reader Panelists surveyed are in compliance, they've chosen to stop their RRP education there, though McCadden notes that there is much more to learn than the basics.

"The RRP rule should serve as a wake-up call for the remodeling industry," McCadden says. "For many years, our industry knew lead was a problem and knew EPA was working on regulations. Now OSHA is gearing up and, coupled with the lead-related health risks to workers, residential remodeling is already on their radar. Its time all remodelers wake up to the new realities our industry is faced with and unite with one voice to deal with the realities that are yet to come."

Results of the RRP Reader Panel survey are included in the following pages, which you can navigate at the bottom of the article, or by clicking the links to each question from this page.