Quick answer: most Montgomery County towns have no local rental lead-testing rule. Norristown does: pre-1978 rentals need a lead-safe or lead-free certificate, renewed every three years with the rental license. Everywhere else, the federal rules below still apply.
Towns with a rental lead rule
| Town | The rule | How often | Who tests | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norristown | Lead-safe or lead-free certificate for pre-1978 rentals, with the rental license. Also sales and daycares. | Every 3 years (lead-free: never expires) | Landlord hires an EPA-certified dust sampling technician or PA-licensed lead inspector or risk assessor | Chapter 200 (eCode360); Ordinance guide (PDF) |
Norristown’s certificate goes to Buildings & Code Compliance at LeadCert@Norristown.gov, on the Municipality’s own form. The details are in our Norristown guide.
How we checked
Montgomery County has 62 townships and boroughs. In November 2026 we searched the published municipal code of 57 of them (56 on eCode360, plus Upper Dublin on American Legal) for “lead-safe”, “lead-based” and “lead paint”. Only Norristown’s code has a rental lead-testing rule. That includes the larger rental markets: Lower Merion, Abington, Cheltenham, Upper Merion (King of Prussia), Pottstown, Lansdale, Conshohocken, Bridgeport, Jenkintown and the rest.
One code mentions lead paint without a test: Springfield Township’s property maintenance code (§ 70A-2) bans applying paint with more than 0.5% lead to a dwelling or child-care facility, and says existing paint over that level must be removed or covered as the code official approves. That’s a paint rule enforced by the code official, not a certificate or dust-test requirement.
Five smaller municipalities don’t publish a code we could search the same way: Bryn Athyn, Marlborough, Salford, Telford and Upper Salford. We haven’t found a lead rule there, but we haven’t read their codes either, so call the township or borough office if you rent there.
Codes change. A town can pass an ordinance before it’s posted online, so if your rental license application or inspection checklist mentions lead, follow it, and tell us so we can update this page.
What applies in every Montco town
Federal lead disclosure, before every lease
For housing built before 1978, the federal disclosure rule applies in every town, rule or no rule. Before the tenant signs, the landlord:
- gives them the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home;
- discloses any lead-based paint or lead hazards they know about, and hands over any reports or records, including building-wide ones;
- attaches or includes the Lead Warning Statement in the lease;
- keeps the signed disclosure for three years.
It doesn’t require a test. It exempts leases of 100 days or less, zero-bedroom units and housing for the elderly or people with disabilities (unless a child under six lives there), and housing certified lead-free by a licensed inspector.
EPA RRP rules, when you renovate
Paid work that disturbs paint in a pre-1978 home or child-occupied facility (repainting, window replacement, repairs) falls under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule. The work has to be done by an EPA lead-safe certified firm, with a certified renovator and lead-safe work practices, and the occupants get the Renovate Right pamphlet before work starts. Landlords who rent out pre-1978 housing are covered, and property managers who do the work themselves must be certified firms. In Pennsylvania the EPA runs this program directly.
The 2026 dust limits
Since January 12, 2026, the EPA’s dust-lead action levels are floors 5 µg/ft², windowsills 40 µg/ft² and window troughs 100 µg/ft² (EPA fact sheet, PDF). They’re the numbers clearance testing has to meet after lead abatement in pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities: daycares, preschools and other pre-1978 buildings where the same child under six spends time regularly. They don’t require a landlord to test by themselves, but every dust-wipe result, including a Norristown certificate, is judged against them. More in the 2026 limits guide.
Daycares: outside Norristown, we found no Montco rule that requires a lead test for a child-care facility, and Pennsylvania’s child-care licensing rules ban peeling paint without requiring a test. See lead-safe requirements for daycares.
No Pennsylvania rental law
Pennsylvania has no statewide law requiring lead tests for rentals. What the state does is license lead inspectors, risk assessors and abatement contractors, which matters if you want a lead-free certificate (an XRF paint inspection). We do dust-wipe lead-safe testing; for XRF we refer you to our licensed partner.
Help with repairs
Montgomery County’s Lead Hazard Control Program pays for lead testing and repairs in pre-1978 homes when a child under six lives there or visits regularly, or a pregnant woman lives there, and the household is under its income limits. Landlords qualify through their tenant’s income, and vacant units can qualify too. It’s voluntary.
Why some landlords outside Norristown test anyway
If your town has no rule, a lead test is your choice, not an obligation, and I’ll tell you that if you call. The landlords who test anyway usually have a specific reason:
- After renovation work. Sanding, window work and demolition leave fine dust behind, even when a room looks clean. A dust-wipe test shows whether the clean-up worked before a new tenant moves in.
- A tenant asks. Families with a baby on the way or a toddler sometimes ask whether the unit was tested. A recent lab report is a clear answer.
- One standard across properties. Owners with units in Philadelphia or Norristown, where testing is required, often keep the same routine for the rest.
One thing to know first: under the disclosure rule, any lead report you have is a record you share with future tenants. If a sample comes back high, the fix is usually cleaning or a small paint repair, then a re-test, and we’ll tell you which spot failed. See what to do after a failed test.
Getting tested in Montgomery County
We test rentals and daycares in Montgomery County, from Norristown to the towns along the Philadelphia line: a visual check, dust wipes from each bedroom and one common room, analysis at Accurate Analytical Testing LLC, and a certificate when everything passes. For a Norristown rental, the certificate goes on the Municipality’s own form, signed by me.
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