The two numbers in question.
Two dates govern most lead-paint compliance decisions in New York:
- 1978. The year the federal government banned the use of lead-based paint in residential applications. This is the basis for EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP) and HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Rule, both of which apply to housing built before 1978.
- 1960. The cutoff used in NYC Local Law 1 of 2004 and Local Law 31 of 2020. These apply to multiple dwellings constructed before 1960.
Why two different cutoffs.
The federal 1978 date is a regulatory cliff — the year of the ban — and is the conservative line: any housing built before that year could have lead paint.
The NYC 1960 date reflects a public-health judgment specific to NYC's housing stock. New York's local laws focus on housing where lead paint is most prevalent and where children with elevated blood lead are most often found. The pre-1960 stock — particularly NYC's older tenement and walk-up housing — concentrates the risk. By 1960, paint formulations and building practices had begun shifting away from heavy white-lead pigments, even though the federal ban was still 18 years away.
Practical implication: a building can fall under one and not the other.
A 1965 NYC multi-family building falls outside Local Law 1 and Local Law 31 (constructed after 1960) but inside EPA RRP (constructed before 1978). The owner doesn't have to perform the annual LL1 investigation or the LL31 XRF survey — but any renovation that disturbs painted surfaces must follow EPA RRP work-practice standards and be performed by an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm.
And the reverse.
A pre-1960 NYC multi-family building falls under both: annual LL1 investigation (where children under six reside), one-time LL31 XRF survey (every unit, regardless of occupancy), and EPA RRP for any renovation work.
HUD adds a third number.
HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Rule (24 CFR Part 35) also uses pre-1978 as the trigger for federally-assisted housing, but layers in different inspection and risk-assessment requirements depending on the type of federal assistance.
What this means operationally.
The simplest mental model for owners:
- Pre-1960 NYC multi-family: LL1, LL31, RRP. Run all three programs.
- 1960–1977 NYC multi-family: RRP only. No LL1 / LL31 investigation required; lead-safe work practices apply on any disturbance.
- Post-1978: No federal or NYC lead-paint regulatory trigger. Testing is optional — driven by transaction, lender or owner choice rather than compliance.
One nuance worth knowing.
The federal ban took effect on January 1, 1978, but lead paint already in inventory continued to be used for a period afterward. EPA's 1978 cutoff is the date the manufacturing ban took effect, not the date stocks were exhausted. For close-to-the-line buildings, an XRF survey is the only way to know.