Lead paint, asbestos and SDS records: what NZ painters must do on older homes

When to presume lead-based paint in NZ

WorkSafe’s guidance says that if a building was built in the 1980s or earlier, it is best to presume it has been painted with lead-based paint, and that you should take precautions to protect yourself and others when removing it. Note the wording: the presumption runs to the end of the 1980s, not just to 1980, so a house built in 1987 is inside it. Lead can sit under many layers of newer paint, so a freshly painted exterior on an older home is not evidence that it is safe to sand. The same applies to the age-unknown case: if you cannot establish when the building was built, treat the paint as lead-based until a test says otherwise. The guidance also notes that WorkSafe’s lead paint guidelines, produced jointly with the Ministry of Health, predate the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, so the duties below come from that Act, with the guidelines as practical advice on how to meet them.

Your duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act

Under section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the health and safety of its workers and of others affected by its work. For a painter that includes the occupants, the neighbours and the next tradesperson. On a lead job, the practical steps in the Guidelines for the Management of Lead-based Paint include: assessing or testing before you disturb the paint, telling workers what you have found and training them, telling occupants before the work starts, containing the work area, cleaning up with a HEPA-filtered vacuum rather than a standard one, and keeping waste bagged and sealed. If you find the property is contaminated, the guidelines say to report it to the council’s environmental health officer or the public health unit. Do not burn or bury lead paint waste, and for anything beyond small amounts check disposal with your council, because it may need a controlled landfill.

Safe preparation methods on suspect surfaces

How you remove paint matters more than the paint. The guidance advises against dry sanding, power sanding, abrasive blasting, open flame and heat guns on lead paint, and Health NZ says wet sanding is the preferred method with a respirator worn whenever you make dust. The standard approach is wet scraping and wet sanding, with the surface kept damp so the dust never gets airborne, floor and ground covered with sheeting, doors and windows sealed in the work area, daily clean-up, and bagged waste. Eating, drinking and smoking stay out of the work area, and wash before breaks. If a job needs heavy stripping across a whole house, price the containment as its own line rather than hiding it in the per-square-metre rate.

Toolie flags jobs for lead on the quote. If the build year you enter is 1989 or earlier, or you leave it blank, the painter pack adds a priced containment line and a Lead Paint Hazardous Work Record to the job. That record lists the controls above, covers waste disposal and occupant notification, and holds sign-off until you have confirmed the controls are in place. It only appears on jobs that disturb paint, such as wash, scrape, sand or strip, and not on new-build bare substrate.

Asbestos in textured ceilings and coatings

Lead is not the only old-house hazard that lands on painters. The Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 apply the refurbishment rules to structures built before 1 January 2000, and textured coatings such as stipple and popcorn ceilings from that period can contain asbestos. Before refurbishment a competent person must determine whether asbestos is present, and the material should be presumed to contain asbestos where there is doubt. Painting over an intact coating is generally low risk. The risk is sanding it, scraping it, or water-blasting it, which is what a normal repaint prep does. If you suspect an old textured surface, stop and get it tested before you disturb it. Our asbestos guide for builders explains the survey and removal rules.

Hazardous substances: inventory and safety data sheets

Solvent-based paints, thinners, two-pack coatings and many cleaners are hazardous substances. Under the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, a PCBU in control of a workplace must keep an inventory of the hazardous substances on site, kept current and available to emergency services, and must have a safety data sheet (SDS) for each hazardous substance, accessible on site. WorkSafe’s guidance says a sheet more than five years old should be replaced. Waterborne low-VOC products may not be classified as hazardous, so check the SDS of each product rather than assuming. Keep the SDS for every product you carry in a folder or on your phone, and update the list when your suppliers change. Our painting and coatings page covers the paint systems and prep that make exterior coatings last.

Toolie’s painter pack includes an on-site hazardous substances manifest guide and presets solvent and thinner handling as a hazard on the job, but you still enter the products you use and attach the current SDS yourself.

Colour schedules, workmanship warranties and the job record

The best paperwork a painter produces is the one that settles an argument. A signed colour schedule shows which products, sheens and colours the client approved room by room, with coats and the spread rate from the product data sheet. A written workmanship warranty states what you cover and for how long, in addition to the owner’s rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. For exterior coatings, record the paint system and the prep, because the manufacturer’s system warranty usually depends on the prep and system being followed. A record of the date, the products used, the number of coats and the weather conditions is what you will want to hand over if an exterior finish fails years later.

Toolie has a colour schedule register: per room and surface you record the product, colour name and code, sheen, coats and spread rate, tick when the client has approved the colours, and print the schedule for signature. Quantities come from your spread rate, rounded to can sizes that you can change. Our paint calculator shows the same sums.

Sources

Official sources this guide relies on. Rules change, so check the current version before relying on a date or threshold.

• Managing lead-based paint — WorkSafe
• Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 — legislation.govt.nz
• Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017 — legislation.govt.nz
• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (s 36) — legislation.govt.nz

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