Today I spoke with Paul Leary, a remodeler from Plymouth Ma, who was visited by a Mass RRP enforcement inspector. Paul gave me permission to share his story regarding the random RRP audit.
Paul is renovating a kitchen on an old home in Plymouth center. The project involved RRP practices. He was sitting on the porch of the home with his crew and he noticed a sedan with Mass state plates ride by the job. He told me he has many family members in law enforcement and he is familiar with state vehicles. The inspector went by the job, pulled over and got out of the car. Paul said to himself oh boy here comes a state inspector. Sure enough the RRP inspector came up to the job as they were eating their lunch.
The inspector starting asking questions and Paul proceeded to ask him who are you. The inpector pulled out his credentials and identified himself. He was a Mass Division of Labor Standards RRP Lead Inspector. The inspector asked about the job and Paul filled him in. Paul also asked how did he decide to stop by this Plymouth job. The inspector opened up his notepad and showed a list of 25 jobs that he was going to visit. The list came from the Plymouth building department. The inspector obtained a list of open permits from the building permit log.
The inspector shared that the day before he was in Hingham, Ma doing the same thing, RRP enforcement. The inspector hailed from the New Bedford DOLS office.
The good news here is Paul is RRP trained and his company is certified. Paul said this was his first RRP job since being certified last year. The inspector asked to see the inside and Paul brought him in. The demo was done and the walls were boarded, cabinets in. Paul immediately showed the inspector all of the required documentation; Certified Renovator Certificate, Mass Lead Safe Renovation Contractor License, the building permit, the Renovate Right Pamphlet ect. The inspector was pleased that a contractor actually knew what was expected. The inspection was completed and Paul passed with flying colors.
I asked Paul since you were trained last year how were you keeping up with all the changes. He said he gets most of his information from websites, blogs from industry experts and NARI members. One site he mentioned as being extremely informative was RRPEDIA. The author of the site is Industry Expert and NARI member Shawn McCadden. I know for a fact that many government officials from the EPA and other national institutions regularly visit Shawn's site to read his articles on RRP. In addition without sounding boastful he mentioned The Contractor Coaching Partnership Blog as well.
Paul also went on to say things are not what they used to be and he is challeged keeping a enough work on the books for his guys. However he decided a long time ago that he would rather play by the rules and not risk having a bad day if visited by enforcement officials.
I tip my hat to Paul and other contractors who despite the challenging economic times decide to play by the rules.
The State of Massachusetts is actively going out into the neighborhoods just as they promised back in February when Shawn and I met with them. This one run included 25 jobs in Plymouth and several the day before in Hingham.
As I hear more from contractors in the field I will share right here. Make sure you are signed up for this blog and you will be notifed instantly.
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