Paint chips or an inspector, how is lead confirmed in Ottawa houses?

Both routes are valid in Ontario. Health Canada says a certified inspector can measure paint lead levels in your home, or you can mail paint chip samples to a testing laboratory. Health Canada names both and does not rank them.

One route sends paint chips to a laboratory; the other brings a certified inspector to measure lead levels in the home.

The result is most useful before work is planned. Ontario's guideline on lead on construction projects says a project owner must determine whether lead is present and inform potential contractors before work begins. For a house you live in, how that duty applies is not settled. The guideline also says employers on construction projects must still take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The practical point is that if you have a lab report or an inspector's findings in hand before you get quotes, contractors can price the work accurately and write the containment, the method and the cleanup into the contract.

A few things worth confirming before you hire anyone for lead work:

• Ask whether the quote specifies the method, the dust containment and the cleanup standard in writing, not just a price per room.
• Ask how the contractor handles waste, since we found no Ottawa-specific rule on lead-paint debris disposal, and you want that answered before work starts.
• Search the contractor's WSIB clearance online before signing; a clearance is valid for up to 90 days.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2002 gives you 10 days to cancel a direct agreement signed at your home where the total exceeds $50; check the current rules, as that Act is due to be replaced.

If the home was built before 1960, Health Canada says it probably contains lead-based paint. If it was built between 1960 and 1990, the exterior may contain lead-based paint and interior surfaces may also contain lead in smaller amounts that could still be harmful, particularly to young children. Houses built after 1990 should not contain lead, because all consumer paints produced in Canada and the U.S. were virtually lead-free by then.

Once the work is done, keep the lab report or inspector's findings, the written contract showing the method and containment, and any post-work documentation the contractor provides. File them with your house papers.