Updated August 2026 · Reviewed by Korey Paar, Fast Filing Group LLC
To look up an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm, use EPA's Lead-based Paint Professional Locator, choose Renovation, repair and painting (RRP), pick the state where the work happens, and search by firm name, certification number, or distance from a location. Each result shows the firm name, phone, address, discipline, certification number, and expiration date. If the state runs its own RRP program, the locator sends you to that state's list instead.
This guide walks through the lookup step by step, explains what each field in the results means, covers the fifteen states where the EPA list will not have the answer, and shows how to check your own firm's status and what to do if it is missing or expired. It is written for the three people who actually run this search: homeowners vetting a bid, general contractors prequalifying a sub, and firm owners confirming their own record.
EPA's public search is the Lead-based Paint Professional Locator, hosted on EPA's CDX application servers at cdxocsppapps.epa.gov. EPA's own help pages ("How can I find a certified renovation firm in my area?", updated May 2026) point to it as EPA's searchable database. The older search at cfpub.epa.gov/flpp, which many contractor sites and older articles still link to, now returns a 404, so if a bookmark dead-ends, that is why.
The locator covers more than RRP. The first question it asks is what type of work is being done: renovation, repair and painting; dust sampling after renovation; lead-based paint abatement; or inspection and risk assessment. For a contractor's Lead-Safe firm certification you want the first option. Abatement and inspection firms hold a different credential under a different part of the rule, and a firm certified for one is not automatically certified for the other.
Searching by name is the fastest way to verify a specific bid. Type the firm name as it appears on the proposal. If nothing comes back, try a shorter fragment: firms often certify under a legal name that differs from the trade name on the truck, so "Smith Painting" may be listed as "J. Smith Enterprises LLC." Try the owner's surname on its own before concluding anything.
Searching by certification number is the cleanest check when the contractor has given you a number, on a proposal, a logo, or a certificate PDF. Enter it exactly. EPA firm numbers look like NAT-F123456-1; some are shorter, like NAT-12345-1. If the number returns a firm with a different name than the one bidding, stop and ask why.
Searching by distance is for finding a certified firm rather than checking one. Enter a city and state or a ZIP code and a radius, tick Renovator, and the locator lists every EPA-certified renovation firm in that circle. Results show five at a time by default; you can raise that to 50 per page.
A result row has six fields: Firm Name, Phone Number, Firm Address, Discipline, Certification Number, and Expiration Date. Two of them do the real work.
It does not show the names of the firm's certified renovators, how many jobs the firm has done, or whether it has ever been cited. EPA keeps a separate public list, titled List of Entities Whose EPA Lead Certification Has Been Suspended, Revoked, Modified or Reinstated, linked from the top of the locator; check it if the firm's history matters to you.
It also does not carry state records. A firm certified only by North Carolina, Wisconsin, or another authorized state will not appear here even if it is in perfect standing, which is the next section.
EPA runs the RRP program in most states, but fifteen states and one tribe are authorized to run their own: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, plus the Bois Forte Band (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe). Firms working in those states certify with the state, not EPA, so they will not appear in EPA's locator no matter how you search.
The locator handles this itself. Pick one of those states and it stops you with an Authorized State notice: the state selected is authorized by EPA to run its own program, contact the state for its requirements, and here is a link to the state's website. Follow that link and use the state agency's own list. Among the four state programs LeadSafeFiling.com files, that means the NC DHHS Health Hazards Control Unit for North Carolina, the WI DHS Asbestos and Lead Section for Wisconsin, the Delaware Division of Public Health, and the Washington Department of Commerce. Our guide comparing EPA-administered and state-run RRP programs explains which rules apply where.
One trap: a firm based in an EPA state that takes a job in an authorized state needs that state's certification for that job. Its EPA listing does not carry over. If you are hiring in North Carolina, an EPA number is not the credential you need to see.
EPA's own FAQ is explicit: if you cannot find a firm, call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) and an expert will help you find out whether it is certified. Newly approved firms take time to appear, name mismatches hide real records, and the locator only reflects EPA's database, not the state ones.
So the sequence is: search by number, then by name fragments, then check whether the work state is an authorized state, then call NLIC. Only after all four should you treat a firm as uncertified. Ask the contractor for the certificate PDF while you wait; a certified firm has one and can send it in a minute. What that document shows is covered in our guide to the EPA Lead-Safe firm certificate.
Firm owners should run this search on themselves once a year, and always before a big bid. Search by your certification number, confirm the legal name and address are what you want a GC to see, and read the expiration date. If your firm changed its name or address and the listing shows the old details, EPA requires an amendment within 90 days of the change under 40 CFR 745.89(c); an outdated listing is itself a compliance gap.
If your expiration date is inside 90 days, file the re-certification now. EPA treats an application filed 90 or more days before expiration as timely, and a timely filing keeps you certified even if EPA has not finished processing on the expiration date. File later than that and, if approval does not arrive before the date passes, you cannot perform or advertise regulated work until it does. Our EPA firm certification renewal guide covers the mechanics.
If the date has already passed, your firm is uncertified today. The fix is the same filing as an initial application: LeadSafeFiling.com prepares and files it for a flat $129 service fee plus the government fee, $429 all in for EPA-administered states, with the certificate typically back in about one to two weeks. If your firm was never certified and is not in the locator because it never applied, the same filing gets you listed.
The locator lists firms, not people, and it offers no search for individual Certified Renovators. The proof of that credential is the training-course completion certificate the accredited provider issued: it carries the renovator's name, a unique identification number, a photograph, the course, and an expiration date, and under 40 CFR 745.90 the certified renovator must have copies of the initial and most recent refresher certificates with them at the work site.
So a complete verification is two documents: the firm's certification (in the locator, or on the state list) and the assigned renovator's course certificate (in hand, on the job). Our guide on Certified Renovator vs. Certified Firm explains why one without the other is not compliance.
It is EPA's Lead-based Paint Professional Locator at cdxocsppapps.epa.gov, which EPA's help pages call its searchable database. Choose Renovation, repair and painting, pick the state where the work is done, and search by name, certification number, or distance. The older cfpub.epa.gov search that many sites still link to no longer resolves.
Six fields: firm name, phone number, firm address, discipline (Renovation for RRP firms), certification number, and expiration date. It does not list the firm's individual certified renovators or its enforcement history; EPA publishes suspended and revoked certifications on a separate list linked from the locator.
Fifteen states and one tribe run their own RRP programs, and firms working there certify with the state, not EPA, so they are not in EPA's database. When you select one of those states, the locator shows an Authorized State notice and a link to the state agency, whose own list is the place to check.
Not necessarily. Try the certification number, name fragments, and the state's own list if the work is in an authorized state, then call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323), which is EPA's recommended step. Ask the contractor for their certificate PDF in the meantime; a certified firm can produce it immediately.
No. EPA's locator lists firms only. A renovator's proof is the course completion certificate from the accredited training provider, which shows their name, photo, unique ID, and expiration date. Under 40 CFR 745.90 the certified renovator must have copies of it at the work site, so ask to see it there.
Search by your certification number and read the Expiration Date column. It is the same date printed on your certificate. Count back 90 days: that is your re-certification deadline. If the date has passed, your firm is uncertified until a new application is approved, and LeadSafeFiling.com can file it for $129 plus the government fee.
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