Does Hawaii have its own lead paint disclosure law?

No. Hawaii has no state-specific lead paint disclosure statute. The duty in Hawaii is entirely federal, under 42 U.S.C. 4852d with implementing rules at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A. Hawaii law matters in two adjacent ways: the habitability duty in Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-42 applies independently to deteriorated paint, and the written disclosure the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code compels under Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43 that landlords most often mistake for a lead duty is the owner and manager identity disclosure, which is not about lead.

Which Hawaii rentals require a lead paint disclosure?

Any residential rental built before 1 January 1978, which the rule calls target housing. Units built in 1978 or later are outside the rule because residential lead-based paint was banned effective that year. Narrow exemptions cover zero-bedroom units, leases of 100 days or less with no renewal, certified lead-free housing, and housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities. Only one of these carries a child condition. Under 40 CFR 745.103, housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities is target housing where a child under six resides or is expected to reside there. The zero-bedroom exclusion is unconditional, so a studio, efficiency, or single rented room is not target housing even when a young child lives there; the 100-day and certified lead-free exemptions likewise do not depend on whether a child lives in the unit.

Do I have to give Hawaii tenants 10 days to inspect for lead?

No. The 10-day inspection opportunity is a sales rule, not a rental rule. 40 CFR 745.110 says that before a purchaser is obligated under any contract to purchase target housing, the seller shall permit the purchaser a 10-day period to conduct a risk assessment or inspection. The lessor requirements at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no inspection-opportunity item at all, and the EPA lessor form does not include one. Many form sites wrongly copy this item onto rental disclosures from the sales version. You may offer an inspection window voluntarily, but no federal rule compels it for a lease.

Does a landlord have to test for lead-based paint?

No. The rule requires disclosure of what you actually know, not investigation. EPA states plainly that the rule does not require sellers or landlords to test or remove lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards. If the unit has never been tested and you hold no reports, no knowledge is the honest answer. What you may not do is check no knowledge while sitting on a report, a prior abatement record, or knowledge of a child's elevated blood-lead result in the unit.

How long must a Hawaii landlord keep the signed disclosure?

At least three years from the start of the leasing period, under 40 CFR 745.113(c). Keep the signed disclosure, a note of which pamphlet edition was delivered, and copies of every record you handed over. The signed disclosure is the landlord's primary defence in an EPA or HUD inquiry, so retaining it for the life of ownership is the safer practice.

What must a landlord disclose when renovating an occupied pre-1978 rental?

This is a separate duty from the leasing disclosure. Under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E, a renovation that disturbs painted surfaces in a pre-1978 unit requires lead-safe work practices by a certified firm, and occupants must receive lead hazard information no more than 60 days before work begins. If common areas are affected, notice describing the nature, location, and expected dates of the work must reach every unit in the building.

Can the Hawaii lead paint disclosure be signed electronically?

Yes. Electronic disclosure and signature are permitted under the E-SIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. 7001. EPA attaches conditions: give a clear statement of the right to receive paper documents, explain the procedure to withdraw consent and its consequences, explain how to access and retain the electronic records, and obtain the tenant's consent demonstrating they can actually access the materials. A link alone is not delivery. Retain the electronic record for the same three years.

What is the Lead Warning Statement?

It is the fixed federal paragraph required by 40 CFR 745.113(b)(1) that must be attached to or inserted into the lease. It states that pre-1978 housing may contain lead-based paint, that lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women, that lessors must disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, and that lessees must receive a federally approved pamphlet. It is prescribed wording, so rewriting or improving it can defeat the disclosure. The generator on this page reproduces it.

Which EPA lessor form is current?

EPA revised the disclosure forms in 2024. The current lessor version is Form No. 9600-041, Disclosure of Information on Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards; the sales counterpart is Form No. 9600-040. EPA reformatted and reworded the forms to reduce common completion errors, but the substantive information requirements did not change. A disclosure on an older layout that still carries all six required elements remains valid.

What are the penalties for skipping the disclosure?

Two separate exposures. First, 42 U.S.C. 4852d(b)(3) makes a knowing violator jointly and severally liable to the lessee for three times the damages that person incurred, and 4852d(b)(4) lets the court add court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and expert witness fees. Second, government civil money penalties, which EPA adjusts for inflation each year under 40 CFR 19.4; the per-violation figures quoted on most form sites are stale, so check the current table rather than trusting a number. Knowing violations can also carry criminal exposure.

Does the disclosure apply to lease renewals?

A fresh disclosure is required for a new lease with a new lessee. Lease renewals are addressed directly by 40 CFR 745.101(d), which exempts renewals of an existing lease where the lessor has already made every disclosure required by 40 CFR 745.107 and where no new information has come into the lessor's possession. Both conditions must hold. If you obtained a new lead report or learned of a hazard since the original disclosure, the exemption does not apply and the new information must be disclosed. Redisclosing at each renewal is the conservative practice and costs nothing.

When is the lessee's agent required to sign?

Only when that agent is compensated by the lessor. The EPA lessor form carries a footnote making the lessee's-agent item conditional on the lessee's agent receiving compensation from the lessor. The lessor's own agent item is not conditional: any agent engaged by the lessor must confirm they informed the lessor of the obligations under 42 U.S.C. 4852d and are aware of their responsibility to ensure compliance. Where no agent is involved, the item is marked not applicable.

Do I have to disclose records for other units in the building?

Yes, where they exist. EPA states that for multi-unit buildings the records you must provide include those for common areas and other units that come from building-wide evaluations. The disclosure duty is not limited to the four walls of the leased unit: if a building-wide risk assessment identified hazards in a stairwell, a laundry room, or a neighbouring unit, that report is within scope for a pre-1978 building.

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Free Hawaii Lead Paint Disclosure

The federal disclosure every Hawaii landlord must deliver before leasing housing built before 1978. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d and 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F. Hawaii adds no lead paint statute of its own — and the 10-day inspection window you see on other sites is a sales rule, not a rental rule.

Federally Required 42 U.S.C. 4852d 40 CFR Part 745 Hawaii Free PDF

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Reviewed for Hawaii ~18 min read

A Hawaii lead paint disclosure is the federally mandated form a landlord delivers to a prospective tenant before any lease of residential property built before 1978. It carries the fixed federal lead warning statement, states the lessor’s actual knowledge of lead-based paint and hazards, lists the records being handed over, documents the tenant’s receipt of the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, captures any agent’s acknowledgment, and is signed and dated by every party. Authority is 42 U.S.C. 4852d (Section 1018 of Title X, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992), implemented at 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F (EPA) and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A (HUD). Hawaii imposes no separate lead paint disclosure statute — the duty here is purely federal. What Hawaii does add is an independent habitability duty under Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-42 for deteriorated paint, covered in our Hawaii habitability laws guide. Generate the form below, then read on for exactly what the rule requires.

Key Takeaways

Pre-1978 is the only trigger. Original construction before 1 January 1978 makes the unit “target housing” and the disclosure mandatory. The build date controls even if the unit was gutted and rebuilt in 1995.
Hawaii has no lead paint statute. The duty is 100% federal. Any page selling you a “Hawaii lead law” is wrong. Hawaii’s contribution is habitability (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-42) and, separately, the owner-and-manager identity disclosure the tenancy code does require (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43) — which is not about lead.
The 10-day inspection window does not apply to leases. 40 CFR 745.110 gives it to purchasers only. The lessor rules at 40 CFR 745.113(b) contain no such item.
You never have to test. The rule compels disclosure of actual knowledge, not investigation. “No knowledge” is honest and lawful when nothing has been tested and you hold no reports.
Deliver before the tenant is obligated, not at move-in and not with the keys. Late delivery is the same violation as no delivery.
Retain the signed disclosure three years from the start of the leasing period (40 CFR 745.113(c)). It is your only real defence in an enforcement inquiry.
Renovation is a second, separate duty. Disturbing paint in an occupied pre-1978 unit triggers the RRP rule and a 60-day lead-hazard-information notice.

▶ Watch overview

Hawaii lead paint disclosure overview

Hawaii Lead Paint Disclosure at a Glance

Trigger

Built before 1978

Authority

42 U.S.C. 4852d

Hawaii Statute

None — federal only

Retention

3 years

Timing

Before lease obligation

Pamphlet

EPA, mandatory

Duty to test

10-day inspection

Sales only

The one-line answer: if your Hawaii rental was built before 1978 and the lease runs longer than 100 days, you must hand the tenant this signed disclosure plus the EPA pamphlet before they are obligated under the lease, and keep the signed copy for three years. Nothing in Hawaii law changes that; nothing in Hawaii law adds to it.

What the Hawaii lead paint disclosure does

The lead paint disclosure — often called the Section 1018 disclosure, after the 1992 statute that created it — is the formal federal notice a Hawaii landlord delivers to a prospective tenant for any residential property built before 1978. It does four things in one document.

First, it puts the tenant on notice of potential lead exposure through the federally mandated lead warning statement, the fixed language at 40 CFR 745.113(b)(1) that must be attached to or included within the lease.

Second, it transmits the lessor’s actual knowledge of lead-based paint or hazards in the dwelling. The lessor picks one of exactly two positions: known lead-based paint or hazards are present, with a description of what is known; or the lessor has no knowledge of lead-based paint or hazards in the housing. There is no third box, and there is no “maybe”.

Third, it transmits any reports the lessor holds from prior inspections, risk assessments, or hazard-reduction work. The lessor either provides copies of all available records and lists them, or affirmatively states that no reports or records exist.

Fourth, it documents the tenant’s receipt of the disclosure and of the EPA pamphlet. The signed acknowledgment is the landlord’s primary defence in any later EPA or HUD inquiry or private civil action.

The disclosure is not optional and the duty is not waivable by agreement. A pre-1978 Hawaii rental leased without one exposes the landlord to government civil penalties and to a tenant’s private action for triple damages plus fees. Compliance takes fifteen minutes; non-compliance is the most expensive paperwork failure in pre-1978 rental practice.

Does Hawaii have its own lead paint law?

No. Hawaii has no state-specific lead paint disclosure statute, and this page will not invent one. Unlike a handful of states that layer their own lead registry, testing, or certification regimes on top of the federal rule, Hawaii does not. Every substantive requirement described on this page comes from federal law: 42 U.S.C. 4852d, 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart F, and 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A.

This matters because a lot of “Hawaii lead paint disclosure” pages imply a Hawaii rule exists, then describe the federal one. If you are searching for the Hawaii statute number, there isn’t one to find. What Hawaii contributes is three adjacent things worth knowing:

Habitability — Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-42. The Residential Landlord-Tenant Code requires the landlord to comply with all applicable building and housing laws materially affecting health and safety and to keep the premises in a habitable condition. That duty applies independently of disclosure. Deteriorated lead paint can be a habitability defect on its own, whether or not you disclosed it. Disclosure does not cure a hazard; it only discloses one.
The identity disclosure — Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43. This is a written disclosure the Hawaii tenancy code actually compels, and it is worth naming precisely so you do not confuse it with a lead duty: at or before the start of the tenancy the landlord must disclose, in writing, the name and address of each person authorized to manage the premises and each owner or agent for service of process and rent. It is a wholly separate obligation from lead, and it is not satisfied by this form.
Local programs. Some Hawaii counties run lead-safe or healthy-homes programs that can add inspection or notice obligations. These are municipal, not statewide. Check with your county’s code-enforcement office or the Hawaii Department of Health before assuming none applies.

The Hawaii Department of Health administers the state’s childhood lead-poisoning prevention and healthy-homes work, but that is a public-health surveillance function, not a landlord disclosure mandate. It does not create a filing duty for you. Because the obligation is federal rather than state-specific, the same disclosure applies to a rental in any state — our federal lead-based paint disclosure form is the generic version of the Hawaii form on this page.

What the rule actually requires: the six elements of 40 CFR 745.113(b)

Most guides list “three things” a landlord must do. The regulation is more precise than that. 40 CFR 745.113(b) requires six distinct elements in the lease or an attachment to it. A disclosure missing any one of them is defective, regardless of how professional the form looks. This is the checklist to audit your own paperwork against.

Element	What 40 CFR 745.113(b) requires	Who completes it
(b)(1) Lead warning statement	The fixed federal paragraph, reproduced in its prescribed wording, attached to or inserted into the lease.	Pre-printed on the form
(b)(2) Lessor’s disclosure of known paint and hazards	A statement disclosing the presence of known lead-based paint and hazards, including any additional information available (for example location and the condition of painted surfaces) — or a statement of no knowledge.	Lessor
(b)(3) List of records and reports	A list of any records or reports available to the lessor that were provided to the lessee — or a statement that no such records exist.	Lessor
(b)(4) Lessee’s acknowledgment	A statement by the lessee affirming receipt of the information in (b)(2) and (b)(3) and receipt of the lead hazard information pamphlet.	Lessee (initials)
(b)(5) Agent’s statement	A statement that the agent has informed the lessor of the lessor’s obligations under 42 U.S.C. 4852d and is aware of their own responsibility to ensure compliance.	Agent (initials, or N/A)
(b)(6) Signatures certifying accuracy	The signatures of the lessors, agents, and lessees certifying to the accuracy of their statements, with dates.	All parties

Note what is not in that list: no inspection window, no testing requirement, no filing with any agency, and no obligation to remediate. The rule is an information-transfer rule. It makes you tell the truth about what you know and hand over what you hold; it does not make you go looking.

The item nobody mentions: the lessee’s agent

Element (b)(5) is often described as “the agent signs”. In practice there can be two agents, and they are treated differently. The lessor’s agent must always complete the item where one is engaged. The lessee’s agent item is conditional — the current EPA lessor form carries a footnote limiting it to a lessee’s agent who receives compensation from the lessor. Where no agent is involved at all, the item is marked not applicable rather than left blank, so the record shows the question was addressed.

Target housing: the pre-1978 trigger

“Target housing” is the federal term for property subject to the rule. The definition at 40 CFR 745.103 is residential dwellings constructed before 1 January 1978, subject to the narrow exclusions in the next section.

Why 1978 — and which 1978 date actually governs. The operative cutoff comes from the definition itself: 40 CFR 745.103 defines target housing as housing constructed prior to 1978, meaning construction before 1 January 1978. The historical reason that year was chosen is the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s ban on lead-containing paint at 16 CFR 1303.1 — but that ban applies to paint manufactured after 27 February 1978, which is not the same date. Competing pages routinely merge the two and report the CPSC ban as effective 1 January 1978. It was not. The distinction has no practical effect on your compliance answer, because the construction cutoff in 745.103 is what decides coverage, but it does tell you which cite to trust: for whether your unit is covered, read 745.103, not the CPSC rule. Housing constructed from 1 January 1978 onward sits outside the disclosure regime entirely.

How to verify the build year in Hawaii. The county real property tax assessment record — searchable by Tax Map Key (TMK) for each of the four counties, the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii County, Maui County, and Kauai County — is the fastest authoritative source. The original certificate of occupancy, the building permit file, and title records also establish it. The lessor carries the burden of correctly identifying target housing — “I think it was around 1980” is not a defence, and a guess that turns out wrong is a knowing violation waiting to happen.

Renovation does not reset the clock. A 1962 building stripped to the studs and rebuilt in 2001 is still target housing. The original construction date controls, not the date of the most recent renovation. This trips up owners of heavily rehabbed older stock constantly.

Common areas in multi-unit buildings. If the building predates 1978, the disclosure scope reaches the common areas as well as the leased unit — hallways, stairwells, lanais, laundry rooms, and shared storage. This has a practical consequence for records, covered below: a building-wide evaluation is disclosable to every tenant in the building, not just the one whose unit it sampled.

Hawaii context. Hawaii’s pre-1978 stock is concentrated in the older urban cores — much of central Honolulu and neighbourhoods such as Kalihi, Chinatown, and Kaimuki, plus older parts of Hilo, Wailuku, and Lihue — while most newer suburban development postdates the trigger. Portfolio landlords with mixed-vintage holdings are the ones who get caught, because the compliance answer differs unit by unit. When in doubt, verify against the county assessment record rather than relying on the exemption.

Which pre-1978 Hawaii rentals are exempt

Even pre-1978 property can fall outside the rule. The carve-outs are narrow, and they come from two different places in the regulation — which is why competing lists of “the lead paint exemptions” disagree with one another. Some are exclusions written into the definition of target housing at 40 CFR 745.103: a unit that meets one of those was never target housing in the first place. The others are transaction-level exemptions listed at 40 CFR 745.101: the housing is target housing, but this particular deal is outside the subpart. The compliance answer is often the same either way, but knowing which provision governs tells you which text to read and which facts matter. Verify against the current rule before relying on any of them.

Housing built in 1978 or later (40 CFR 745.103). Not target housing at all.
Zero-bedroom units (40 CFR 745.103, definitional). A dwelling in which the living area is not separated from the sleeping area — efficiencies, studio apartments, dormitory housing, military barracks, and rentals of individual rooms. This is an unconditional exclusion. The definition carves out “housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities (unless any child who is less than 6 years of age resides or is expected to reside in such housing) or any 0-bedroom dwelling” — the child-under-six condition attaches only to the elderly or disabled limb, not to the 0-bedroom limb. A studio sits outside target housing whether or not a young child lives there. Some competitor pages graft the child condition onto the 0-bedroom exclusion; the regulation does not.
Housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities (40 CFR 745.103, definitional), where the housing is specifically designated as such — unless a child under six resides or is expected to reside there.
Short-term leases of 100 days or less (40 CFR 745.101(c)), where no lease renewal or extension can occur. Vacation and short-term rentals typically qualify; a month-to-mon