Certified lead inspectors in New Jersey: how to verify any contractor
Nov 42026
Rental lead-safe inspections in New Jersey are performed by certified lead evaluation contractors. The NJ DCA publishes the official list: 185 firms on the August 11, 2026 revision, each with a certificate number and an expiration date. Checking a contractor takes about a minute.
What the official DCA list shows
The List of Certified Lead Evaluation Contractors is a PDF the Department of Community Affairs revises regularly. Each row carries the firm's certificate number, address and municipality, a contact name and phone, and the certificate expiration date. Firms based in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania all appear: what qualifies a contractor is the certification, not the address.
Only 3 of the 185 are based in Hudson County
On the August 11, 2026 revision, just three listed firms have a Hudson County address: one in Jersey City, one in North Bergen and one in Secaucus. That is not a shortage. Any certified contractor may inspect here, and most firms serving the county are based elsewhere in the state. It does mean calendars fill up, which is why 48-hour scheduling is worth asking about before anything else.
Four checks before you book
Short answers
Can a landlord do their own lead inspection in NJ?
No: a New Jersey lead-safe inspection must be done by the municipality's inspection agency or by a lead evaluation contractor certified by the Department of Community Affairs. The evaluator may have no relationship with the owner beyond the contract (N.J.A.C. 5:17-2.2(d)). You may hire a certified contractor directly (P.L.2021, c.182, as amended by P.L.2024, c.74, § 1 b.(3)); a town may bar that only if an earlier self-hired inspection was never completed, or if it determines there is a conflict of interest between you and the contractor you chose (N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.1(d)2).
Do home lead test kits count for a NJ lead-safe certificate?
No: a home test kit cannot produce a New Jersey lead-safe certificate, because only a DCA-certified lead evaluation contractor or the municipal agency may certify a unit, on DCA's form. The inspection also looks for something a kit does not measure: deteriorated paint, or visible surface dust, debris, or residue, which is how the law defines a visual assessment (P.L.2021, c.182, as amended by P.L.2024, c.74, § 1 a. and d.(2)). Chemical spot tests may be used only as pre-tests, never as the basis of an evaluation (N.J.A.C. 5:17-3.4(e)).
How do I verify a certified lead evaluator in NJ?
Find the firm on the DCA's List of Certified Lead Evaluation Contractors, a PDF on nj.gov that listed 185 firms on its August 11, 2026 revision. Then check two columns: the certificate expiration date has to be later than your inspection date, and the certificate number has to match the one on your inspector's paperwork. Open the list fresh from nj.gov each time, because DCA revises it and an old copy can be stale.
Common questions
No. Under the lead-safe law the inspection is performed by the municipality or by a certified lead evaluation contractor you hire. A general home-inspector license is a different credential, and it does not appear on the DCA list.
Yes. The DCA certification applies statewide, and most of the 185 listed firms are based outside the county. Base and service area are different things.
Every certificate filing includes the $20 state fee on top of whatever the contractor or the town charges. The cost guide breaks down the totals per town.
We match Hudson County landlords with NJ DCA-certified lead evaluation contractors, with inspections booked within 48 hours.