Lead-Safe Inspections in Guttenberg, NJ

August 27, 2026

Guttenberg requires a visual lead inspection for pre-1978 rentals, per the NJ DCA method list. The town charges the lowest published municipal rate in Hudson County, $50 per unit, and it is the only town in the county whose ordinance raises that fee the longer you take. The certificate goes to the Town Clerk and runs for two years.

The town where the 1970s decide it

62% of Guttenberg's housing units were built before 1980 (U.S. Census, ACS table B25034). What makes that number less useful than it looks is the decade underneath it: 1,450 units, more than a quarter of everything standing in the town today, went up between 1970 and 1979. The 1978 cutoff runs straight through Guttenberg's biggest building decade, so here the certificate of occupancy date is worth checking before anything else.

The rest of the stock pulls in two directions. 1,352 units sit in buildings of 50 or more, and 2,006 in two-, three- and four-family houses (ACS table B25024). The fee does not care which one you own: § 13-13 prices per unit.

What Guttenberg's own chapter sets

Guttenberg adopted Ord. 20-2024 on November 13, 2024, later amended by Ord. 39-2025, and codified the requirements at Chapter 13 § 13-13. The fee structure is unlike anything else in the county.

$50 per unit, paid to the town in advance. Payment comes before the inspection, and it goes to the town rather than to a contractor. At a fifth of what Bayonne and Harrison charge, this is the cheapest municipal route in Hudson County.

$20 per unit to the state on top. The state certificate fee that every New Jersey municipality collects for the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund. In Guttenberg it is charged in addition to the $50, not folded into it.

The fee climbs to $100, then $200, then $300. § 13-13.2g(1)(b) escalates the charge at 30, 60 and 90 days after the town's notice. No other lead ordinance in Hudson County prices delay this way. Each threshold you cross costs another $100 on a $50 job, which is the strongest argument in Hudson County for booking the week the notice arrives.

The certificate goes to the Town Clerk. The chapter names the town's contractor, a Building Department official, or a contractor you hire yourself as the possible inspectors. Filing follows in every case.

What the state rule adds on top of Chapter 13

Chapter 13 is short and mostly about money. The parts that decide who inspects, what happens after a failure, and what you owe a new tenant are in N.J.A.C. 5:28A, and they apply in Guttenberg exactly as written.

You may hire your own contractor. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.1(d) gives the owner the choice of any DCA-licensed lead evaluation contractor and leaves the town two narrow grounds to refuse. Unlike Kearny and Hoboken, Guttenberg does not waive its own fee when you do, so weigh the $50 against how fast each route can get you a date.

A municipal fee is cost recovery, not revenue. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.2(a) limits what a town may charge to what running its lead program actually costs. It is the frame to keep in mind when reading the escalating amounts in § 13-13.2g(1)(b).

In a condo, the unit owner pays. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.2(c) sends the bill to whoever owns the unit; the association is not the payer. With a quarter of Guttenberg housing in buildings of 50 or more, this comes up often enough to be worth quoting at a board meeting.

Your contractor files the copy. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.4(a)2 requires a private contractor to send the municipality its copy of the certificate when the certificate is issued.

One hazard reaches the other units of a small building. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.4(b)1 requires the remaining units of a two- or three-unit building to be inspected once a hazard is found in one. Around 2,000 Guttenberg units are in buildings that size.

Turnover is three obligations at once. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-3.1(a),(d) asks for evidence of the certificate to the incoming tenant, a copy on the lease as an exhibit, and written notice to the town. All three, every time a unit changes hands.

Where the certificate gets filed

Certificates are filed with the Town Clerk's office, and the town's $50 is paid before the inspection rather than after. Confirm the current payment procedure when you book. If we handle your inspection, filing is included.

Guttenberg questions

The town's notice is over a month old. What does that cost me?

§ 13-13.2g(1)(b) puts the fee at $100 past 30 days, $200 past 60 and $300 past 90. The steps are written into the ordinance, so the only thing that helps is booking before the next one.

Is $50 really the whole bill?

It is the town's share, paid up front. Add $20 per unit for the state. A contractor you hire privately bills separately; see cost.

My unit is in a high-rise. Does the law still reach it?

It can, and there is a specific way out: a multiple dwelling registered with DCA for ten years or more, with no outstanding lead violations from its last cyclical inspection, is exempt. Check the registration before you book; see exemptions.