Lead-Safe Inspections in Secaucus, NJ

August 27, 2026

Secaucus rentals built before 1978 need a lead-safe certificate, and the DCA-listed method is visual, as in the rest of Hudson County. What is different here is the local layer: the town repealed its lead chapter on May 27, 2026, so there is no Secaucus ordinance and no Secaucus fee to look up. Certificates are filed with the Town Clerk and stay valid for two years.

A town split almost evenly across the 1978 line

49% of Secaucus housing units were built before 1980 (U.S. Census, ACS table B25034). That is close to a coin flip, and it is the practical fact about the town: 4,572 units on the older side, 4,714 on the newer. There is no safe default to fall back on in Secaucus: the age of the specific building decides it, and it decides it either way about equally often.

The building types are unusually spread out as well. 3,221 units sit in structures of 50 or more, 2,200 are detached single-family houses, and 2,019 are in two-, three- and four-family buildings (ACS table B25024). A high-rise unit, a rented house and a two-family all follow the same rule, and after the repeal they all follow it from the same document.

The chapter Secaucus took back out

Of the twelve Hudson County municipalities on this site, Secaucus is the only one that wrote a lead chapter and then removed it. The sequence in the published code runs: § 64-8, adopted by Ord. 2023-16 in 2023; then Ord. 2026-2, which moved the subject into a chapter of its own, Chapter 64A; then Ord. 2026-23, adopted May 27, 2026, which repealed it. Three moves in three years, ending at nothing.

There is no local fee to add. The $20 per unit collected for the state Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund is the only charge here fixed in writing. A quoted "Secaucus municipal rate" would be a quote from a chapter that no longer exists, so ask which document it comes from.

The repeal did not touch your obligation. The certificate requirement is state law, P.L. 2021, c.182, not town law. Removing Chapter 64A removed the local layer and nothing else: the three-year cycle, the two-year certificate, the 30-day cure period and the exposure of up to $1,000 per week all still apply. They are set out on our law page.

What was repealed can be readopted. Secaucus has adopted, restructured and repealed its lead provisions inside three years. Check the code before a renewal cycle rather than trusting the date at the top of this page to still be current; if the town has moved again, we would rather hear it from you than find it late.

With the local chapter gone, N.J.A.C. 5:28A is the entire rule

A repeal does not create a gap. Where a municipality has no lead article of its own, the state administrative code operates directly, and in Secaucus it now operates alone. These are the provisions that decide how an inspection here runs and who pays for what.

Nobody assigns you an inspector. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.1(d) puts the choice of DCA-licensed lead evaluation contractor with the owner and leaves the municipality two narrow grounds to refuse one. With no town program left to queue behind, choosing is now the only route Secaucus has.

If a fee ever returns, it is capped by what the program costs. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.2(a) allows a municipal lead fee as cost recovery only, never as revenue. Worth keeping if Secaucus adopts a replacement chapter: the number has to trace back to the town's own expenses.

In a condo, the bill follows the unit owner. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.2(c) puts the fee on the owner of the unit rather than on the association. With 3,221 Secaucus units in buildings of 50 or more, this is the provision most likely to be read aloud at a board meeting.

Filing is your contractor's job. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.4(a)2 makes the private contractor send the municipality its copy of the certificate at the moment of issue. That obligation survived the repeal, because it was never local to begin with.

Interim controls start a 60-day clock. If you clear hazards with interim controls rather than full abatement, N.J.A.C. 5:28A-2.5(e)1 requires a dust wipe within 60 days of the original inspection. The deadline counts from the first visit, not from the day the repair finishes, so book the follow-up when you book the work.

Turnover is three obligations, not one. N.J.A.C. 5:28A-3.1(a),(d): the incoming tenant gets evidence of the certificate, a copy goes on the lease as an exhibit, and the municipality gets notice. The third one is the only one that leaves a record outside your own files.

Where the certificate gets filed

Certificates are filed with the Town Clerk's office. Confirm the current procedure when you book, since the chapter that set it out locally was repealed. If we handle your inspection, filing is included.

Secaucus questions

The town used to charge for this. What do I pay now?

$20 per unit to the state. Ord. 2026-23 repealed Chapter 64A on May 27, 2026 and took any local lead fee with it. What a private contractor charges for the inspection itself is a separate number; see cost.

Does the repeal mean I can skip the inspection?

No. The requirement lives in state law and in N.J.A.C. 5:28A. Secaucus removed its own layer; the certificate, the cycle and the penalties are unchanged. See deadlines.

Townhouse in a 1990s development. Covered?

Not if the certificate of occupancy postdates 1978. Slightly more than half of Secaucus housing was built in 1980 or later, so this is a common answer here; keep the date to hand for tenants and agents.

How much does a lead paint inspection cost in Secaucus?

Secaucus repealed its local lead chapter on May 27, 2026 (Ord. 2026-23), so there is no municipal fee: you pay the contractor's rate plus the $20 state certificate fee. Typical pricing is in the cost guide.