Ohio Code 3742.17 – Liability of licensees and persons contracting with licensees
(A) Where any person is licensed by the department of health to engage in lead abatement, lead inspection, lead risk assessment, clearance examination, or any other activity under this chapter, the liability of that person, when performing the activity in accordance with procedures established pursuant to state or federal law, for an injury to any individual or property caused or related to the activity shall be limited to acts or omissions of the person during the course of performing the activity that can be shown, based on a preponderance of the evidence, to have been negligent. For the purposes of this section, the demonstration that acts or omissions of a person performing lead abatement, lead inspection, lead risk assessment, clearance examination, or other activities under this chapter were in accordance with generally accepted practice and with procedures established by state or federal law at the time the abatement, inspection, assessment, examination, or other activity was performed creates a rebuttable presumption that the acts or omissions were not negligent.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3742.17
- Clearance examination: means an examination to determine whether the lead hazards in a residential unit, child care facility, or school have been sufficiently controlled. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Clearance technician: means a person, other than a licensed lead inspector or licensed lead risk assessor, who performs a clearance examination. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Lead abatement: includes all of the following:
(a) Removal of lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust;
(b) Permanent enclosure or encapsulation of lead-based paint;
(c) Replacement of surfaces or fixtures painted with lead-based paint;
(d) Removal or permanent covering of lead-contaminated soil;
(e) Preparation, cleanup, and disposal activities associated with lead abatement. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead abatement contractor: means any individual who engages in or intends to engage in lead abatement and employs or supervises one or more lead abatement workers, including on-site supervision of lead abatement projects, or prepares specifications, plans, or documents for a lead abatement project. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead abatement project: means one or more lead abatement activities that are conducted by a lead abatement contractor and are reasonably related to each other. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead abatement worker: means an individual who is responsible in a nonsupervisory capacity for the performance of lead abatement. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead inspection: means a surface-by-surface investigation to determine the presence of lead-based paint. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead inspector: means any individual who conducts a lead inspection, provides professional advice regarding a lead inspection, or prepares a report explaining the results of a lead inspection. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead risk assessment: means an on-site investigation to determine and report the existence, nature, severity, and location of lead hazards in a residential unit, child care facility, or school, including information gathering from the unit, facility, or school's current owner's knowledge regarding the age and painting history of the unit, facility, or school and occupancy by children under six years of age, visual inspection, limited wipe sampling or other environmental sampling techniques, and any other activity as may be appropriate. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Lead risk assessor: means a person who is responsible for developing a written inspection, risk assessment, and analysis plan; conducting inspections for lead hazards in a residential unit, child care facility, or school; interpreting results of inspections and risk assessments; identifying hazard control strategies to reduce or eliminate lead exposures; and completing a risk assessment report. See Ohio Code 3742.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B) Where any person contracts with a person licensed as a lead inspector, lead abatement contractor, lead risk assessor, lead abatement project designer, lead abatement worker, or clearance technician the liability of that person for lead-related injuries caused by the person’s contractee in the performance of lead abatement, lead inspection, lead risk assessment, clearance examination, or other activities under this chapter shall be limited to those lead-related injuries arising from acts or omissions that the person knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, were not in accordance with generally accepted practices or with procedures established by state or federal law at the time the activity took place.
(C) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Revised Code or rules of a court to the contrary, this section governs all claims for lead-related injuries to individuals or property arising from lead abatement, lead inspection, lead risk assessment, clearance examination, or other activities for which a license is required under this chapter.