Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs: Homeowners Center
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Homeowners Center  

The Homeowners Center provides prompt and expert help to DC homeowners who need building permits for their home improvement projects.

Our staff is ready to give you clear information about permitting regulations, review your plans and issue permits. To schedule an appointment, use the DCRA Online Appointment Request Form

The Homeowners Center is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 am to 4:15 pm and Thursdays from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

How to Reach Us

To contact the Homeowners Center, call (202) 442-9470 or send an email.

To request an appointment, please complete and submit our online appointment request form. We will contact you within 24 hours.

Homeowners Center Resources

For information about permit requirements, codes, plans, cost estimation, scheduling and more, read You Can Build It In DC!*, a self-help guide provided by the International Code Council® Foundation (ICCF) and DCRA to aid “do-it-yourselfers” with building projects.
 
Home Improvement Safety Information
More information on lead paint and absestos is available through the DC Department of the Environment's Lead-Based Paint Management Program. For more information call DDOE at (202) 535-1934 or view the DDOE Lead-Based Paint Management Program's contact information.
 
New Federal Law Regarding Lead Safety
Beginning December 22, 2008, anyone paid to renovate residential housing or child-occupied facilities (such as daycare centers) built before 1978 must provide a new EPA pamphlet, entitled Renovate Right, to the owners and occupants.  Both DCRA and the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) have already begun making the Renovate Right brochures available to the public. 
 
If you are a contractor, feel free to download the new EPA pamphlets below in English and Spanish. DCRA is also providing sample renovation checklists and pre-renovation confirmation forms.
The brochure requirement begins the national implementation of a sweeping set of EPA regulations called the Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, otherwise known as RRP. The rule establishes requirements for training and certifying individual renovators and renovation firms, to ensure that the work they do in properties that may contain lead paint is done safely, without generating lead hazards. The rule also establishes cleanup requirements for those whose work disturbs paint in these properties. The use of lead-based paint was not restricted nationally until 1978, and the bulk of the District’s housing was built before lead paint was banned.
 
 


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