Most of the rules in this guide come from Google. This one comes from the EPA, and it reaches right into your ads.
The federal lead-paint rule for renovation work, 40 CFR 745.81, says that "no firm may perform, offer, or claim to perform renovations without certification from EPA" in housing built before 1978. EPA's page for contractors puts it more plainly: "Firms cannot advertise or perform renovation activities covered by the RRP Rule in homes or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 without firm certification."
Offer. Claim. Advertise. Those are the words that matter to anyone running Google Ads. The rule doesn't wait for the first swing of a hammer. It starts when you tell a homeowner you'll do the work.
And homeowners tell Google how old their houses are. In Google's Keyword Planner, "old house renovation" gets 720 US searches a month, "historic home renovation" 320 and "1950s bathroom remodel" 110. A 1950s bathroom and a historic home are pre-1978 by definition, and most "old houses" are too. EPA, citing HUD's national survey, says 34.6 million US homes, 29.4% of all housing units, still contain lead-based paint.
This last bonus chapter covers the rules behind the claims contractors make in their ads: lead-safe certification first, then license numbers, deposits, cancel rights, financing and one tax credit that's no longer there.
A Google Ad Is an Offer. Your Lead-Safe Certification Has to Exist Before It Runs.
The rule is called RRP, for Renovation, Repair and Painting. It covers more than most remodelers assume. EPA's list of covered work includes remodeling and repair, carpentry, painting preparation and window replacement in pre-1978 homes. Covered firms include general contractors, and EPA spells out that this "includes all firms, even sole proprietorships."
There's a small-job exception: work that disturbs 6 square feet of paint or less per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside. It doesn't help most remodels, and it never helps two of the most common jobs. In EPA's words, "Window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces are always covered regardless of square footage."
What certification takes:
- The firm certifies. The federal fee is $300, and the firm must be re-certified every 5 years.
- The people on the job are trained. Everyone doing the work must be a certified renovator or trained by one.
- The homeowner gets the pamphlet. EPA's "Renovate Right" pamphlet goes to the owner no more than 60 days before work begins.
Fifteen states run their own program in place of EPA's, and North Carolina, our example market, is one of them. A Raleigh-Durham remodeler certifies through the state, not through EPA. Check which program covers your state before you apply.
Now the Google Ads part. A campaign with old-house keywords, a window replacement ad group or a whole-home remodeling ad that runs in a city full of 1950s ranches is offering covered work the day it goes live. In our reading of the rule, the certification has to exist before the campaign does, not before the first job it books.
Only 1 of 38 Remodeling Advertisers We Read Claims a Lead-Safe Certification. The Claim Is Wide Open.
We read the Search ads of 38 home-project advertisers in our example market in Google's Ads Transparency Center. Only one claimed the certification: Falls Contracting's addition ads promise a "Lead Renovation Firm Certified Team." No other ad mentioned lead-safe certification, EPA or RRP.
The 12 remodeler and design-build websites we profiled were nearly as quiet. None of them called itself lead-safe certified on any page we found, in the pages we profiled or in a site-by-site web search. Two mention lead paint in blog posts. Kozub Remodels' guide to exterior paint prep warns that homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint and tells homeowners to "review lead-safe renovation guidance." West Shore Home, which sells window replacement, has a post that says many older homes "have lead paint in the windows and windowsills."
That's a gap a certified firm can step into. A homeowner with a 1962 house who's read even one article about lead dust and kids has a question before they call. An ad that answers it first is nearly alone on the page.
EPA's logo rules tell you exactly how to say it. Certified firms may use the Lead-Safe logo "in brochures, advertisements, web sites, proposals, bills, signs, uniforms, vehicles." The logo "must include your firm's certification number," and you may not use it "in any manner that would imply EPA endorsement." So "Lead-Safe Certified Firm" is accurate, and at 24 characters it fits a 25-character callout. "EPA Approved" isn't accurate, and it doesn't belong in an ad, on a truck or anywhere else.
If you're certified, build it into the account:
- An old-house ad group. Chapter 5 gave each project its own ad group. Give the house-age searches one too: old house renovation, historic home renovation, 1950s and 1960s kitchen and bath remodels.
- An ad that says it. "Lead-Safe Certified Firm" as a callout, and a headline that pairs the house with the promise, such as "Remodeling Homes Built Before 1978."
- A landing page that shows it. The logo with the certification number, a plain explanation of how the crew contains dust, and a line about the pamphlet.
That last line matters more than it looks. In a one-star review from our example market, a homeowner described the office "sending us something about lead paint I want us to sign" and answered, "I don't sign a dang thing unless it's my check." The pamphlet acknowledgment is a federal requirement, not a trick. But a homeowner who first hears about it as a form to sign hears a trick. Say it in the ad's landing page and in the first call, and the paperwork arrives as something they were told to expect.
One more reason to get this right: Google's misrepresentation policy bars ads that offer services you can't deliver, "including not having the right licenses or qualifications." An uncertified firm advertising old-house remodels has a problem with EPA first and Google second.
Seven States and New York City Want the License Number in the Ad.
Lead-safe certification is federal. Contractor licensing isn't. There's no federal general contractor license, and the state rules for license numbers in ads vary more than most contractors realize.
We read the contractor statutes in 12 states. For a remodeler, seven of them put the license or registration number into the ad itself: Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington. New York has no statewide contractor license, but New York City requires its home improvement license number on all advertising. Two exceptions matter for Google Ads:
- Arizona lets an internet ad leave the ROC number out, as long as the ad links straight to a site that shows the contractor's name and number prominently. For a search ad, that makes the landing page footer the place that counts.
- Washington exempts "airwave transmission," meaning broadcast. In our reading, that doesn't reach a search ad.
North Carolina went the other way. Its board once required numbers on ads and websites, then amended the rule so numbers "shall be included on all contracts and bids." Ads aren't on the list anymore.
Even where it isn't required, the number is worth showing. Homeowners search for the word: "licensed contractor" gets 3,600 US searches a month and "licensed contractors near me" 2,900. In our example market, 3 of the 12 sites print a license number, and 1 of the 38 advertisers puts one in an ad. CQC Home's ads say "Licensed NC GC #74938." That's a claim a homeowner can check on the state board's website, and almost no one else in the auction makes it.
Two related words get contractors in trouble. Washington's law bars advertising "bonded and insured" based on the state's registration bond. California requires an "insured" claim to name the type of insurance, and treats "bonded" as cause for discipline when it refers to the license bond. "General liability insured" names a policy a homeowner can ask to see. "Bonded and insured" may be a phrase your state doesn't allow.
A Signed-Today Discount Doesn't Cancel the Homeowner's Three-Day Right to Back Out.
The in-home estimate from Chapter 1 has a federal rule attached, and many remodelers don't know it.
The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule covers sales made at the buyer's home for $25 or more, "including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer." That means a remodel contract signed at the kitchen table after an estimate visit carries a right to cancel until midnight of the third business day, even if the homeowner booked the visit from your ad. The contract needs the cancellation notice in writing, and you have to tell the homeowner out loud. A contract negotiated and signed at your showroom or office is excluded.
So a "sign today and save 10%" offer doesn't remove the three days. It just makes the cancellation feel more like a betrayal when it happens. If your ads or your estimators lean on sign-today pricing, build the three days into the schedule and the deposit.
Deposits have their own limits, and they vary by state:
- California: the down payment can't exceed $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less.
- Maryland: no more than one-third of the contract price at signing.
- Massachusetts: no more than one-third, or the cost of special-order materials if that's higher.
An ad that promises "start your remodel for $500 down" has to fit the state it runs in, and in most states it also brushes against financing rules.
That's the third set. A remodeler who arranges financing through a lender isn't a lender, but the CFPB's reading of Regulation Z says anyone who advertises consumer credit follows its ad rules, and it names home builders in the list. Put "$10,000 down," "84 monthly payments" or "$299 a month" in a kitchen ad, and that one number obligates the ad to carry the down payment, the full repayment terms and the APR as well. "Financing available" and "no down payment" don't trigger anything. In our example market, 5 of the 38 advertisers mention financing or monthly payments in their ads. The safe pattern: say financing exists in the ad, and put the full terms on the landing page.
Old Ad Copy Still Promising a Window Tax Credit Is Now a False Claim.
Replacement windows, exterior doors and attic insulation used to come with a federal sweetener a remodeler could put right in the ad. That sweetener is gone.
The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, section 25C, covered windows, doors, insulation and home energy audits. Under the 2025 tax law, the IRS says, "The credit will not be allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025." The companion clean energy credit for solar and batteries, 25D, ended at the same time.
None of the 38 advertisers' ads we read mentioned a tax credit, which is good. The risk lives in what you wrote earlier: a sitelink, a callout or a landing page paragraph from 2023 or 2024 that still says the credit applies. Google's ad assets don't expire unless you give them an end date. Search your account and your site for "tax credit," "25C" and "IRS," and delete what you find.
While you're in there, make it one audit:
- Certification. If you work on pre-1978 homes, confirm your firm certification is current and the number is on your landing pages.
- License number. If your state requires it, it's in the ad or on the page the ad links to.
- Offers. Deposit offers fit your state's limit, and no payment figure appears in an ad without the full terms behind it.
- Old claims. Nothing in any ad or asset still promises an expired tax credit.
None of this is legal advice, and rules change by state and city. Check with your state board and have counsel review your contract and financing language.
A Price Floor, a License Number and "Lead-Safe Certified" Are All Promises a Homeowner Can Check.
That's the whole rollout. Chapter 1 bid on the booked estimate and sent the signed contract back. Chapter 2 set the order to buy searches in, Chapter 3 set what a click can cost, Chapter 4 matched each ad to its project, Chapter 5 sorted the keywords by project, Chapter 6 ran exact match before broad, Chapter 7 bid by hand, Chapter 8 wrote ads from reviews, Chapter 9 fixed the location settings, Chapter 10 added Performance Max, Chapter 11 Demand Gen, Chapter 12 won the map pack first, and Chapter 13 AI Max. The bonus chapters put minimums in the ad, reported the paid design agreement, and covered the rules here.
The accounts that win are the ones where every promise in the ad holds up at the kitchen table.
Our Google Ads management holds a remodeler's old-house ad group back until the lead-safe certification number sits on the page it sends homeowners to. Running your own? Search your ads, assets and site for "tax credit" before your next estimate visit.
You're reading Chapter 16 of Google Ads for Contractors, sixteen chapters written for residential general contractors and construction companies anywhere in the US.
