Philadelphia requires licensed child care facilities operating in pre-1978 buildings to hold a current Lead-Safe or Lead-Free certificate. Like every CertifyPro client, facilities get certified results within 72 hours of their samples reaching our lab, with city submission handled for you on request. Based in Norristown, we serve child care facilities across Montgomery County and Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia licensing rules require proof your facility is safe for children. Most facilities need a dust-based certification; facilities with 13 or more children also have a separate water testing requirement.
Visual inspection plus dust wipe sampling confirming interior lead dust levels meet EPA clearance standards. Valid for 4 years in Philadelphia, then retesting is required. This is the path most facilities take — faster and lower upfront cost.
A full XRF survey by a licensed inspector confirming no lead-based paint is present anywhere on the property. Higher upfront cost, but the certificate never expires — no retesting cycle, ever.
If your facility was constructed after February 1978, you're exempt from lead testing entirely — but you still need to submit documentation proving the construction date to license your facility.
Schools and licensed day cares caring for 13 or more children must separately test all potable water outlets for lead and submit results to the Department of Public Health. We offer this alongside your lead-safe compliance work so you can knock out both requirements in one visit.
Family child day care facilities in Philadelphia must show proof of post-1978 construction, or provide a current Lead-Safe or Lead-Free certificate, before a license can be issued or renewed. Without it, your application doesn't move forward — and an expired certificate can put an active license at risk.
The city's housing stock predates 1978 by a wide margin, which means most family child care operators fall squarely under the testing requirement — even if the building looks newly renovated.
In Philadelphia, Lead-Safe certificates expire on a 4-year cycle. If your renewal date slips past while you're focused on running your facility, your license renewal can stall at the worst possible time.
Infants and young children spend more time at floor level and near windowsills, exactly where lead dust settles. Regulators built the testing requirement around that exposure pattern, not paperwork for its own sake.
Sampling, lab coordination, certificate issuance, and, on request, submission to the Philadelphia portal or by email for Norristown — the same process and the same timeline we run for every CertifyPro client, residential or daycare.
Before arrival, we go over which rooms children use — classrooms, nap areas, bathrooms, entryways — so sampling reflects how the space actually operates.
A certified technician samples floors and interior window sills in the rooms children occupy. If your facility needs water outlet testing too, we collect those samples in the same visit. We schedule around your hours so testing doesn't interrupt a school day.
Samples typically reach our accredited lab within 1 business day of testing — 2 days if your facility is sampled over a weekend — and are analyzed for compliance with current EPA Dust-Lead Action Levels for floors, sills, and troughs.
Once your samples arrive at the lab, your Lead-Safe or Lead-Free certificate is issued within 72 hours and, on request, submitted to the city for you, organized and labeled for your licensing file, insurance, or parent communications.
Book your facility inspection now. We'll confirm your appointment within 24 hours and work around your operating schedule.
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