(Plain Press November 2026) On October 26, 2026, Cleveland City Council approved Ordinance 1244-2026 to update and strengthen Cleveland's lead certification program. Cleveland has roughly 100,000 housing units that need lead abatement. Since the City’s lead safe law was passed in 2019, roughly 31,000 units have been made lead safe. While that is a huge number, the city and lead-safe advocates agree the process needs to be faster and more effective.
The Bibb Administration collaborated with the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition and the Lead Safe Advisory Board and held dozens of conversations with tenants, landlords, and advocates over the last year to develop this legislation.
The proposed changes will incentivize landlords to focus on high-contact areas like porches, doors, and windows, where clouds of poisonous lead particles are most likely to form, and will reward investment in lead safety by allowing landlords to qualify for longer certification periods. Ordinance 1244-2026 passed unanimously.
