Illinois environmental disclosure comparison
Radon vs lead disclosures in Illinois: which forms and testing rights apply?
An Illinois sale may need two packages: the state radon pamphlet and form, plus the federal lead pamphlet, known information, records and signed disclosures. Check radon property and transaction rules separately from pre-1978 lead coverage. Buyers and tenants also have different testing rights.
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Which Illinois homes and transactions are covered?
420 ILCS 46/5 defines residential real property for radon sales as the specified estate or interest in a manufactured housing lot or a parcel improved with one to four residential dwelling units. The tenant definition of dwelling unit also includes individual units in multifamily and mixed-use buildings. The Act defines a lease to include oral or written agreements. Do not apply a blanket four-unit-building limit to the tenant provisions.
Check Section 20 before applying the radon duties. Its exclusions include specified court, foreclosure, fiduciary, co-owner, inheritance, family and government transfers, plus the qualified relocation-entity transfer. It also excludes transfers of dwelling units on the third story or higher above ground, and defines transfers to include purchases and leases. A floor-based disclosure exclusion is not a finding about the actual radon concentration.
| Question | Illinois radon | Federal lead disclosure |
|---|---|---|
| Basic trigger | Covered residential sale or covered dwelling-unit lease, with Section 20 exclusions | Sale or lease of pre-1978 target housing, subject to federal definitions and exemptions |
| Construction year | No general pre-1978 cutoff in this disclosure Act | Built before 1978; a 1978 build is outside that target-housing definition |
| Buyer testing period | No fixed buyer test period created by Section 10; check the contract | Default ten-day lead evaluation opportunity, unless changed by mutual written agreement or waived by the buyer in writing |
| Tenant testing period | Section 26 has an initial 90-day testing path and a separate missing-document path | This disclosure rule gives tenants no automatic purchaser-style ten-day evaluation period |
| Owner testing or remediation | Sections 10 and 26 do not themselves impose a universal testing or mitigation duty | 745.107 does not itself impose evaluation or reduction activities |
For lead, read 745.103 and 745.101 together. The target-housing exceptions for elderly or disability housing and zero-bedroom dwellings have a child-under-six qualification. A studio is not automatically exempt when a child under six resides or is expected to reside there.
Transaction exceptions include foreclosure sales, qualifying certified lead-paint-free leases, short leases of 100 days or less with no renewal or extension possible, and qualifying renewals after full prior disclosure with no new information. A normal resale of a previously foreclosed home is not automatically the foreclosure sale. Never transfer a radon exemption to the lead rule.
What paperwork is needed, and when?
Illinois radon sale package
Section 10 requires the approved Radon Testing Guidelines for Real Estate Transactions pamphlet and the Illinois radon disclosure form before the buyer is obligated. The form addresses possessed elevated-result information, the most current relevant records and reports, owner statements, buyer receipt, any applicable agent acknowledgment and signed accuracy certifications.
If disclosure follows the buyer's offer, complete it before acceptance and allow review and possible amendment. Do not wait until closing. IEMA-OHS's real estate forms page links the approved pamphlet formats and sale disclosure form.
Federal lead sale or lease package
745.107 requires an EPA-approved pamphlet, known lead-paint and hazard information, relevant available records and the required disclosure process before the buyer or tenant is obligated. Available means possessed or reasonably obtainable; records can include common areas and other units from a building-wide evaluation.
745.113 adds the applicable sale or lease warning language, owner statements, receipt acknowledgments, agent certifications when applicable, signatures and dates in the contract's language. A sale also records the buyer's evaluation opportunity or waiver. Sale requirements use the attachment specified in 113(a); lease requirements permit an attachment or language within the lease under 113(b).
If disclosure comes after an offer to buy or lease, finish it before acceptance and allow review and possible amendment. EPA's lead disclosure resource links the pamphlet and separate seller and lessor sample forms. It also explains the consent, access and retention conditions for electronic delivery.
A buyer's written waiver under 745.110 waives the lead evaluation opportunity, not the pamphlet, known information, records or signed disclosure requirements. A tenant can negotiate an inspection opportunity, but the federal purchaser-only ten-day provision does not automatically supply it.
For radon, the sale form's combined statement about no known elevated concentrations or prior mitigation is not a guarantee that the home was never affected. Read the actual information and records. A general Illinois seller-report checkbox also does not replace either separate disclosure package.
How does the Illinois tenant radon process work?
Use Section 26 for covered leases entered into on or after January 1, 2024. The current text includes the amendment effective August 21, 2026. Section 25 was repealed; do not rely on that older tenant provision.
The lessor provides the Radon Guide for Tenants, the tenant disclosure form and qualifying hazard records at the stated application or pre-lease stage, or during the lease upon request. The IEMA-OHS tenant page links the tenant-specific documents. The radon sale pamphlet is not the tenant pamphlet.
| Number | Event | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 90 days | Commencement of the agreed leasing period | Initial opportunity for the tenant's own radon test under 26(b) |
| 10 days | Tenant receives the test results | Provide the lessor the results and related records under the applicable tenant path |
| 30 days | Tenant notifies the lessor of a hazard result | Lessor may obtain the specified radon-contractor test to dispute the hazard under 26(c) or (e) |
| Two years | Date of the relevant testing | Results have the stated validity period, subject to the applicable renovation, addition or modification conditions |
| 60-day remedial path | Qualified missing-document situation in 26(e) | Specified mitigation with express consent or lease termination; this is not a universal period after every positive test |
Under 26(b), the initial test result exceeding the recommended action level and the lessor's election not to mitigate can permit termination. Section 26(c) also permits the specified contractor retest to disprove the hazard. After the initial 90 days, testing remains permitted, but the ordinary path does not carry the same termination right; other applicable rights are preserved.
If the lessor failed to supply the required documents, 26(e) provides a separate path at any point in the lease. It includes result delivery, a possible lessor-paid contractor retest, and the listed 60-day options when the lessor declines to dispute the hazard results or does not mitigate. The statutory conditions and actual notices matter, including which testing and dispute path applies. Do not calculate an individual termination deadline from a positive reading alone.
The form identifies 4.0 pCi/L as the recommended radon action level. It is not a broker's safety warranty or a substitute for qualified measurement advice. Do not decide a private lease dispute from a rounded reading.
Section 30 requires a radon contractor for mitigation chosen by either party. Tenant-initiated mitigation requires the lessor's express consent. With that consent, its installation cost may be deducted in equal parts over the rest of the lease under 30(b). Section 30(c) protects the qualifying vacating tenant's deposit from testing or mitigation charges, with its stated exception for installation both without consent and not properly performed by a contractor. Do not treat a hazard result as permission to alter the building or withhold any amount of rent at will.
What do agents need to document?
For federal lead duties, use the defined agent in 745.103. It excludes a purchaser's representative receiving all compensation from the purchaser. Under 745.115, covered agents inform the seller or lessor of the obligations and ensure the required activities are performed or personally ensure compliance. The protection for owner knowledge hidden from the agent applies after the agent has informed the owner of the obligations. It is not permission to suppress information the agent actually has.
Under 745.113(c), the seller or lessor and any covered agent retain the completed lead record for at least three years from sale completion or lease commencement, respectively. Keep the start event with the number. Illinois transaction-record requirements remain a separate layer.
As a practical file check, verify coverage, document version, available reports, delivery before obligation, the applicable acknowledgments and signatures, and any written lead-period agreement or waiver. Route scientific interpretation to a qualified professional and individual contractual remedies to the transaction's attorney.
Try four original radon and lead scenarios
Assume ordinary residential transactions and the stated facts. Check coverage separately for each law before choosing an answer.
1. A 1970 third-story condo is sold
The unit is on the third story above ground. Assume no other exemption. Which statement applies the radon and lead rules correctly?
- The radon floor exclusion also exempts federal lead disclosure
- The radon floor exclusion applies, while federal lead coverage requires its own analysis
- Lead disclosure applies only to first-floor homes
- Radon disclosure applies only to pre-1978 buildings
Show answer 1
B is correct. A transfers one law's exception to another. B keeps them separate. C invents a lead floor limit. D invents a radon construction-year cutoff. With the stated ordinary 1970 target housing and no other exemption, the lead package applies.
Change the fact: it is a covered first-story unit built in 1985. That year removes federal target-housing coverage, but does not itself remove Illinois radon coverage.
2. The buyer waives lead evaluation
In a covered sale, the purchaser signs a written waiver of the lead inspection or risk-assessment opportunity. What happens to the disclosure package?
- It can all be omitted
- Known reports can wait until closing
- The seller must now remove every trace of lead
- The separate disclosure duties remain
Show answer 2
D is correct. A and B confuse evaluation with disclosure. C creates an automatic remediation duty this disclosure rule does not impose. D preserves the pamphlet, information, records and signed requirements.
Change the fact: the parties mutually agree in writing to a seven-day evaluation period. That changes the period under 745.110; it still does not waive disclosure.
3. Tenant documents were never supplied
A covered post-2024 lease is beyond its initial 90 days. The lessor never supplied the required radon package. Does that passage of time alone eliminate Section 26's missing-document path?
- No, 26(e) provides a separate path during the lease, with its conditions
- Yes, no radon test may be performed after day 90
- Yes, all other state and federal rights also disappear
- No, the tenant may automatically deduct any chosen amount from rent
Show answer 3
A is correct. A preserves the separate path. B ignores permitted later testing. C erases rights the Act expressly preserves. D skips the hazard, notice, dispute, consent and remedy conditions.
Change the fact: the package was properly supplied. The missing-document provision is no longer triggered; later testing remains possible, but do not automatically import its special termination path.
4. A young child is expected in a pre-1978 studio
A 1972 zero-bedroom dwelling will be leased to a household that includes a four-year-old. No other transaction exemption applies. Is the zero-bedroom label alone enough to avoid federal lead disclosure?
- Yes, every studio is always exempt
- Yes, because only buyers receive disclosures
- No, the current target-housing definition includes the child-under-six qualification
- No, because every dwelling of every age is target housing
Show answer 4
C is correct. A omits the qualification. B ignores covered leases. C applies the current 745.103 definition. D removes the construction-year and other limits.
Change the fact: no child under six resides or is expected to reside in that qualifying zero-bedroom dwelling. The stated target-housing exception can then apply. Check actual dwelling and occupancy facts.
Radon and lead disclosure questions answered
Does a certified lead-paint-free report exempt both a sale and a lease?
Do not make that blanket assumption. The certified lead-based-paint-free exception in 40 CFR 745.101(b) is for leases under its stated inspector-certification conditions. It is not a general exemption for an otherwise covered sale. Check target-housing status and every applicable transaction exemption separately.
Does no known radon or lead mean no disclosure paperwork?
No. For a covered transaction, the required forms and pamphlets still apply even when the owner reports no knowledge and no available records. Those statements also have different meanings: one concerns knowledge, the other the documentary file. A lack of testing is not a guarantee that the property has no hazard.
Which exam topic covers radon and lead disclosures?
The June 24, 2026 PSI Illinois broker outline lists IV.E Environmental and other disclosures, including radon and lead-based paint. The whole Disclosures area is 25%, or 10 of 40 scored state questions. Those ten questions are not all assigned to radon and lead. The four scenarios here are original, not released or recalled PSI questions.
Choose the follow-up that matches the missed fact
The PSI state outline, IV.E.1 and IV.E.2, identifies radon and lead-based paint within the broader Disclosures area. Explain the trigger, exception, document and clock in a fresh example. A repeated score on these four scenarios does not establish exam readiness.
Use property disclosure practice for related seller-report examples and the Illinois disclosure guide for the wider topic. If you prefer working through questions on your phone, you can download Pass Illinois for additional broker-exam preparation.