How is deteriorated paint defined?

• A. Any paint that is newly applied and has not cured yet.
• B. Only paint that is peeling on indoor surfaces.
• C. Any interior or exterior paint that is peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking, or located on an interior or exterior surface of a fixture that is damaged or deteriorated.
• D. Paint that is still bonded well to substrate.

Answer: (C)

Deteriorated paint means paint that is in poor condition and shows damage or wear that indicates it may pose a hazard. The best definition is paint on interior or exterior surfaces that is peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking, or paint on a surface of a fixture that is itself damaged or deteriorated. This captures both general surface degradation and damage to fixtures where the paint has begun to fail.

Why this fits: deterioration is about actual condition and potential hazards, not about curing time or being well bonded. The other options miss key aspects: new paint that hasn’t cured yet isn’t deteriorated, limiting deterioration to peeling only on indoor surfaces ignores other failure modes and exterior surfaces, and paint that remains well bonded to the substrate is not deteriorated.