Indoor Air Quality Solutions, IAQS

Do I currently need a Florida State License to perform Mold related services (assessment or remediation)?

Yes, A license will be required after July 1, 2010; however, Florida Statutes provide that unlicensed activity will not be enforced until July 2011.

If my company does both Mold Assessments and Mold Remediations, will I be required to get two (2) licenses (one for Mold Assessor and one for Mold Remediator?

This would be considered a conflict of interest by the state, Section 468.8419(1)(d), F.S., provides that an assessor may not “perform or offer to perform any remediation to a structure on which the mold assessor or the assessor’s company provided a mold assessment within the last 12 months.” Section 468.8419(2)(d), F.S., provides that a remediator may not “perform or offer to perform any assessment to a structure on which the mold remediator or the remediator’s company provided a mold remediation within the last 12 months

John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
www.Microshield-ES.com
www.CFL-IAQ.com

When hiring a professional consultant or contractor it is important to hire a company with qualified and certified staff that will be following industry standards and guidelines to ensure a job done right.

ACAC offers training course for various kinds of IAQ and mold specialists, including assessment and remediation programs available to IAQA members in the various indoor air disciplines.

Florida Chooses ACAC Exams for New Mold License

The ACAC is pleased to announce that as of July 1, 2010, the American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC) is the exclusive provider of mold license examinations for the state of Florida.

ACAC signed an exclusive contract with Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) whereby all applicants for licensure by examination under Florida’s new Mold Related Services law must have passed one of six ACAC certification exams.

Applicants for the Florida mold assessor license may take the Council-certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE), Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC) or Council-certified Microbial Consultant (CMC) examinations.

Applicants for the Florida mold remediator license may take the Council-certified Microbial Remediator (CMR), Council-certified Microbial Remediation Supervisor (CMRS) or Council-certified Indoor Environmental Supervisor (CIES) examinations.

If you hold one of these ACAC certifications in good standing, congratulations! You are already qualified for the Florida license. Simply download a Florida license application at http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/mold/documents/mold_app_licensure.pdf and complete the “License by Grandfathering” section.

Florida’s decision to rely on ACAC exams reinforces our position as the industry leader for independent professional certifications. ACAC exams were chosen in part because they are based on widely accepted industry texts, not on proprietary training courses. They are developed by independent industry experts according to stringent psychometric principles and administered in compliance with international consensus standards. ACAC certifications are also the only IAQ designations to earn third-party accreditation by the Council for Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB), a nationally-recognized accreditation body.

The ACAC is constantly working to enhance the value and visibility of ACAC designations, and is pleased to add Florida to our list of accomplishments in this regard.

FL Mold Related Services Summary
John Lapotaire

A line by line helpful overview of the FL HB 713 as it makes its way through its final committee.

Mold Services Requirements

652 Mold Related Services

656 (2) The Legislature finds it necessary in the interest of

657 the public safety and welfare, to prevent damage to real and

658 personal property, to avert economic injury to the residents of

659 this state, and to regulate persons and companies that hold

660 themselves out to the public as qualified to perform mold

661related services.

672 Examinations

673 (1) A person desiring to be licensed as a mold assessor or

674 mold remediator must shall apply to the department after

675 satisfying the examination requirements of this part to take a

676 licensure examination.

682 (a)1. For a mold remediator, at least a 2-year associate

683 of arts degree, or the equivalent, with at least 30 semester

684 hours in microbiology, engineering, architecture, industrial

685 hygiene, occupational safety, or a related field of science from

686 an accredited institution and a minimum of 1 year of documented

687 field experience in a field related to mold remediation; or

688 2. A high school diploma or the equivalent with a minimum

689 of 4 years of documented field experience in a field related to

690 mold remediation.

691 (b)1. For a mold assessor, at least a 2-year associate of

692 arts degree, or the equivalent, with at least 30 semester hours

693 in microbiology, engineering, architecture, industrial hygiene,

694 occupational safety, or a related field of science from an

695 accredited institution and a minimum of 1 year of documented

696 field experience in conducting microbial sampling or

697 investigations; or

698 2. A high school diploma or the equivalent with a minimum

699 of 4 years of documented field experience in conducting

700 microbial sampling or investigations.

Insurance

860 (1) A mold assessor shall maintain general liability and

861 errors and omissions for both preliminary and postremediation

862 mold assessment insurance coverage in an amount of at least $1

863 million

Grandfather Clause

866 468.8423 Grandfather clause.-

867 (1) A person who performs mold assessment or mold

868 remediation as defined in this part may qualify for licensure to

869 be licensed by the department as a mold assessor or mold

870 remediator if the person submits his or her application to the

871 department by March 1, 2011, whether postmarked or delivered by

872 that date, and if the person: meets the licensure requirements

873 of this part by July 1, 2010.

874 (a) Is certified as a mold assessor or mold remediator by

875 a state or national association that requires, for such

876 certification, successful completion of a proctored examination

877 on mold assessment or mold remediation, as applicable, and

878 completes at least 60 hours of education on mold assessment or

879 at least 30 hours of education on mold remediation, as

880 applicable; or

881 (b) At the time of application, has at least 3 years of

882 experience as a mold assessor or mold remediator. To establish

883 the 3 years of experience, an applicant must submit at least 40

884 mold assessments or remediation invoices prepared by the

885 applicant.

John P. Lapotaire, CIEC

Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant

Microshield Environmental Services, LLC

www.Microshield-ES.com

When we get calls for mold testing, we conduct a very thorough client interview to help get us acquainted with the client and to help determine the client’s individual needs. In some cases the client simply needs to have air samples collected to find out if there is a presence of a known allergen in their home or office. In other cases they need to know why there is mold in their home or office and how to stop it from growing and how to get rid of what has already grown.

And far too often we are asked to interpret the laboratory report for samples that were collected by a “Mold Inspector”.

Most of the reports that we are called out to help with are incomplete and do little more that repeat what the lab report states. There were Aspergillus/Penicillium spores found etc…..etc…..

This information is of little value to the client if you don’t know what caused the mold to grow in the first place and even less value if you can’t provide a solution to that initial cause. That’s just a basic “Cause and Origin” report and requires no testing. I consider that part of my assessment as Step 1. No testing yet.

To provide the cause and origin requires a solid visual inspection which is the most important aspect of a mold inspection. The purpose of the visual inspection is to identify visual mold contamination or conditions that may be conducive to microbial growth. The visual inspection should also include the collection of indoor environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate levels.

When the source of mold is hidden the use of a particulate counter is essential in locating areas of a home or office that have elevated airborne particulate matter and possible areas that require further investigation. Still no testing.

At this point I feel comfortable in my ability to answer the following questions that will become the foundation of my report.

1.Is there a mold or IAQ problem?
2.What was the cause?
3.Where is the problem source?
4.What is the extent of any wet and damaged material?
5.What building repairs are needed to prevent a reoccurrence?
6.Will I need an S-520 based protocol?
7.Will I need to provide local containment?

A mold test, surface or air, can’t answer any of those questions and would not alter the answers to any of those question. A lab report can produce a lot of information but if it doesn’t answer any of those questions why would I be testing?

If the mold testing results will not affect what you do, then you probably don’t need mold testing.

I believe that you may only need the visual inspection and a mold remediation protocol that is then followed by the testing to establish that the structure, contents or systems of your home or office have been returned to a normal fungal ecology or S-520 Condition 1.

Having said all that there are times when you may simply want to know what is in the air you breathe and whether or not there is an unusual amount of mold spores in you air. You may need to show that the mold growing on a surface is in fact airborne and causing negative health affects to the building occupants. You may want to know if the elevated particulate levels in the building are mold spores from the visible mold growth to ensure that the IAQ improvements that you recommend will address all of the airborne particulate matter and not miss something.

Remember mold tests are not perfect. False negative and false positive results do sometimes occur. Mold testing results are one piece of information, sometimes an important piece. But other pieces of information are also needed and in my mind much more important and should always take precedence over the mold testing and laboratory results.

If a mold inspector begins his inspection with the suggestion of sampling I believe I can safely say he missed a step. Step 1

In many cases that I review the only thing the mold inspector provides his client with is the laboratory report of the testing that he preformed. No summary of findings, no cause and origin, no indoor environmental measurements, no history, nothing but a lab report.

If you have signed an agreement with your inspector take a close look at it. Most if not all mold inspector agreements that I have reviewed contain a statement such as;

The client is solely responsible for the use and interpretation of the test results and reports requested from home inspector. The inspector is not able to assess the degree of any potential hazard resulting from the materials and areas analyzed. Therefore, we respectfully suggest that you review this report with your personal physician or health care person(s) for information that may affect the inhabitants of the home.

Which is sad and ironic because the laboratory report will contain a statement such as;

The Laboratory bears no responsibility for sample collection activities or analytical method limitations. Interpretation and use of test results are the responsibility of the client

Or

The client is solely responsible for the use and interpretation of these recommended action guidelines.

So who does that leave to interpret the results? What did the client pay for? How does this information help you? What is it telling you?

Many inspectors and believe that testing and sampling will somehow tell you were there is hidden mold. I just don’t believe that. There are just too many variables in air samples and spore counts to justify that statement. You still need to look for and find the mold, identify the cause and the origin, and provide a plan to repair the cause and return the home to its pre loss condition. Any good inspector should be able to do that without starting a pump.

John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
www.Microshield-ES.com

Florida House Bill HB713 is a proposal to accept any national association’s certifications with 3 years verifiable experience and 60 hours of verified training. The Florida Legislature goes into session next week and this bill should be voted on quickly.

This is a very good thing for the consumer. I receive dozens of calls from consumers who have had a “Mold Inspection” only to have the inspector hand the consumer a lab report with no summary of findings. You can read more about that in this article. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1438130/the-home-inspector-mold-test-buyer-beware- That is the reason we truly need the new law and a stiff standard.

Point to remeber

Certification vs Certificate of Training

Many who hold a private, IAQ-related credential, will be surprised to learn that it may be nothing more than a training certificate.

Unfortunately there are many training programs that are not a recognized ANSI/NOCA professional certification but rather only a certificate of training. Many won’t meet the requirements of the new HB713 where you would be required to have 60hrs of training and 3 years of experience and a certification from a national association. You can read more about that in this article. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1272700/is-your-mold-or-iaq-inspector-really-certified-

Remember that HB713 is not a law yet. It still has to be voted in.

You can read more about what is in a Professional Mold Inspection Report in this article. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1516548/what-is-a-professional-and-informative-mold-report-

John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
www.Microshield-ES.com