Indoor Air Quality Assessments

The Importance of Getting a Mold Assessment Prior to Mold Remediation

We are often asked why an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Assessment is necessary prior to mold remediation. It is understandable that folks want to avoid any extra time or cost associated with hiring a Board Certified IAQ Professional to assess their mold situation, but there are several very important reasons for hiring an air quality expert to inspect and investigate your dwelling before hiring someone to remove the mold. Believe it or not, getting a mold assessment prior to remediation could actually save you a lot of money. Here’s why:

  • The written "Scope of Work" that you receive from the IAQ mold and Indoor Air Quality assessment can be used to competitively bid the cleanup work. The very detailed scope indicates a list of exactly what needs to be cleaned up  / removed, which will save you from wasting a lot of money on an overpriced remediation project. There will be no conflicting thoughts on what and how to clean, since your IAQ assessment includes a roadmap for your remediation. 

 

  • When more than one party is involved, like a tenant and landlord, or an employee and a business owner, the Certified IAQ Professional can act as an objective third party to minimize battles over the cause, costs, clean up, health effects, etc. 

 

  • Physically and thoroughly inspecting all areas of the building for mold and indoor air quality issues helps to avoid the need for additional clean ups in the future. Many times people will clean up one area, only to find out later that a second area is also contaminated. All too often those additional areas are hidden, and the mold is not discovered until it has caused major property damage and health issues. A thorough initial inspection by an Air Quality Professional will ensure that the problem is dealt with properly the first time. 

 

  • A Professional Board Certified Microbial Consultant (CMC) will inspect the entire building, including the Air Handling Units. A remediation firm can do a very good job cleaning a mold infested area, but if no one told them to clean the AHUs and the duct-work, the entire home or building could easily become re-contaminated.  

 

  • It really pays to do your research, since some unethical remediation firms will offer to do both the mold investigation / testing, and the mold remediation for you. This practice is considered a conflict of interest across the IAQ Industry and should be a red flag to you. When there is a financial tie from a firm doing the mold assessment to the firm doing the mold clean up, you cannot be sure that costs are being inflated for their own gain. Many States have legislation in place protecting the consumer by prohibiting the practice of a firm or individual conducting an initial investigation and the clean up on the same project for this very reason. 

 

 

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