Fungal/Mold Assessments

The professionals at IAQ Diagnostics have performed thousands of mold inspections throughout the Midwest.  At a minimum, a mold inspection should include a thorough visual inspection and moisture assessment.  Mold requires moisture for growth; therefore, identifying building materials that contain elevated levels of moisture is key.  When appropriate, IAQ Diagnostics will also recommend air quality sampling and/or surface sampling for mold.

If a mold issue is identified, IAQ Diagnostics will design a specific scope-of-work (i.e. remediation protocol) for the area-of-concern.   This scope-of-work can then be used to obtain comparative bids from restoration contractors. IAQ Diagnostics can also assist you with selecting a contractor.

After the area-of-concern has been remediated, clients have the option to retain IAQ Diagnostics to perform a post-remediation fungal assessment (i.e. clearance assessment).  This post-remediation assessment helps confirm that the restoration contractor did quality work and also provides the client documentation that the area has been returned to a 'pre-loss condition.'  This documentation can prove to be useful for a variety of reasons including disclosure issues, liability concerns, etc.

If you are a property owner, builder, general contractor, property manager, or insurance company, there are several things to consider when determining if you have a mold-related issue in your building:

• Amount, type, and location of mold growth
• Function of the building (e.g. hospital, commercial, residential, etc.)
• Health of building occupants
• Liability issues for the building owner, property manager, etc.

Caution must be taken when dealing with people who may have a compromised immune system.  These individuals are potentially susceptible to fungal infections.   Most healthy individuals are far less susceptible to fungal infections, but may feel the allergenic effects that mold issues can cause (e.g. irritation of eyes - nose - throat, headaches, etc.).

Of companies that perform both mold assessments and mold remediation

Many states (NOT including Wisconsin) have enacted laws that prevent companies from performing both mold assessments and mold remediation because of the inherent conflict-of-interest.  Those companies directly profit by convincing their clients that they have an extensive mold problem that will require thousands of dollars in remediation.

Protect yourself by hiring a third party consultant to design the scope-of-work for remediation.  A scope-of-work designed by IAQ Diagnostics will outline which remediation steps are necessary.

Of home inspectors who also perform mold testing

Often times, these individuals will have little or no training in our specific field, will be unable to interpret the results obtained from the lab,  and will be unable or unwilling to provide you a scope-of-work for remediation.