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Writer's pictureCorey Provencal
Jul 4, 20113 min read

Florida House Bill 849 – Loop Hole or Not?

Florida

House Bill 849 was intended to not prevent a home inspector from using the word “mold” in an inspection and to not interfere with a home inspectors ability to perform his duties when inspecting a home.

It wasn’t intended to allow them to perform a mold inspection without a license.

HB 849 specifically prevents home inspectors from referring to themselves as a “certified mold assessor,” “registered mold assessor,” “licensed mold assessor,” “mold assessor,” “professional mold assessor,” or any combination thereof stating or implying licensure.

To perform mold inspections and refer to themselves as mold assessors, or any other combination of the professional terms listed above, a home inspector must be Licensed by the State as a Mold Assessor.

The collection of air samples is considered to be part of a mold assessment and NOT within the scope of a home inspection.  The collection of air samples is an additional service offered by some home inspectors and sold as a mold assessment.

Some home inspectors and some laboratories want the ability to collect air and swab samples without the need of training and a license.  For them it’s a scramble for easy cash.  For others the need for training to provide their clients with a professional mold assessment the state license was a no brainer, an added feather in their cap.

A trained and licensed mold assessor (which includes hundreds of very qualified and mold licensed home inspectors) knows that samples alone provide nothing to the client but a third party lab report, no cause and origin, no repair or protocol, and no understanding of the actual findings.

The public will need to make the decision to utilize a home inspector without a mold assessor license to collect air samples or to hire a home inspector with a mold assessor license to provide them with a real mold report written by a state licensed mold assessor.

Until the issue is pushed by a disgruntled client who has paid for a “Mold Assessment” by a home inspector without a mold assessor license who the client feels represented himself as a home inspector who was a “professional mold assessor” we will never know the actual opinion of the court as to the true interpretation of HB 849.

Until then the people who gain from this gray area are untrained home inspectors wanting a quick $50 bucks or so a sample and the lab’s that simply want an ever increasing volume of samples to process via the largest possible means of collection, home inspectors.  And yes the labs could care less if the home inspector is licensed or not.

The real losers in this are the unaware clients who will continue to receive nothing for their hard earned money but a lab report.

As for my opinion, just Get your State License. The public wants to receive a true mold report for their money, and yes they are prepared to demand it and report what they are calling FRAUD.  There have been several recent arrest of mold inspectors not providing what they promised.

The only home inspectors I refer are licensed by the state as both home inspectors and mold assessors.

HB 849 states the following:

The following persons are not required to comply with any provisions of this part relating to mold assessment:

(d) Persons or business organizations acting within the scope of the respective licenses required under part XV of chapter 468, chapter 471, part I of chapter 481, chapter 482, chapter 489, or part XV of this chapter, are acting on behalf of an insurer under part VI of chapter 626, or are persons in the manufactured housing industry who are licensed under chapter 329,

except when any such persons or business organizations hold themselves out for hire to the public as a “certified mold assessor,” “registered mold assessor,” “licensed mold assessor,” “mold assessor,” “professional mold assessor,” or any combination thereof stating or implying licensure under this part.

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

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