No change to Florida Mold Law

[Douglas Wall]

HB 5007 was defeated

Grandfathering is over and rules stay the same.
Florida State Licensed
Mold Assessor
Minimum time to become licensed
3 to 4 YEARS

Requirements:

• Extensive approved training
• Pass a state test
• 4 years experience
• Minimum $1 million Liability & E&O insurance

(1 year of experience with specific College degrees)


www.acac.org
Mold Assessor Exams
All of the following tests are approved by DBPR for the Florida mold assessor license.
Council-certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE)
Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC)
Council-certified Microbial Consultant (CMC


Best thing is the mold professionals are getting organized in Florida. M.A.R.C. , IEAQC.

[Nick Gromicko]

Yep. Home inspectors can still test for mold without a mold assessors license.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Licensing solves nothing!

[Sean Fogarty]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Yep. Home inspectors can still test for mold without a mold assessors license.

??????????????
How is this so?

[Nick Gromicko]

??????????????
How is this so?

Read the part of the law that I made bold and underlined:

468.8411 Definitions.--As used in this part, the term: (1) "Department" means the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. (2) "Mold" means an organism of the class fungi that causes disintegration of organic matter and produces spores, and includes any spores, hyphae, and mycotoxins produced by mold. (3) "Mold assessment" means a process performed by a mold assessor that includes the physical sampling and detailed evaluation of data obtained from a building history and inspection to formulate an initial hypothesis about the origin, identity, location, and extent of amplification of mold growth of greater than 10 square feet. (4) "Mold assessor" means any person who performs or directly supervises a mold assessment. (5) "Mold remediation" means the removal, cleaning, sanitizing, demolition, or other treatment, including preventive activities, of mold or mold-contaminated matter of greater than 10 square feet that was not purposely grown at that location; however, such removal, cleaning, sanitizing, demolition, or other treatment, including preventive activities, may not be work that requires a license under chapter 489 unless performed by a person who is licensed under that chapter or the work complies with that chapter. (6) "Mold remediator" means any person who performs mold remediation. A mold remediator may not perform any work that requires a license under chapter 489 unless the mold remediator is also licensed under that chapter or complies with that chapter. History.--s. 3, ch. 2007-235. 1Note.--Effective July 1, 2010.

You only need a mold assessors license if there is more than 10 square feet of mold. If less than 10 square feet (what you'll find 99% of the time), a home inspector can test/identify it.

A mold assessor is not as qualified as a home inspector to perform a mold inspection (unless the mold assessor is also a home inspector). To do a proper mold inspection you need the skills of a home inspector and a holistic understanding of the home including ventilation, condensation, roofing leaks, plumbing leaks, HVAC systems, crawl spaces, grading, downspouts, gutters, humidity, vapor barriers, drainage, stucco/EIFS, flashing, sump pumps, etc. Those are home inspector skills.

Always make sure your mold inspector is a home inspector.

[Russell J. Hensel]

Also make sure you HOME INSPECTOR has at least completed ONE Home Inspection. How can this be? A Florida licensed Home Inspector has NEVER done a Home Inspection?..........Well thank my friend Nick and Zoe.

[Nick Gromicko]

Think it out a step further Russell. How would a new applicant in a state that has had licensing for some time every possibly get a home inspection under their belt? Performing home inspections without a license is illegal.

Everyone (including you Russell) did their first real home inspection for a real client.

Most licenses the state of Florida issues from here until forever and ever and ever and ever will be to someone who never did a fee-paid home inspection.

Get used to it.

Even you had to do your first home inspection... and you did it without a license! LOL!

[Russell J. Hensel]

Read other thread...You talk without any idea of the facts...As usual

[Nick Gromicko]

FACT: You don't need a mold assessor license to offer mold testing/inspection services in Florida. That's the law.

FACT: You don't need experience to get a home inspector license in Florida. People who have never done a fee-paid inspection for a real client get licensed all the time, and not just in Florida. That's the law.

[James A. Levy]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Think it out a step further Russell. How would a new applicant in a state that has had licensing for some time every possibly get a home inspection under their belt? Performing home inspections without a license is illegal.

Everyone (including you Russell) did their first real home inspection for a real client.

Most licenses the state of Florida issues from here until forever and ever and ever and ever will be to someone who never did a fee-paid home inspection.

Get used to it.

Even you had to do your first home inspection... and you did it without a license! LOL!

In NJ we have to do sixteen inspections, or (40hrs) of inspecting under a licensed guy. We have to write our own reports and submit them for review to that same licensed guy.

[Nick Gromicko]

That's not how it is in FL. Mostly because until a few weeks ago, there were no "licensed guys" to work under. We do have some hands-on, in-field inspection requirements for new inspectors, but they aren't quite the same as a real inspection IMHO.

[Douglas Wall]

FACT: You don't need a mold assessor license to offer mold testing/inspection services in Florida. That's the law.

FACT: You don't need experience to get a home inspector license in Florida. People who have never done a fee-paid inspection for a real client get licensed all the time, and not just in Florida. That's the law.

Like I said it should be fun after July 1. Seems how you interpret things or I should say the DBPR does. Who will be the first to pay a fine? The idea of deciding how many sq ft of mold there is before the inspection needs to be explained to me. The proposed penalties could be anything. Maybe the DBPR has told nick something different (HI’s don’t need a license).

If you really think the state will let HI’s do mold without any experience and require up to 4 years experience for mold assessors, seems a little light headed to me. We will see for sure soon.

We all know it’s how the DBPR looks at the rules. And if my memory is right at the meeting in Orlando with the DBPR, several home inspector got up and wanted to know why they needed a license for doing testing. Every time the three DBPR people said you have to have a license, they must have been confused.

Couple more rules: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0468/0468PartXVIContentsIndex.html&StatuteYear=2010&Tit le=-%3E2010-%3EChapter%20468-%3EPart%20XVI

468.8424 Rulemaking authority.—The department shall adopt rules to administer this part.

History.—s. 33, ch. 2010-106; s. 25, ch. 2010-176.

468.8419 Prohibitions; penalties.—

(1) A person may not:

(a) Effective July 1, 2011, perform or offer to perform any mold assessment unless the mold assessor has documented training in water, mold, and respiratory protection under s. 468.8414(2).

(b) Effective July 1, 2011, perform or offer to perform any mold assessment unless the person has complied with the provisions of this part.

(c) Use the name or title “certified mold assessor,” “registered mold assessor,” “licensed mold assessor,” “mold assessor,” “professional mold assessor,” or any combination thereof unless the person has complied with the provisions of this part.

[Nick Gromicko]

Doug, in the rules you posted you will note that they all contain the same word over and over: "assessment" or "assessor." Yes, it is true that a home inspector who doesn't have a mold assessors license can't say he/she does. There is good reason for that rule.

But he/she can go right on performing mold inspections and advertising that he/she offers them.

[Douglas Wall]

in Orlando with the DBPR, several home inspector got up and wanted to know why they needed a license for doing testing. Every time the three DBPR people said you have to have a license, they must have been confused.

standard of practice may help.