NYS Radon Testing Notice

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

New York State sent a notification to each Home Inspector stating that Home Inspectors need to receive certification from NYS, Dept. of Health in order to legally test for radon. I called to confirm this, and have a letter from New York State which states it is a crime to test for radon without specific New York State authorization.

If anyone wants a copy of the original letter, e-mail me, call me or snail mail me and I will send you the letter which requires anyone without NY State approval to cease and desist any activities involving radon testing.

I was surprised, and am glad they sent me the letter to show fellow NACHI members in New York State this. I have sent a copy to all of our chapter members.

Much luck and success, fellow NACHI Members.

[Joseph Hagarty]

Originally Posted by bmerrell

New York State sent a notification to each Home Inspector stating that Home Inspectors need to receive certification from NYS, Dept. of Health in order to legally test for radon. I called to confirm this, and have a letter from New York State which states it is a crime to test for radon without specific New York State authorization.

If anyone wants a copy of the original letter, e-mail me, call me or snail mail me and I will send you the letter which requires anyone without NY State approval to cease and desist any activities involving radon testing.

I was surprised, and am glad they sent me the letter to show fellow NACHI members in New York State this. I have sent a copy to all of our chapter members.

Much luck and success, fellow NACHI Members.

Bill:

Email me a copy of whatever documents that you have with regard to New York radon Testing.

Thanks,

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

I have the letter from the state- I faxed it to your offices as per your web site- I hope you received it.

Have a great day

Bill

[Carmine Fuoco]

I received the same letter and I called. Boy did I have a few words with them. I explained to the woman that I was RTCA and NRSB certified and she said that it didn't matter. I still need to get the certification from the state. I then asked how much and she said....... are you sitting down......$500.00 per year and a small fee per test performed. I asked what the $500.00 included (training, literature, continuing ed.) and she said that it was their fee to run their program to certify labs. We do not get anything for our fee except a little pat on the ***** saying it is ok for us to go out and go testing.
I then explained that I was not using a lab being that I use a CRM. Does not matter.
I was very irate at this point and she offered to transfer me to her director who could answer my questions better. I left her a voicemail and have not received a call back yet. I called back again and got a different person who explained things a little different saying that if we are only collecting canisters and sending them to the lab we do not need the certification. I do not know who to believe now. I will call back tomorrow and try to talk to the director unless any of you guys or gals can explain it to me.
This is just another way for the state to get into our pockets. Why did I even bother to take the RTCA course and the NRSB exam if I need the States certification. Sorry, just venting.

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Received followup stating that any type of collection or testing would be under their control, so anyone who wants to collect, sample or read a machine for radon would be required to receive approval from the state. $ 500 seems steep, but they collect fees to run government. Many NYS Home Inspectors are not aware of this and may be in violation without even knowing it!

[Joseph Hagarty]

Bill:

I received your Fax.

My Opinion, from what I have read, is this only applies to those individuals that are using CRM's.

If you are doing Drop & Retrieve and working with a Lab, this is not applicable.

I will check further and see what I can find from here.

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Thanks- I am sure NY Home Inspectors will appreciate it. I was told by the office it covers all testing, even if it is simply a test which is then sent to a lab.

I am sure NYers will want to know whats going on- this came out of left field.

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

10 NYCRR 16.130 Radon Testing and Reporting

Effective Date: December 13, 1995
(a) Definitions. As used in this Part,
(1) "Radon" means the radioactive noble gas radon-222.
(2) "Radon testing firm" means a commercial business which uses equipment or provides detectors for testing for radon or radon decay products and which provides the results of such tests to customers.

I agree that provides may indicate the actual lab, but the term "uses euipment or provides detectors" and then goes on to say "which provides the results of such tests to customers" seems to include the inspector.

http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/radon/radonlaw.htm

http://www.nyradon.org/

http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/radon/radonhom.htm

some of the information seems to contraduct each other, but the penalty is a crime, so the information must be determined before any NYS inspector takes the chance to end up losing their license in NYS.

Hope these links help you with checking the information.

[Joseph Hagarty]

Bill:

Noted and Forwarded.

I will let you know what I learn.

Going into the Weekend, it may take a few days.

[Donald R. Peterson]

here is the answer I got from NYS:


In regard to phone call on 7/25/06
NY state is not regulated for radon service providers; however it is recommended that you be certified through one of the national
organizations: the National Environmental Health Association OR the
National Radon Safety Board (www.neha.org OR www.nrsb.org,
respectively).
Further, depending on the type of monitor for measurement providers used, NY State Environmental Laboratory Approval may be required. You can contact them at 518.485.5570 or via www.wadsworth.org (ELAP does not apply for charcoal kits or vial type tests)
Training courses are provided by the Eastern Regional Radon Training Center at Rutgers University (www.radoncourses.org) as well as other commercial
outlets and there may be on line courses. We have proctored the exam at
the Troy office in several cases.
(We are attempting to coordinate a measurement/mitigation class in Buffalo area for later in the year-- let us know if you would be interested in this or check with us from time to time)
if you need more information please get back to us
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don-
I have forwarded your contact information to Elaine who coordinates the
reporting-
she will follow up with a call or e-mail
thank you,
Jerry Collins
NYS DOH Radon Program

[Adam J. Slimack]

I had also talked to Elaine and found the origional post to be inaccurate on a few key points.

According to Elaine, they were hit hard with calls from many due to the inaccurate information being passed around. She suspects this thread may have been the source.

The information i recieved mirrors what Donald has passed on.

Adam, A Plus