Arkansas mold inspections

[Douglas Wall]

1-2-2010 I have seen very little coment on the new Arkansas mold law effective yesterday.
The Mold professionals in Florida have been waiting over five years for the state to "cleanup" the mold business. Yesterday, Arkansas became one of the states that jumped ahead of Florida in protecting consumers from incompetent mold inspectors.
New Arkansas law eliminates Home Inspectors from Mold Inspections, yet very little has been said about it on the several message boards I try to monitor.
Those of us in the indoor air quality business are anxiously waiting to see how the Realtors in the state of Arkansas react when it becomes illegal for home inspectors to "perform mold inspection / testing" January 1, 2010. Arkansas Law requires an Industrial Hygienist or ACAC board Certified Indoor Environmentalist Consultant to do mold assessment.

[ejones2]

I think if a home inspector is really serious about mold testing they need to get the training and certifications needed to continue the mold testing then I would assume they could also charge more.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Wow! Talk about association bias in legislature!

I don't disagree that there should be minimum requirements for mold inspectors, but to name two specific certification agancies is just wrong. You can be an industrial hygienist without being a member of AIHA or passing the ABIH exam. There are several colleges in the country that offer courses in Environmental Science and Public Health and Safety. That is no different than saying a home inspector has to be certified by ASHI in order to perform a home inspection. The same holds true with requirering ACAC certification.

Association bias does not belong in any legislature to prevent monopolies forming. If a state is going to require certain criteria for licensure, they need to come up with their own tests and outlines of minimum educational requirements. Relying on an independent organization is not the way to do things.

[Douglas Wall]

You can be an industrial hygienist without being a member of AIHA or passing the ABIH exam

Guess I should have been more specific.
“To be licensed mold investigators will need to be a certified industrial hygienist by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene”

That is no different than saying a home inspector has to be certified by ASHI in order to perform a home inspection. The same holds true with requirering ACAC certification.

I think that the new ANSI approved NOCA standard 1100 for certifications influences the value of some certifications.
The new standard confirms and codifies three groups that have policies that qualify them as certification programs under the national Standard 1100.

1. The American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) which offers the Certified Industrial Hygienist, CIH designation.
2. The American Council for Accredited Certification, (ACAC) www.acac.org which offers several designations including:
Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC)
Council-certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE)
3. The Board of Certified Safety Professionals which offers the Certified Safety Professional, CSP designation.

If only a couple certifications meet the ANSI approved national standards, seems logical to use their certifications. Many states use ANSI approved standards for all kinds of rules etc.