Carpet cleaning and water damage pros are very familiar with testing.

Moisture and pH testing is a part of their day to day work.

Maybe the most important difference in sampling and analysis for mold remediation is that you don't do it once and walk away, or even once before and once after.

No. In many situations, you're going to take various samples at various times to get a clear picture of what the indoor air quality situation is.

In contract mold remediation work at a commercial or institutional building — or even a single-family home, for that matter — ongoing monitoring via sampling and analysis can be used to monitor contract performance as well as safeguard occupants.

Suppose a significant mold growth situation occurs in a specific, well-defined area at an adult care center.

The parties involved: Residents, employees, the building owner, the remediation contractor, the insurer and the indoor air quality specialist (and possibly a county or other government health agency).

That IAQ specialist could be you, the cleaning professional who has made the effort to receive instruction in indoor air quality monitoring, becoming qualified to provide a service.

You need not be a biologist/micologist: The Environmental microbiology lab is your partner in this effort.

For a list of free IAQ workshops, click here.

All parties are interested in the health and safety of building occupants and employees.

The insurer and the building owner want to make sure the remediation contractor has solved the problem. Contracts may be very specific about this: The IAQ specialist, independent of all other parties, does testing at specified frequencies to monitor whether mold growth has recurred in contract-specified areas of the building(s) within a specified time period.

The remediation professional also wants to know whether conditions remain stable after completion of work.

In a situation where regrowth occurs — provided that some new catastrophe (plumbing leak, ceiling leak) not covered under contract has not occurred — the remediation contractor will provide services to correct the problem.

Independent sampling/analysis is thus an important fulfillment component.

In other words, this is not simply a "before and after" job — where there is mold growth, there is ongoing sampling and analysis within a time frame that could extend several years.

The cleaning professional with an interest in pursuing sampling/analysis as a specialty service should understand this.

Due to the ubiquitous nature of mold spores, the complexity of building systems (structural, HVAC, etc.) and the changing nature of environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, lighting, etc.) that can affect growth, sampling/analysis for mold is done over a range of conditions over time — and thus can be much more extensive than testing for the presence of inorganic materials (asbestos, lead, and other contaminants).

It pays to learn. The S520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation will soon to be available; click here for more information.

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