The governor of New York signed legislation requiring Mold licensing and standards of work. This was introduced in the latter part of January and serves to make the services of mold remediation, inspection and assessment, all licensed activities.  This means that only licensed individuals will be able to perform these tasks.

While the language of the new measure in several places refers to individuals or contractors assessing mold, it is important to emphasize that people who take the samples cannot also perform the remediation work.

The Labor Department of New York will be in charge of administrating this law, which became effective July 2015. This law requires anyone who wants to carry out mold assessment or anyone who wishes to advertise themselves as contractors for assessing mold to acquire a license from the Department of Labor Commissioner. Related conditions apply to anyone who wants to engage in the services of mold remediation. The acquired license whether for assessment or remediation, will only have a life of two years after which it will have to be renewed.

This law also requires that the individuals carrying out the assessment or remediation services should be able to produce a valid copy of the respective license at their workplace. This is again compulsory before starting any mold project.

The requirements for acquiring a license require that the applicant be at least 18 years or older in age. Apart from this, the applicant is required to have successfully completed the course work which is approved by the department. This includes health department approved training on matters like the proper care and use of equipment for personal protection.  Also, the applicants need to have paid the relevant application fees.

Again these requirements also apply to those applying for remediation licenses with just a small difference, where mold remediators will additionally be required to submit certificates of insurances which hold them liable for the coverage of workers’ compensation insurance for liability for a minimum of $ 50,000.

Additionally to the above requirements, individuals applying for a mold remediation license must also provide a valid financial statement, which has to be made by an independent accountant or auditor. This financial statement must have the signature of the auditor and the applicant, and be executed in the presence of a legal representative. It should clearly state that the applicant’s assets can be used to cover the financial accountability by the department, which the applicant is required to perform in order to conduct services for mold remediation.

This law exempts design professionals but that too under certain special circumstances. Other individuals who are exempted from the necessities of obtaining licenses for remediation or assessment include:

• Those individuals who wish to perform the inspection for mold, assessment for mold, or remediation for mold on property which they own themselves.
• An individual who owns a property which is non-residential in nature or an employee of this individual can perform the assessment for mold or remediation services on that property provided that it doesn’t have dwelling units in excess of four.
• Someone who owns commercial property or managing agent of that person or an employee who works full time for the owner in question can perform assessment for mold or remediation for mold on commercial property which is in the name of the owner. This, however, is not applicable to a situation where the employee or the managing agent is involved in the business of performing assessment for mold or remediation for mold for the general public.

When damage results in mold – or worse — clientele nationwide have turned to SanAir Technologies Laboratory for fast turnaround of analytical and consulting services to detect and identify mold, bacteria, Legionella and other environmental hazards though environmental microbiology and materials testing. SanAir’s clientele includes industrial hygienists, engineers, governments and restoration and remediation contractors.