6 September 2002

MOLD TASK FORCE TO CALL FOR INDUSTRY REGULATION
By James Aldridge

The Texas Department of Health's Task Force on Mold is urging state lawmakers to regulate companies that offer mold assessment, remediation and laboratory testing.

The state task force has developed draft legislation to bring about the regulation of the industry and is lining up sponsors for the bill, according to Dr. Saul B. Wilen, a member of the task force. The task force will recommend that state lawmakers act on the proposed legislation during the 2003 session, Wilen adds.

The draft legislation calls for establishing minimum standards for licensing companies that offer mold-assessment or remediation services. The proposal also calls for setting standards for labs that offer mold-testing services.

The mold task force was authorized by the governor's office and its members were appointed by the staff of the Texas Department of Health.

The legislative remedy is being sought by the task force in order to stem the rising tide of mold claims being filed against insurers in Texas, Wilen says. In 2001, insurance carriers in Texas posted losses totaling $1.9 billion, due in large part to mold claims, according to the National Association of Independent Insurers.

The mold-claims crisis has prompted a huge run-up in home-owners insurance rates as well as protests from insurers - some of whom have threatened to abandon the home-owners insurance market in Texas.

Wilen, a San Antonio resident, attributes the rapid rise in mold remediation claims to an unregulated market in which the fox is allowed to guard the hen.

Wilen says a homeowner can now look in the phone book and find companies that offer mold assessment, testing and remediation services as a package deal. Compounding that conflict of interest is the fact that these companies are unregulated, he adds.

Among the goals of the proposed bill is to create standards that prohibit the same company from offering two or more mold-related services - assessing, testing or remediation - to home owners and businesses.

Wilen's medical background is in environmental health and pulmonary disease. Certain forms of mold can trigger allergies and asthma; other forms can produce potentially deadly toxins, he says.

Once mold is discovered in a home, the best and safest remedy is to remove it.

Some firms do participate in voluntary certification programs through professional organizations, such as the Indoor Air Quality Association.

However, the lack of mandatory accreditation, certification or licensing standards for mold-assessment and remediation firms is leaving too many doors open for the possibility of fraud, Wilen says.

"Right now it's impossible to establish credibility," he adds. "This is a big, big problem in the state."

Wilen says the legislation should provide a yardstick to separate the qualified firms from the hucksters.

"It means you'll have qualified professionals doing this work," Wilen stresses.

With home-owners insurance premiums tripling and mold claims in Texas topping, in some cases, $150,000 per home, Wilen says it is time for the state to regulate.

However, Wilen says the task force is exploring options beyond a big-stick approach. For example, the mold task force wants to develop systems to disseminate information to home owners, property managers and insurance adjusters about the threats associated with mold.

"There must be a statewide educational campaign on mold," Wilen says. "Mold doesn't mean you're (automatically) going to be sick."

Local response

Leath Jackson, manager of environmental assessment and indoor air quality for the local office of Nova Consulting Group Inc., agrees with the concept of developing licensing standards for mold-testing and remediation firms, because there are unscrupulous firms across the state offering these services.

However, he says developing the right kind of mold standard will be difficult, because mold affects people differently.

"I think it would help legitimize (the business)," he says. "Because there is no (state-mandated) training, you have everybody going around trying to make a buck off of it."

Nova offers indoor air-quality testing services to clients. As an environmental engineering and consulting firm, Jackson says his employees have the proper technical background to perform mold-related work.

He also agrees with the task force's recommendation that calls for prohibiting a company from acting as an assessor, tester and remediator.

"As you know, the human species is greedy. You don't want the same people doing the work," Jackson adds.

However, Phillip Schneider, president and owner of local mold-remediation firm A.H. Schneider The Cleaner Inc., says he will be watching closely to see how extensive the regulation process will be at the state level.

"I don't welcome government getting involved in too many things, (but) if it's done right, it can be done well," Schneider says.

© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.