The “IICRC S520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation– Second Edition” has been completed and unanimously approved by the IICRC Standards Committee, and was approved and adopted by the IICRC board of directors. The document now goes to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) where it is reviewed again for adoption as an ANSI Standard. ANSI accreditation of S520 represents IICRC’s second accredited Standard, alongside the “ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration – Third Edition.” Once the new S520 has completed the ANSI approval process, IICRC will be organizing a series of workshops around North America to introduce the new document to the industry and explain any upgrades and differences from the previous edition.
Also under the IICRC Standards Committee report it was announced that work is progressing quickly on the “IICRC S100- Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Carpet Cleaning – Fourth Edition.” At a recent meeting of the S100 committee, eight chapters have been completed and approved by the committee with another eight chapters expected to be complete by the end of the summer. The document then goes to the editing committee before entering the peer review process and eventually being submitted to ANSI for accreditation.
IICRC government affairs committee chairman, Dan Bernazzani, gave a report to the IICRC Certification Council that the State of Kentucky House of Representatives has passed HB 434 regarding mold remediation standards. The bill reads in part:
“A NEW SECTION OF SUBCHAPTER 20 KRS CHAPTER 224 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
The department shall establish minimum standards for mold remediation companies that operate in the Commonwealth. The minimum standards shall be based on the five (5) general principles of mold remediation created by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) in its publication IICRC S520, Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation, or its successor publication. The five (5) general principles of mold remediation are as follows:
- Safety and health;
- Project documentation;
- Contaminant control;
- Contaminant removal; and
- Contamination prevention.
All mold remediation companies operating in the Commonwealth shall adhere to the minimum standards established by the department.”
The bill now moves to the Kentucky State Senate, where it is expected to pass and go into effect by the end of the year. This is great news for professional restoration companies following IICRC Standards in their mold remediation work, and should go a long way to helping reduce the number of non-professional restoration contractors in the marketplace.
Work is also moving forward where major insurance companies are working with restoration industry leaders to establish real-time job monitoring systems for water-damage restoration jobs based on the ANSI/ IICRC S500 Standard. It is expected this effort will result in faster payment to restoration companies following job completion and, hopefully, less price adjustment and negotiation on completed billings. Details on this program were presented at the recent Connections Conference in Florida.
Insurance consultant Dave Dybdahl of ARMR insurance continues to work with major insurance carriers to help IICRC Certified restoration and cleaning businesses obtain the insurance coverage they need. So far, Dave reports success in identifying special liability coverage for Certified Firms following IICRC Standards at a discounted rate. It is also reported that major carriers are prepared to offer discounted vehicle insurance to IICRC Certified Firms.
IICRC Statistics show that Water Restoration Technician (WRT) is still the most popular certification class, followed by Carpet Cleaning Technician (CCT). The total number of IICRC Certified Technicians has now topped 46,000, and the Certified Firm count has exceeded 5,200, the highest in the organization’s history.
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