As a professional who has been involved in the mold remediation industry ever since it emerged from the shadows of the more general concept of an indoor air quality problem, I find it fascinating to see how much the science and practice of fungal control continues to change. While many restoration and cleaning contractors have the mistaken idea that the “mold hysteria” has peaked, the reality is the industry is in a continuing development stage. Anyone who thinks there is nothing new in the mold field should sit in on one of the weekly teleconference discussions among the professionals who are working on the fourth edition of the IICRC’s S520 Standard for Professional Mold Remediation. The debate and discussion is just as vigorous and enlightening as it was when I served on the committee to produce the inaugural edition in 2001 and 2002.
One of the most important concepts clarified as the mold control industry has matured is the emphasis on finishing projects. Today, there is a much stronger understanding of the terms post-remediation evaluation and post-remediation verification. The term evaluation refers to in-house quality control steps taken by the contractor and the term verification is used for third-party review of projects once the contractor is finished. While every mold remediation project should have some form of post-remediation evaluation, there are a number of states that now require third-party verification of the effectiveness of the work.