This document's first page also makes generous use of authoritative and decorous sounding words like “recitals,” “hereto,” “hereby,” “herein,” “whereas,” and “the receipt and sufficiency of which” from which the readers of this document are probably meant to conclude that this document is legal, written by (or plagiarized from) a lawyer, and to be respected.

For an interesting discussion on legal language see Peter Tiersma's website and in particular this page: http://www.languageandlaw.org/NATURE.HTM

What does the Mold Remediation Company Agree to Do?

The mold remediation company makes several promises of actions and procedures throughout the document. Some of the promises are unclear and a couple are indefinable. For a discussion of an unclear protocol promise made in this document click here. For a discussion of an indefinable clean up promise made in this document click here. Also, the areas of the home to be cleaned are not clear. There are references to an “infected area” and a “containment area”  but those areas are not clearly defined.

Basically, though, this document declares that the mold remediation company agrees to:

“provide the labor, material; product and equipment necessary to complete the mold clean up.”

The Acceptable Level Clause Allows the Mold Remediation Company to Break its Promises

In this document, the mold remediation company agreed that they would:

• “remove all compromised materials from the premises”
• “remove all infected sheetrock and insulation from the basement closet”
• “remove the visible mold with our anti microbial cleaner with a rag, wire brush and/or sander”

They did not achieve their definition acceptability by keeping their promises.

They achieved their definition of acceptability based on a questionable method of sampling what they incorrectly describe as one “species” of mold.

Reference note 1 highlights where the Acceptable Level Clause says that

“Indoor air vs. outdoor air is the basis for determining if you have an indoor air quality issue due to mold. ”
and
“This is the most trusted way to interpret test results industry wide.”

No it isn't and no it isn't.

There are several authoritative sources and many good arguments against exclusively trusting this method of testing air quality levels. See, for example, this one of many mold testing webpages by InspectAPedia.com's Daniel Friedman  which cites authoritative references for further study on this matter. See also, the October 2008 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene for an article titled Professional Judgment and the Interpretation of Viable Mold Air Sampling Data

Indeed, the Acceptable Level Clause itself discusses one of the many problems with this type of mold sampling in its large second paragraph.

Furthermore, the mold remediation company did not base their “Scope of Services”  on any written site inspection, site condition assessment or site specific procedural instructions. So, if the mold remediation company feels that “Indoor air vs. outdoor air is the basis for determining if you have an indoor air quality issue due to mold,”  , then by their own definition they were negligent because they didn't perform this test before the remediation to see if remediation was necessary.

Reference note 2 highlights three points made in the Acceptable Level Clause

1. the “[mold remediation company] has developed a basis number for interpreting test results”

2. they've based this number only on Aspergillus/Penicillium
   

3. Aspergillus/Penicillium are “the most common species of mold that requires remediation”

1. The mold remediation company is using a basis number for acceptable indoor air quality levels that they developed themselves without bothering with the scientific rigors of publishing their findings, submitting their declarations to peer review, and citing their data, evidence and reference. Indeed, after reminding us in the first paragraph of this page that “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), as well as other occupational health related associations, have not established permissible exposure limits, recommended exposure limits, or other limit values for aeroallergens,”   the customer is being asked to agree to a value developed by the mold remediation company.

2. They're saying that if the home is free of large amounts of Aspergillus/Penicillium  — without regard to other harmful molds that may be present in the home — then the air quality in the home is acceptable.

3. They don't tell the customer (or they don't know) that Aspergillus and Penicillium are not “species of mold”  but rather two different two families (genera) of molds each containing over a hundred species. They're often described together because they are difficult to differentiate under a microscope. This is important because whenever you see the designation “Aspergillus/Penicillium” you know that not only have the genus of the mold not been identified but also that the species of mold have not been identified. According to Daniel Friedman, a mold consultant and forensic microscopist who writes at InspectAPedia.com - “"Pen/Asp" spore count of 1000 spores/M3 of air might be compared with an indoor "Pen/Asp" spore count of 500 spores/M3 of air. But often the outdoor "Penicillium/Aspergillus" spores are not the same species as the indoor species, making such count comparisons completely meaningless. ”

“The paragraphs above explain how [Mold Remediation Company] acceptable levels are reached and by signing this proposal you agree to these acceptable levels.”

And that is how the poorly done mold remediation project described on this page was declared acceptable.

An analysis of more than two thirds of the incomprehensible, unsupportable and conflicting things that were in this contract were discarded for the sake of brevity and clarity. If you'd like to read whole contract click here.

This project and this document highlights what I said in the first paragraph: The same company that's performing a mold remediation must not be allowed to describe the project or declare when it's done. See InspectAPedia.com's discussion on conflicts of interest  

All text and photos © Arlene Puentes
Do not copy

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