How to avoid unethical conflicts of interest when hiring a consultant:

This article describes how to assure that the scope of work specified in a mold or other indoor environmental cleanup has not been tainted by the conflict of interest of a business or financial relationship between the initial consultant and the company who will perform the actual cleanup and building repairs.

While we use mold testing and inspection as an example of conflicts of interest to avoid, the same principles apply to hiring a professional for any building inspection such as for roof hail damage, fire damage, insurance settlement inspections, or other tests.

Avoid Conflicts of Interest When Hiring Mold Inspectors or Remediation Contractors

How to avoid conflicts of interest during a mold remediation project: the person who evaluates your property to tell you what (possibly costly) cleanup work is needed certainly should not be the same person who is going to perform that work.

Is this person related to your mold inspector? 

The mold "remediator" shown at left is spraying a biocide on wall-to-wall carpeting in a mold-contaminated building - a procedure whose validity may be rather questionable. But worse, if the remediator is related to the person you paid to define the scope of work, there is an innate conflict of interest involved.

In the photograph at page top the author, modeling attractive blue Tyek, ™was examining a very moldy basement.

He will find the extent of cleanup needed, perform appropriate testing in this and other building areas, and will assist the homeowner in evaluating the results of the cleaning effort.

Such "suiting up" in protective gear is not required in buildings where there is not a suspected or obvious mold hazard, and we warn that over-dressing can inappropriately scare building occupants.

In any case, regardless of how we dress, in our opinion and that of many other professional and industry experts:

It is unethical and a conflict of interest for the investigator who is going to specify what mold remediation cleanup work is needed in a building to also offer to perform the cleanup work itself.

How to Avoid a Risky Conflict of Interest When Hiring a Consultant

Make certain that the environmental consultant, mold test consultant, mold inspector, or similar expert:

• Has no business nor financial relationship 
  
  with any company who might be hired to perform building cleanup, remedfiation, or repair work.
• Has actual education and experience
  
   in building science, appropriate areas of environmental science, use of test instruments, and if the problem is mold-related, mycology, and mold causes, remediation, and sound test procedures.
  
  Just hiring someone to "perform an air test" or "do a culture test" to screen your home or building for mold contamination is not likely to be reliable.
• Mold certification? 
  
  We add "mold test certification" or "environmental test certification" or "industrial hygienist" to this criteria with the warning that a weekend course or two in "mold" or "mold remediation" does not make an expert any more than a PhD in mycology makes someone a competent building scientist.
  
  Some mold, environmental and other apparentlyi professional certifications can be had for simply sending in a fee - my dog Katie was, for a time, a certified professional home inspector [- Ed.] and years ago on the West Coast of the U.S. a fellow was sued for libel after his cat became a certified building & real estate appraiser..
• Independence between mold remediator and mold clearance inspector:
  
  similarly, after a mold cleanup has been ompleted, the person who inspects and tests to certify that the work has been done properly should have no connection with the company who performed the cleaning. This independence actually protects everyone concerned - the building owners, occupants, and the mold cleanup company as well.

Reader Question: How do I find an "independent" mold consultant?

How does one find an independent mold consultant? - Mary Robinson

I just had my pest control company look in my attic for mice. When they came downstairs they told me there is 'wood fungus' on the attic beams. They offered to spray it to kill it for almost $800. From what I've read, this doesn't sound like a good idea. Would you suggest hiring an investigator? - D. Falk

Reply: your mold expert should investigate and write the remediation plan but should not perform the cleanup work

Mary: If your emphasis is on "independent" you need to interview the consultant and make sure that s/he only inspects, diagnoses, tests, and writes the remediation and repair plan - that is, s/he does not perform the actual cleaning or repair work, and s/he has absolutely no financial nor business relationship with the company that does perform that work.

If your emphasis is on how to find a mold or indoor air person, my goodness, we're drowning in them - by using the EXPERTS DIRECTORY link at page top you will see lists of directories of inspectors various expertises; on line web search, yellow pages, inside of matchbook covers.

But unfortunately some such "experts" just collect samples and send them to a lab - not a very helpful process if a diagnostic inspection and interview and consulting are not included in the fee.

And other "mold experts" are more interested in performing the clean-up job too - an innate conflict of interest that exposes everyone, you, the consultant, the cleanup crew, to an actual or potential charge that the advice you received was not un-biased.

D. Falk: Your PCO may be well intended and certainly they have found it profitable to jump on the mold bandwagon, but their approach is incompetent. Spraying as a "cure" for mold is inadequate. Proper procedure is more work - if there is a problem mold reservoir the mold is physically cleaned (removed) and its cause has to be corrected.

See details

at CHOOSE a FLOOD DAMAGE RESTORATION or MOLD REMEDIATOR - how to find a good, competent, mold remediation or water damage remediation company. [Live link given just below]

...

Continue reading at CHOOSE a FLOOD DAMAGE RESTORATION or MOLD REMEDIATOR, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ACCURACY OF AIR TESTS for MOLD
• CHOOSE a FLOOD DAMAGE RESTORATION or MOLD REMEDIATOR
• CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
• DEFINITION of IAQ PROBLEM
• HAIL DAMAGED SHINGLES & OTHER ROOF COVERINGS for an example of possible roof & insurance settlement inspection conflicts of interest
• INADEQUATE MOLD REMEDIATION PLAN
• MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD
• MOLD CLEARANCE: FOLLOWUP STEPS
• MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD - home
• MOLD CLEANUP - MISTAKES to AVOID
• MOLD CLEARANCE INSPECTION
• MOLD & ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP COMPANIES
• MOLD / ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERT, HIRE ? - how to decide when to hire an expert
• MOLD INSPECTORS & MOLD TESTERS
• OIL TANK TESTING / REMOVAL
• ROOFING MATERIALS TEST LABS
• WHEN TO STOP LOOKING FOR MOLD

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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to MOLD CONTAMINATION & REMEDIATION

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