Mold Licensing in New York: What to Check Before You Hire

What does New York require for mold work?

New York Labor Law Article 32 requires state licences for the people who assess and remove mold, and it took effect for those licences on January 1, 2016. The Department of Labor administers the licences, and the category a person holds decides which work they can do.

The article sets out three licensed roles: the mold assessor, who evaluates the mold and the moisture, the mold remediator, who cleans or removes the growth, and the mold abatement worker, who carries out removal work under the rules. The categories are separate, and each has its own requirements.

A person who does mold work without the required licence is not meeting the state's requirement, whatever their experience. That is why the licence should be checked before the work starts, not after it is finished.

How do you check a licence?

Ask for the licence number and the category, then check them with the Department of Labor, which administers the licences. A licence that is not current, or that does not cover the work on the scope, is a reason to stop until the question is answered.

Ask the person to show the licence and write the number and the category in your file. Check the number and the category with the Department of Labor, and keep a note of the date you checked. The check should be made before any mold work begins, not after the work has been paid for.

The owner should also confirm that the person named on the licence is the person doing the work. A licence held by one person does not cover a crew member who has none, so ask who will be on site.

Which work needs a licensed person?

Work on visible mold, on growth in porous material and on mold behind a wall generally needs a licensed person. The assessment that decides whether mold is present should also come from a licensed assessor, since the assessment is the basis for the scope.

Growth on a hard, non-porous surface may be cleaned, and the question of whether that counts as remediation is one to put to the licensed person. A licensed person should make that call and record it in the assessment.

Where mold is behind a wall or under a floor, the cavity is opened only as needed, and the work is planned and contained. A licensed remediator should lead that work and record its containment and clearance.

Does every water damage job need mold work?

No. A water damage job needs mold work only where growth is present or where the drying record shows that moisture stayed long enough to make growth likely. The drying readings are the main tool for that decision.

When the readings fall quickly and stay dry, mold is less likely to take hold. When they stay high, the wall or the subfloor may need to be opened and assessed before the question can be answered.

A musty smell or a stain without visible growth can still mean moisture is trapped. An assessment by a licensed assessor will say whether growth is present and whether remediation is needed.

What should be in the file after mold work?

The file should hold the assessment, the moisture readings, the containment record, the list of removed materials, the clearance readings and the licence details of the people who did the work. Those documents answer the questions a buyer, insurer or future owner will ask.

The assessment states what was found and where. The clearance readings show the condition at the end of the work. The licence details confirm who did it and under what category.

Keep the file with the water damage records. A complete file is easier to give a lender, an insurer or an adjuster than a verbal account of the work.

• The assessment, with the location and extent of the growth
• Moisture readings before and after the work
• The containment record and the list of removed materials
• Clearance readings confirming the area is dry and clean
• The licence number and category of each person who did the work

Why does drying come before the mold work?

Mold needs moisture to grow, and drying removes the moisture that feeds it. Mold work cannot succeed while the materials stay wet, so the drying is done first and the readings show when the mold work can begin.

The drying is recorded as water damage work, and the mold work is recorded separately, with its own containment, removal and clearance. Keeping the two clear makes the file easier to follow and makes the cost of each part easier to see.

The EPA's guidance on mold and moisture explains the same principle, that controlling moisture is the basis for controlling mold. The licence checks are a state requirement on top of that principle.

What should you do if the licence is not current?

If the licence is not current or does not cover the category of work, stop and ask the person to explain. Do not sign a scope or pay for mold work until the question is answered by the Department of Labor records.

Ask whether the licence is being renewed and when. A person who cannot show a current licence for the category should not do the work, and the owner should ask the crew to bring in someone who holds it.

Keep a record of the question and the answer. If the work was done without a valid licence, that record helps the owner decide what to do next, including whether to ask the Department of Labor about the licensing question.

How do you ask a company about its mold licence on the phone?

Ask the question before you book the visit. Ask who will assess the mold, who will remove it, what licence category each person holds and the licence numbers. A company that cannot answer those questions on the phone is not ready to do licensed work.

Make the question specific. Ask for the category of the person who will write the assessment and the category of the person who will do the removal. Ask whether the same person holds both licences, if one person is doing both jobs, and ask who signs the clearance readings.

Write the answers down with the date and the name of the person who gave them. A written note is the only record that the question was asked and answered before the work started.

What should a licensed assessment contain?

A licensed assessment should state where the mold is, how much of the area it covers, what moisture readings were taken and what work is recommended. It is the document that sets the scope for any remediation, so it should be read carefully before it is accepted.

Check that the assessment names the rooms and surfaces examined, the readings and the locations where they were taken, and the photographs that show the growth. An assessment that does not say where it looked cannot show that the rest of the building is clear.

The assessment should also state the recommended work and the reason for each part of it. A recommendation with a reason can be checked against the readings, and an owner who wants a second opinion can give the assessment to another licensed assessor.

How does mold licensing fit with an insurance claim?

Insurance treats mold according to the policy, and many policies limit mold coverage. The licence record shows that the work was done by qualified people, which helps the claim, but it does not decide what the policy pays.

Ask the insurer to show the mold terms in writing before a claim is made. The terms may distinguish between mold that follows a covered event and mold that follows a long or excluded one, and the wording decides the claim.

For a dispute about the handling of a claim, the New York State Department of Financial Services is the state regulator for insurers. Keep the licence details, the assessment and the clearance readings with the claim file.

What should you do when a licence is in doubt after the work?

If a licence is in doubt after mold work has been done, keep the records, ask the person to explain in writing and check the state record before paying the final invoice. The check protects the owner's position with the insurer, a buyer and any later repair.

Write down what was done, when, by whom and under which licence category, using the assessment, the containment record and the clearance readings. Those papers show the scope of the work and make it possible to compare it against the licence the person held.

Ask the Department of Labor whether the licence covered the work that was done. The department's answer, in writing, is the reference to keep, and it helps the owner decide whether to ask for a correction, a re-assessment or a different company for any remaining work.