Mold/Indoor Air Quality Surveys
Mold Inspection
Mold is unique from other building contaminants, such as asbestos, lead-based paint or mercury, in that it is naturally occurring and was therefore not intentionally brought into a building. Since mold is ubiquitous in nature and because buildings are typically not hermitically sealed, airborne mold spores are found in almost all indoor environments. Fortunately most building occupants are not affected by these typical background concentrations. However, when a building experiences some type of moisture problem (roof leaks, plumbing leaks, foundation leaks, elevated humidity, ect...) active mold growth will eventually start to occur. Once active mold growth is allowed to flourish the amount of airborne mold spores in the indoor air greatly increases. These elevated levels may affect the building occupants.
Mold Testing and Assessments
HazCorp Environmental Services, Inc. has assisted hundreds of building owners in assessing their building to determine if mold growth is present. When performing mold assessments HazCorp takes a stepwise approach. HazCorp personnel start with a visual inspection of accessible areas focusing on areas most likely to be affected by moisture, If growth is not observed HazCorp personnel collect air samples to determine if the indoor air is being impacted by active growth. If the air sampling results indicate active mold growth is present but mold growth cannot be seen a more intrusive and destructive visual assessment is conducted. Once the extent of mold growth is determined HazCorp generates a report detailing its findings. This report is then typically given to an insurance company or mold remediation firm so that the mold growth can properly mitigated.
Clearance Assessments
Following mold remediation projects HazCorp through a combination of visual inspections and air sampling can clear areas for re-occupancy.
Indoor Air Quality Surveys
Although mold is one of the most common building contaminants that can impact the indoor air quality of a building it is definitely not the only one. There are literally hundreds of thousands of different chemicals (mostly in the workplace) that building occupants can be exposed to. HazCorp in collaboration with Certified Industrial Hygienists, Certified Safety Professionals, and Certified Hazardous Materials Managers can assess a building to determine what contaminants are likely to be present and then conduct air sampling to establish actual exposures. HazCorp has performed hundreds of indoor air quality surveys in a myriad of situations including but not limited to OSHA compliance, LEED certification, and employee complaint resolution.
To ensure all findings are legally defensible HazCorp sampling protocols meet or exceed the industry standard of care and all laboratory work is performed by nationally accredited laboratories.