In an effort to protect the citizens of Florida, Florida Governor Crist signed Mold / Inspection legislation House Bill 713. The law regulates the Mold Inspection industry.
The Florida Mold Law is significant in the protection for our Citizens from untrained mold inspectors with in adequate training and experience.
1468.8423 Grandfather clause. A person who performs mold assessment or mold remediation as defined in this part may qualify to be licensed by the department as a mold assessor or mold remediator if the person meets the licensure requirements of this part by July 1, 2010.
The “Grandfathering by Experience” option is what I wanted to discuss today and most importantly I wanted to get as much feedback as possible.
You see the interpretation of the 3 years of experience has become a grey area for some.
The confusion is with the statement “At the time of application, have at least 3 years of experience as a mold assessor or mold remediator. To establish the 3 years of experience, an applicant must submit at least 40 invoices for mold assessment or mold remediation prepared by the applicant.”
The argument by some is that the statement above (verbatim from the law as shown below) is an either or statement. Either you have 3 years experience or you provide 40 invoices.
This is an excerpt from a recent blog post where I was informed that the Law requiring 3 years experience was not necessary. The individual posted “Experience equates to 40 invoices based on Mr. Morrison’s statement can be accumulated without any specific time-frame, meaning someone could have their 40 invoices going back only 6 months and still meet the experience requirement.” What????
It may just be me but what are these guys reading? The statement is clear. 3 years experience. The invoices are to establish the 3 years.
The intent of option 2 is to not deny anyone the right to continue in their profession if they have been conducting mold assessments prior to the enactment of the new law.
Any applicant would simply need to establish 3 Years of experience.
The law isn’t asking the applicant to simply submit 40 invoices. That isn’t establishing 3 years of experience at all is it?
That would be an interpretation of convenience and one that misinterprets the intent of the law. Wouldn’t it?
The Law clearly states verify 3 years of experience.
So now I ask the readers to chime in with their opinion of what the intent of the Law is. Does it require 3 years of experience or simply 40 invoices with the time frame of the invoices unimportant???
To truly protect our citizens and ensure the Law isn’t simply another State Fee for small business we need to send a message to our legislators that we care. We care about how the Law we worked so hard to enact is enforced and applied.
The grandfathering requirements are clear and easily obtainable for applicant’s perusing either option. Both options are listed below verbatim from the States website.
GrandfatheringThe requirements for grandfathering as amended by House Bill 713 include submission of an application to the department by March 1, 2011, whether postmarked or delivered by that date. Applicants must meet the following licensure requirements:
Option 1 • Certification by a state or national association that requires successful completion of a proctored exam for certification and completion of at least 60 hours of verifiable education for an assessor and 30 hours of education for a remediator;
or
Option 2 • At the time of application, have at least 3 years of experience as a mold assessor or mold remediator. To establish the 3 years of experience, an applicant must submit at least 40 invoices for mold assessment or mold remediation prepared by the applicant. The department may investigate the validity of a mold invoice and, if the applicant submits a false invoice, may take disciplinary action.
•John P. Lapotaire, CIEC •Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant •Microshield Environmental Services, LLC •www.Microshield-ES.com