We have a goal – How do we determine the best type of testing required to gather the data necessary to address our goals? You will have done the hard part, now its our turn. Having set your goals, you must now balance the required technical procedures against cost. This is where we can help by guiding you through the types and quantities of testing and or investigation required. It’s your job afterward to review the fee schedule we will provide to help set a budget and possibly adjust the methods to meet your budget. Its important to remember there are several major elements to the microbial assessment and reporting:

1. 1. Initial verbal interview with responsible party
      1. Structure building history
      2. Structure water and sewer loss history
      3. Occupant concerns
      4. Housekeeping regiments
      5. Structure use and areas thereof
   2. Investigation
      1. Visual assessment of exterior doors and windows, water heaters, other water using appliances, air conditioning condensate pans with drains, sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, etc. for water indicators
      2. Visual assessment of exterior walls for water indicators
      3. Visual assessment of all ceilings for water indicators
      4. Borescoping of interstitial areas within walls, under cabinets, and in floor cavities
   3. Sampling
      1. Spore traps
      2. Cultured impaction samples
      3. Swabs
      4. Tape lifts
      5. Bulk Samples
      6. Various gaseous samples
      7. Dust Checks
      8. Carpet Checks
      9. Other tests
      10. Laser air particle counts (air mold)
   4. Analysis
      1. State licensed consultant reviews the data collected and provided by the laboratory and drafts conclusions
   5. Reporting Findings
      1. Lab reports
   6. Mold screening report This report is usually 1-3 pages and simply states the test findings as normal or elevated and to what general degree of severity.
      1. The screening often only determines if a problem exists and does not collect the data required to produce a full mold assessment report.
      2. Includes attached lab results.
      3. Sent via U.S. Mail
      4. It does not include a protocol, photos, remediation matrix, tables, etc.  Those items are provided as requested and as possible but at an added cost.
   7. Basic Testing report
      1. Includes temperature and humidity readings
      2. Includes moisture readings of affected components
      3. Includes attached lab results
      4. Includes photos but they are not embedded
      5. Includes identification of easily determined moisture source
      6. Includes description in written verbiage form only
      7. Includes boilerplate protocol
      8. Clearance criteria
      9. Delivered via U.S. Mail.
      10. It does not include assessment of temperature drop across HVAC coils to determine proper operation and visual inspection of the HVAC system, PDF file sent to customer, sterilized and re-tabled lab results to exclude unnecessary information, a detailed protocol matrix, and comparison graphs.  It is designed to address a single moisture source and fungal concerns.  Multiple concerns will need to be addressed hourly.
   8. Extensive investigation reports
      1. Includes temperature and humidity readings
      2. Includes moisture readings of affected components
      3. Includes attached lab results
      4. Photographs embedded into the body of the report at each specific issue and captioned
      5. Includes identification of moisture source
      6. Each specific issue and area are individually headed and all information regarding that issue is contained within that specific section of the report.
      7. Report contains detailed protocol procedures to be applied to each issue rather than having the reader rely on the boilerplate procedures which encompass all remediation procedures in general.
      8. Includes HVAC assessment to verify operation across the coils.
      9. Includes PDF file sent to customer and sent via U.S. Mail.
      10. Lab results are sterilized and re-tabled to exclude unnecessary information.
      11. Areas requiring remediation are placed within a detailed protocol matrix that clearly defined numerical quantities and geographical areas.
      12. Comparison graphs upon request
      13. Includes laser air particle counts upon request
      14. Protocol Production
      15. Protocols state the required procedures for remediation and are required by the State of Texas for larger projects in most circumstances.
      16. Protocols vary widely in quality and should be scrutinized on projects of high concern.  Our protocol’s quality exceed most in the industry.