Who is Your Mold Inspector? 

Did you know that many mold inspectors don’t have any formal education in a related area of the field and merely attend a two day course to become a “Certified Mold Inspector”?  There are currently NO State of California licenses or registration requirements for mold inspectors!  We’ve actually met former home inspectors, plumbers, pest control operators, entrepreneurs, realtors, and office supply salesmen who are now “Certified Mold Inspectors”! 

Furthermore….is the inspector insured?  Do they carry General Liability and Professional Liability insurance?  Many of these inspectors don’t!

What laboratory do the using for the mold samples?  The least expensive (i.e., more profits for the inspector) or the best?

Does the inspector also do remediation, thereby potentially creating conflicts of interest?  Do they accept referral fees from remediators?

Would you trust this person to safeguard you and your family’s health, not to mention protecting your property values?

Why Use Gold Health and Safety Consulting for Your Mold Investigation?

Lots of people got into the mold inspection field because they thought it was a great money making opportunity.  We’ve been conducting mold investigations since 1996, before much of the media hype of “toxic mold” and the entry of hundreds of folks into the field that have little or no relevant health and safety education or training. 

Unlike many Certified Mold Inspectors, we have extensive education and experience in the environmental health and safety field.  Our President is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), which is the certification recognized throughout the world as having the  highest level of expertise in the Occupational Health and Safety field.  The CIH designation is recognized by the Federal EPA, Federal OSHA, Cal-OSHA and California EPA.  Certified Mold Inspectors are not.   Most Certified Mold Inspectors cannot even qualify to take the CIH exam.  CIHs must complete extensive continuing education requirements in order to stay certified.  As a result, we read professional publications and attend professional educational seminars each year by reputable groups in order to keep our knowledge current.  That’s why we get asked by attorneys to help them out with their clients and cases.  We regularly get asked to review work performed by other, less qualified inspectors. 

We’ve conducted thousands of  mold investigations, and we’re in the profession to stay.  We are members of several professional associations, including the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Indoor Air Quality Association, and American Society of Safety Engineers.

Many mold inspectors simply take samples.  We provide understanding to our clients so that they can get their problems corrected.  Our standard investigations include recommendations and a Scope of Work, when warranted.

We only use laboratories that have high quality standards and that are certified by the American Industrial Hygiene Association.  We use only Environmental Microbiology Labs, the laboratory generally regarded as being the best in California, if not the entire U.S.

Ethics and Mold Investigations

We maintain a reputation for remaining objective, unbiased, and ethical. 

We only take the samples that we need in order to get the job done, and that our clients approve of.  Many inspectors will over-sample a job so that they can charge a higher fee, and often charge very large mark-ups on samples because they profit largely from them.  Often, mold inspector companies pay their inspectors in part by how many samples they collect.  We find this unethical because it can lead to collection of samples that are not truly needed at added expense.

We take very few surface mold samples because typically they are not needed (see our “Mold Fact Sheet” for an explanation).  We also have less of a mark-up on sample expense, even though we use a more expensive and qualified lab.

We have a strict policy prohibiting accept any compensation of any sort (referral fees, finders fees, kickbacks, gifts, etc.) from mold remediators or other contractors.  We avoid any situation with mold remediation firms or contractors that would create a conflict of interest.  We only refer our clients to remediation firms that we believe provide quality work. 

Our price is very competitive, and often is better than those with much less qualifications and experience.  Often we end up charging less than other less experienced inspectors because we get straight to the problem and avoid extra samples.  When you use Gold Health and Safety, you get solid expertise that you can count on at a competitive price.

We’re fully insured for General Liability and Professional Liability.  Copies of proof of insurance are available on request.