In Texas, mold assessment is done by a TDLR-licensed Mold Assessment Consultant, separate from the remediation contractor.
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In Texas, a mold assessment is carried out by a Mold Assessment Consultant licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under Occupations Code Chapter 1958. The consultant looks for and records mold and gives a written assessment. Lubbock Water Damage Restoration can refer Lubbock homeowners to that licensed work when mold is suspected.
Mold after water damage is a separate question from the water itself. Once the standing water is gone and the structure is drying, a homeowner may see dark spots on drywall, a musty smell in a closet, or a patch of growth at the bottom of a wall. The question then is what is there, how far it goes and what has to be done about it. In Texas, that question has a licensed answer.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, known as TDLR, licenses the people who assess mold and the people who remove it. A Mold Assessment Consultant, often called a MAC, is the licensed person who looks at the building, takes samples where that is needed, and writes down what is found. The assessment is done under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958, and it is a different job from the cleaning or removal that follows.
This site's crews handle the water side of a loss, and they will tell you when mold is visible or suspected and stop there. They do not carry out the mold assessment themselves, and you should not assume that the firm that dried the water can also tell you what mold is present. The assessor is a separate licensed trade, and the Texas rules keep the assessment and the remediation apart, as the next section explains.
A Mold Assessment Consultant, or MAC, is a person licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to assess mold. The license is issued under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958, and it covers the assessment work, not the removal.
The MAC license is the one a homeowner should ask for when mold is suspected. The consultant is the person who looks at the building, decides where to test, and writes the assessment. The assessment is the record of what is present, and it is the document that sets what the remediation must do.
Ask the consultant to show you the license and check it with TDLR before any work is booked. The license is the state's record, and verifying it yourself is the safest way to be sure who you are dealing with.
Ask for the consultant's full name and license number, then look the license up with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. A current license is listed with the consultant's name and the license type, and it is the state's own record to check.
A license number given on the phone or in a quote is only a claim until you have checked it. Write down the number and the name, look them up on the TDLR site, and confirm the license is current and is the right type for the work. An assessor should be happy for you to do this.
Check the company too. A company that does mold assessment or remediation is licensed separately from the individual, and it must carry commercial general liability insurance of at least one million dollars per occurrence, as TDLR requires. Ask for proof of that insurance before you sign anything.
The assessment records the locations of visible growth, the moisture conditions, any samples taken and their purpose, and the consultant's conclusions and recommendations. It is the document that sets the scope for any remediation that follows.
A good assessment says where it looked and what it could not see. Hidden spaces, closed walls and areas the consultant did not reach are stated, so the homeowner knows the limits of the findings.
Keep the assessment with the water damage records. It helps the remediation contractor understand the scope, and it helps you if questions arise later about the condition of the property.
Texas rules do not allow one party to both assess and remediate mold on the same project, except for a school district project. Keeping the two roles apart means the person who tells you what is present is not the person paid to remove it.
This separation is the main protection in the Texas mold rules. It stops the same firm from writing the assessment that justifies the work and then carrying out the work it has recommended, without an independent check on either side.
The separate-firms page on this site explains how the rule applies in practice, and what to ask a firm before you hire it for either part.
The size of the area, the number of rooms, whether sampling is needed, and whether the building is residential, commercial or a school. The price is set by the licensed consultant and explained before any work starts.
A small, visible area is a shorter assessment than a building with growth in several rooms or in hidden cavities. Sampling adds work, and so does the report that explains the results.
This site does not publish a figure for mold assessment. The consultant gives you an estimate in writing and explains what it covers, so you can compare it with other licensed consultants.
Do not disturb a suspected mold area yourself, do not scrub or spray it, and do not run fans that blow air across it toward living spaces. Wear a properly fitted mask and gloves if you must enter a room where growth is visible, and keep children, elderly people and anyone with breathing problems out of the room. If anyone in the household has symptoms they think may be related to mold, speak to a doctor.
A mold assessment starts with the question of where the water came from and whether it has stopped. Growth that is still fed by a leak keeps returning, so the source is confirmed before the assessor looks at the surface growth.
The consultant looks at the affected rooms and the adjoining areas, notes the materials and the conditions, and records readings of moisture and the places where growth or staining is visible. The walk-through decides where sampling is useful.
Samples are taken from surfaces or the air where they will answer a question, such as whether growth is present in a wall cavity or whether the air differs from outside. The consultant decides the type and number of samples and records why each one was taken.
The consultant writes down what was found, where, and how the findings were reached, and gives recommendations for the work that follows. The written assessment is the document that sets the scope for any remediation, and it should be kept for your records.
The assessment is separate from the remediation. Under the Texas rule, the consultant who writes the assessment may not also carry out the remediation on the same project, and the remediation is done by a licensed contractor who did not write the assessment.
Some assessments rely on looking at the affected area and the materials, with readings to show moisture. The consultant decides whether sampling is needed. A visual assessment is written up the same way and is still done by a licensed consultant.
Where growth is hidden or the homeowner needs answers about the air or a surface, samples are taken and sent for analysis. The consultant explains what each sample is meant to show, and the written report says what the results do and do not establish.
Shops, offices and schools carry the same assessment rules. A school district project is the one case where the Texas rule allows one party to do both assessment and remediation, which is covered on the school district page.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what mold assessment by a licensed consultant should cost.
The Texas mold rules apply in Lubbock exactly as they apply in any other Texas city. The licensing is handled by the state, through TDLR, so the same license types, the same separation of assessment and remediation, and the same checks on a license apply in each of the 18 ZIP areas this site covers.
Lubbock had 257,141 residents at the 2020 Census. A city that size has a large number of homes, apartments and shops, and any of them can have a mold problem after water damage. The assessment process is the same for each one, and the building type decides what the consultant looks at first.
The five nearby towns, Idalou, New Deal, Shallowater, Ransom Canyon and Wolfforth, fall under the same state rules. A mold assessment in any of them is done by a licensed consultant, and the homeowner checks the license in the same way.
In Texas, mold remediation is carried out by a TDLR-licensed Mold Remediation Contractor after a separate assessment.
Texas keeps the mold assessor and the remediation contractor separate on each project, except for school districts.
When mold shows up after a water event in Lubbock, a licensed assessor is called first and the removal is done by a separate licensed contractor.
A school district project is the one Texas mold case where one party may do both assessment and remediation.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
In Texas, mold assessment and mold remediation are licensed work through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, under Occupations Code Chapter 1958.
Under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958 and the rules of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, one party may not both assess and remediate mold on the same project.
A Mold Remediation Contractor licensed in Texas removes or cleans mold to a written scope set by a separate assessment.
This site serves five towns outside the city of Lubbock, Texas: Idalou, New Deal, Shallowater, Ransom Canyon and Wolfforth.
The crew can tell you when it sees growth or suspects it, and it will stop the work in that area. It does not carry out the mold assessment, which is a separate licensed job in Texas. Ask the crew to note what it has seen in the job record.
A Mold Assessment Consultant license, issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under Occupations Code Chapter 1958. The consultant's company may also need its own license. Ask for both and check them with TDLR.
Because the assessor is separate from the remediation company, it has no stake in selling you the removal. Ask for the written assessment, the sampling method and the locations it covers. A good assessor explains the limits of what it found.
That depends on what the consultant finds and where the growth is. Ask the consultant directly. If you have anyone in the household with breathing problems, say so when you book, so the advice can take that into account.
It covers the areas the consultant assesses and the reasons it gives for that scope. Hidden areas and closed spaces may be outside it unless the consultant opens them. The written report states what was and was not reached.
Not on one project, outside a school district project. The Texas rule means one party cannot do both on one job. Ask any firm you are considering which part of the work it is licensed for, and check that license before you agree to anything.