A school district project is the one Texas mold case where one party may do both assessment and remediation.
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In Texas, a school district project is the one case where one party may both assess and remediate mold under the TDLR rules, set out in Occupations Code Chapter 1958. Outside that exception, the two roles must be held by separate parties. Lubbock Water Damage Restoration can explain the rule for school districts in Lubbock and refer them to licensed work.
Most mold projects in Texas must keep the assessment and the remediation apart. A school district project is the exception. Under the rules the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation applies, one party may do both the assessment and the remediation on a school district project, while on other projects it may not. The exception is narrow, and it should be read exactly as written.
This page is for school district staff and facilities managers in Lubbock who are planning mold work in a school building, and for parents who want to understand how that work is run. It explains what the exception does and does not do, and what a district should ask for in writing before it hires any licensed party. It does not describe any particular district's contracts, and it does not claim that any district has used the exception.
A water damage event in a school building is handled first as a water job, with extraction and drying. Mold is dealt with when it is found, and the licensing rules for mold apply once it is. The steps in this page are the ones to take when the question moves from water to mold, so that the district's records and its licensed parties are in order from the start.
Under the TDLR rules, a school district project is the one case where one party may do both mold assessment and mold remediation on the same project. Outside that case, the two roles must be held by separate parties under Occupations Code Chapter 1958.
The exception is narrow. It applies to school district projects only. A shop, an office, an apartment building or a private school does not fall under it, and a firm that says the exception applies to those is describing the rule wrongly.
The exception does not remove any licensing requirement. The party doing the assessment or the remediation must still hold the license for that work, and the company must still meet the insurance requirement TDLR sets for mold companies.
No. The exception allows one party to do both the assessment and the remediation, but the assessment still has to be done, in writing, by a licensed consultant. The rule changes who may do both, not whether an assessment is needed.
A school district should not treat the exception as a shortcut. The assessment sets the scope and the reasons for it, and it is the record that shows what was found and why the work was done. Without it, the district has no basis for the remediation.
The district should ask for the assessment in writing before any remediation is started, even where one party is doing both parts. That habit protects the district as much as the building.
The licenses of each party, the company license, the insurance certificate, the written scope, the method of containment and the records to be kept. The district should confirm the project is a school district project before relying on the exception.
Ask for the individual license numbers and the company license, and check each one with TDLR. Ask for the certificate of liability insurance, which TDLR requires companies to carry at a minimum of one million dollars per occurrence, and confirm it is current.
Ask how the work will be contained, how the building will be protected, and how the records will be kept. A party that cannot explain those points clearly should not be hired for a school building.
Keep the water event record, the assessment, the scope, the remediation records, the readings and any post-remediation check in the building file. Each record should show the party that prepared it, the license it was prepared under, and the date.
A complete file lets the district show, years later, what was found, what was done and who did it. It is also the first thing the district will need if a question about the building arises from staff or families.
Store the records where facilities staff can find them, and keep a copy with the district's record office. A file kept only by a contractor is not enough.
The area affected, the number of rooms, the amount of removal, the containment needed to keep the school open, and the post-remediation check. The price is set by the licensed party in writing and explained before any work starts. This site publishes no figure.
Work that has to be done around occupied classrooms or at specific times costs more to plan and execute, because the containment and the scheduling take more effort. The district can ask for a plan that keeps disruption low, and the licensed party should explain how it will do that.
Ask for each part of the cost to be shown in writing, with the assessment, the remediation and any check listed separately, so the district can compare bids on the same scope.
Keep students, staff and visitors out of any area where mold has been found or suspected, and do not allow the area to be used until the assessor has cleared the scope. Do not allow untrained staff to clean or remove growth, and do not run ventilation fans that pull dust toward occupied rooms. Anyone with breathing problems, asthma or a suppressed immune system should be told about the work and advised by a doctor before returning to the affected area.
Record when the water entered, where it went, what was done, and when the drying ended. Those records are the starting point for deciding whether a mold question exists, and they show whether the building was dried to readings.
If mold is seen, smelled or suspected, a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant should be engaged. The assessment sets the scope, the locations and the reasons. Under the school district exception, the assessor may also carry out the remediation, but only if the rules allow it for that project.
The district should confirm in writing that the project is a school district project, and that the exception is the basis for any single party doing both parts. If the project is not a school district project, the separation rule applies and separate parties are needed.
The assessment is written, the scope is agreed, and the records of the work are kept with the building file. Removal, cleaning and drying are each documented against the assessment, and any post-remediation check is recorded with its result.
Staff and families should be told what is happening, which areas are closed, and when they can return. A clear notice protects the people in the building and gives the district a record of its own communication, which is part of managing the project well.
A water event in a teaching area is usually contained and dried quickly, with the assessment confined to the affected room and the adjoining space. Teaching areas are cleared before the work starts, and they are reopened only after the record shows the work is complete.
Books, paper and stored items often hold moisture and can develop growth. The assessor decides what can be cleaned and what must be removed. Items removed from the building are recorded so the district knows what was disposed of and why.
A large room takes more time to dry and assess, and the assessment must cover all the areas where water may have travelled. The scope is set in writing, and the drying readings are kept for each zone of the room.
Water that reaches a ceiling or wall cavity can cause growth that is out of sight. The assessor checks the cavity where the readings point, and the remediation follows the scope it sets, with the records kept for the district.
A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.
School buildings in Lubbock fall under the same Texas mold rules as any other building, with the one exception for school district projects. The district should check that the project meets the exception before relying on it, and it should not assume the exception applies because the building is a school.
Lubbock had 257,141 residents at the 2020 Census. A city that size has many school buildings of different ages and layouts, and this site does not describe any particular campus. Each building is assessed on its own condition, and the assessor sets the scope for it.
School buildings in Idalou, New Deal, Shallowater, Ransom Canyon and Wolfforth are subject to the same state rules. A district serving any of those towns should check the same license and insurance points before a project begins.
In Texas, mold assessment is done by a TDLR-licensed Mold Assessment Consultant, separate from the remediation contractor.
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.
Offices, shops and retail space in Lubbock get extraction, drying and a written record sized to the business.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
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 commercial property with mold in Texas needs a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant for the assessment and a separate licensed Mold Remediation Contractor for the removal, under TDLR rules and Occupations Code Chapter 1958.
On a school district project, the rule allows one party to do both the assessment and the remediation. The party still needs the licenses for each part, and the assessment still has to be written and kept. The exception does not remove the other requirements.
The exception applies to school district projects. Whether a particular project is one of those is a question the district should confirm in writing before relying on it. A building or project that is not a school district project falls under the separation rule.
Ask the school district, which holds the building records and is responsible for the project. A reasonable request for the assessment summary, the areas covered and the outcome is one that the district should be able to answer, though what it can release is for the district to decide.
Check that the company carries commercial general liability insurance of at least one million dollars per occurrence, as TDLR requires for companies doing mold work, and that the certificate names the company doing the work. Ask for it in writing and keep it with the project file.
The district should set its own retention policy, with its records office and its legal advisers, and should keep the assessment, the scope, the remediation records and any post-remediation check in the building file. This site does not set a retention period.
Start with a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant for the assessment, and confirm the project's status under the exception before deciding who does the remediation. Check every license with TDLR before any work begins, and keep the paperwork complete from the first call.