Texas keeps the mold assessor and the remediation contractor separate on each project, except for school districts.
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Under the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation rules in Occupations Code Chapter 1958, one party may not both assess and remediate mold on the same project, with an exception for school district projects. For a Lubbock homeowner, that means the firm that tells you what is present should not be the firm that removes it.
The rule behind this page is short and important. In Texas, mold assessment and mold remediation are separate licensed trades, and on a single project one party may not do both. The rule is set by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under Occupations Code Chapter 1958, and it applies in Lubbock the same way it applies anywhere in the state.
For a homeowner, the rule answers a practical question that comes up quickly after water damage. Once mold is found, the first call is often to whichever firm is nearest, and that firm may be willing to test the house and then remove what it has found. The rule says that should not happen on one project. The firm that does the assessment and the firm that does the remediation must be different parties, each holding its own license.
This page explains why the rule exists, how it works in practice, and what to ask before you hire anyone for mold work. It is written for a homeowner in Lubbock, and for anyone who manages a building there. It does not replace the rules themselves, which you can read through the state's own licensing pages, and it does not tell you how any particular firm operates.
The separation protects the homeowner from a conflict of interest. The party that decides what is present should not also be the party paid to remove it, because that combination gives no independent check on the scope or the result.
Without the separation, a firm could find more mold than is there, or call for more removal than the assessment supports, and the homeowner would have no one to check the decision. Keeping the roles apart gives the homeowner two licensed parties who each answer for their own part.
The rule is also practical. An assessor can write a scope that a remediation contractor works to, and a second look is possible after the work is complete. That structure is much harder to get right if one firm does everything.
On a single project, one party may not both assess and remediate the mold. The rule comes from Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958 and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's rules, and it applies to houses, shops and offices alike, with the school district exception.
The rule concerns the project, not only the company. A firm that holds a remediation license should not also write the assessment for the same job, and a consultant should not carry out the removal it has assessed. The homeowner should check which party is doing which part.
The state's own licensing pages set out the detail. The rule is stated in plain terms there, and it is worth reading before you sign a contract, because it decides the structure of the job.
Ask for the names and license numbers of the assessor and the remediation contractor, check each license with TDLR, and confirm that they are different companies on your project. Keep the assessment and the remediation records in separate paper, even if they are filed together.
Write down the names on each document. If the same name appears as assessor and remediator, stop and ask the firm to explain before you go on. A firm that cannot explain it is a reason to look elsewhere.
A post-remediation check, where the assessment calls for one, is carried out by the assessor. If the check is done by the contractor who did the work, the separation has not been kept.
On a non-school project, the firm should be told it cannot do both on the same project, and the homeowner should find a separate licensed party for the other part. A firm that offers to do both without raising the rule is not describing the Texas requirement correctly.
The easiest way to handle this is to hire the assessor first and let the assessor name the scope. The remediation contractor then bids against that scope, and the homeowner can compare bids on the same basis.
A firm may legitimately do other water damage work on the same building, such as drying and repair, while a separate licensed party handles the mold. The point of the rule is the mold assessment and remediation on the project, not the whole job.
It can add a step, because two parties are involved. It also gives an independent scope, which often makes the work easier to price and easier to check. The cost is explained in writing before any work starts, and this site does not publish a figure for either part.
The homeowner pays for the assessment and, separately, for the remediation. The two quotes should be easy to compare, because the remediation quote follows the assessment's scope.
The extra step is usually small beside the cost of work done to the wrong scope. Ask each party to explain its quote in writing, so you know what each part covers.
Do not let a firm begin removing mold before a written assessment exists, and do not accept verbal assurances in place of paper. Keep the assessment and the remediation records, and do not allow a single firm's invoice to replace them. If you feel pressure to decide quickly, take the time to call TDLR or a different licensed party and check the license before you sign.
Before any remediation is priced, ask for a written assessment by a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant. The assessment says what is present, where, and what the scope of the work should be. Without it, you have an opinion, not a plan.
The consultant who writes the assessment and the contractor who carries out the remediation should hold their own licenses, and they should not be the same party on the same project. Ask both for their license numbers and check them with TDLR.
The remediation quote should follow the assessment's scope. If the quote covers areas the assessment does not mention, ask the assessor to explain why, before you sign. A quote that goes beyond the assessment should go back to the assessor for review.
Keep the assessment, the remediation records and any post-remediation check in one file. The records should show who did each part, under which license, and when. A file with one firm's name on every page is a sign the separation has not been kept.
The rule has one exception, for school district projects. A firm that says the exception applies to a house or a shop is wrong about the rule. Ask the firm to point to the basis for any exception it claims.
A homeowner who suspects mold should start with a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant, and then hire a licensed Mold Remediation Contractor to carry out the work in the assessment. The two are separate, even when they are found through the same referral.
A manager with several units or a building in Lubbock faces the same rule on each project. Separate firms make the record cleaner for the owner, and the manager can ask for a copy of the assessment to be kept with the property file.
Commercial work follows the same separation as a house. An office or shop with mold has the same assessment and remediation steps, and the same rule applies to who may do each.
A school district project is the exception to the separation rule. On that kind of project, one party may do both assessment and remediation. The school district page on this site explains the exception in more detail.
A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.
The separation rule is the same in Lubbock as it is across Texas. Any firm working in the 18 ZIP areas this site covers falls under the same TDLR framework, and a homeowner can check the licenses in the same way.
Lubbock had 257,141 residents at the 2020 Census, and it has a large number of houses, apartments, offices and shops. The rule applies to each of them in the same way, and the assessor should be asked to set the scope for each building on its own terms.
The same rule applies in Idalou, New Deal, Shallowater, Ransom Canyon and Wolfforth. A homeowner in any of those towns should check the licenses of both the assessor and the remediation contractor, and should be able to see the scope in writing.
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.
A school district project is the one Texas mold case where one party may do both assessment and remediation.
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.
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.
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.
Under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958 and TDLR's rules, one party may not both assess and remediate mold on the same project, except for a school district project.
It depends on the license the firm holds for the mold work, and on whether it is also doing the assessment on that project. A firm that does the drying and repair for water damage is not automatically the mold remediator. Ask which license it holds for the mold part, and check it.
The assessor writes the scope in its assessment, and the remediation contractor works to it. If the contractor disagrees with the scope, it should ask the assessor to review, not change the scope on its own.
Stop and ask for the assessment and the licenses in writing. If the firm cannot show that the two parts were handled by separate licensed parties, ask an independent licensed consultant to review the work. You may also want to report the concern to TDLR.
The rule applies to the mold project, whoever owns or rents the building. A landlord or property manager should keep the same separation, with the assessment and the remediation carried out by separate licensed parties, and the records kept with the property file.
Check each license with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, using the license number and name the firm gives you. Make sure the license type matches the job, and that the company license is in place where it is needed.