Seven Tips on Mold Management Programs
November 2003
Concern over mold has resulted in a scurry
to develop mold management programs that are often incomplete. Certain key areas
should receive special attention: program objective, responsibility/accountability,
response protocol, contract documents, subcontractor management, owner management,
and administration.
by Jeff
Slivka, ARM
New Day
Underwriting Managers LLC
With all the hype and craziness about "toxic" mold over the past few years,
organizations have rushed (in many cases were forced) to address the problem
by developing "mold management programs." (I'm using a general term here that
truly addresses water intrusion, moisture, mold plans, etc.) Whether these programs
were created to truly educate and manage the risk for the organization or, more
frequently, to purchase insurance, many of them lack the essentials of a quality
program. Over the years I have seen a variety of programs: from mold policy
statements (literally, a one-paragraph statement on the organization's policy
toward water and mold) to a 75-page document complete with site-specific mold
programs and extensive checklists to track issues. I'm not saying either is
best, but there should be more continuity in the industry if the industry is
going to manage this problem.
Seven areas are outlined below that should always be considered when developing
a mold management program. I have addressed these areas since I frequently find
these are the sections that most programs lack. This does not mean that these
are the only areas that need to be addressed, but special attention should be
given to these areas.
1. Program Objective
All programs have a goal, an objective. They may include reducing the organization's
exposure to liability, reducing injury on a job site, decreasing cost by managing
some certain risk, creating a competitive advantage, and so forth. Mold programs
must also have an objective—what are they trying to accomplish? The next question
is why are you trying to accomplish this? This is important for the main reason
of communicating this to the entire organization. It's important for executive
management to create or understand an objective, but it's even more important
for that objective to then be communicated to the people that can prevent extensive
damage.
2. Responsibility/Accountability
Many plans being developed seldom assign responsibility to specific job positions.
When you think about it, there should be someone with designated responsibilities
in every sector of the organization. Executive management has a role to budget
for cost to implement the program, to communicate the importance of such a program,
etc. The safety director may be responsible for developing the program, training,
disseminating the information throughout the organization, etc. The project
director may be responsible for subcontractor and owner management, contract
language, education, etc. Field personnel are responsible for incident reports,
response protocol, prevention measures, etc. This can be completed for all positions
in the process.
3. Response Protocol
Now that you found it, what are you going to do with it? Who do you contact—inside
the organization and outside the organization (owner, certified mold remediation
contractor, who else)? Based on current remediation "guidelines," there are
situations that can be handled quite simply by field personnel. Others may need
to subcontract with a qualified firm to do the more extensive work. What qualifies
a subcontractor to perform mold abatement? The following should be identified
before the issue arises.
4. Contract Documents
Similar to the way many organizations contractually transfer typical environmental
risk, contractors must consider transferring the exposure from mold. This could
be accomplished several different ways. The most obvious is through indemnities
broad enough to include environmental issues. To further strengthen the contract,
preexisting contamination clauses and change in condition clauses speaking specifically
to environmental conditions should be considered. These clauses are not exactly
the same as, but are similar to, some contract provisions in the American Institute
of Architect (AIA) A201 contract document. Specifically, the preexisting contamination
clause will clearly state who is responsible for existing environmental issues,
including mold. If issues exist prior to work that were not a result of the
contractor's work, it should be the owner's responsibility, regardless if the
contractor exacerbated the situation.
5. Subcontractor Management
This could be split into trade subcontractors and mold abatement subcontractors.
For the trade subcontractors, it's the typical stuff—indemnity language, insurance
requirements (and don't think just because a subcontractor has contractor's
pollution liability coverage, they have coverage for mold as well), etc. When
it comes to the mold abatement, contractors, and construction firms need to
consider qualifications of the firm. Just because a firm has provided asbestos
abatement services or has airborne contamination experience does not make it
qualified to perform mold abatement. When hiring a firm to address the problem,
hire a firm that could address the total problem: water. That's what we've all
been saying for the last 3 years. So why wouldn't you want a firm with structural
expertise, geotechnical and foundation expertise, and regulatory expertise in
addition to airborne contaminant expertise?
Furthermore, has the subcontractor been certified to perform mold remediation?
This may not carry much weight but is worth requesting the information. There
are several organizations that offer such programs. One is the certified mold
remediator (CMR) designation from the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA).
The CMR has educational and experience requirements and requires a 3-hour test
to be passed prior to the designation. To add to such designations, the subcontractor
should be asked what "guidelines" they follow. There are numerous guidelines
offered by the EPA, NYCDOH, OSHA, and several other organizations. However,
as of November 2003, a consortium of trade associations have banned together
to develop what they refer to as remediation "standards." The document incorporates
information that currently exists and is referred to as IICRC Standard for Professional
Mold Remediation S520.
Lastly, when you are considering trade subcontractors, have you requested
their mold program be included with the prequalifications list? It is important
to do so.
6. Owner Management
Some of the comments or questions I typically get when I suggest that contractors
make owners aware of the mold issues is why should I do that? Why should I create
a problem? Why should I educate them on the issue so they can sue me if a problem
arises? I usually respond with a question: Who would you rather have educate
your client, you or an attorney? Why not be proactive, address and manage the
issue, and possibly prevent a frivolous lawsuit? If you're going to be sued,
wouldn't you rather show that you did what you could to address and manage the
problem rather than ignoring the issue and coming across as if you may have
been hiding something? I'll answer that—yes!
Every organization that develops such a program may want to think about including
owners in the training process and maybe even distributing the program to them.
If you think about it, this could not only prevent future liability but also
become a competitive advantage. You have the ability to educate the owner on
the issues, show them how you excel in this area compared to the competition,
and have the client's best interest at hand. I'd rather approach it that way
than have to respond to questions on mold posed by the client. Be proactive!
Lastly, documentation is typical when it comes to operation and maintenance
of systems. Do all checklists address the issues with water and mold? If the
importance of proper operation and maintenance are going to be signed off by
the owner, why not have them sign off on the checklist that explains the issues
all around "toxic" mold?
7. Administration
I refer to this section as administration, but it really is execution. Many
times what separates the good plans from the poor ones (I don't care if we are
talking mold or business plans) is not the content but the execution! Most plans
are similar, but if you cannot communicate and execute the vision, it will fail.
As we have heard many times from many motivational experts, the will to succeed
must be great, but the will to prepare must be even greater! My message here
is put it to use: communicate, train, and execute!
Conclusion
Once again, these are only some areas that need to be incorporated into an
effective water intrusion or mold management program. If I were to choose the
most important, it would have to be the last: administration. You could have
the best looking program, but if all it does is look great on somebody's shelf,
what good is it?
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