Checking the work
The test worth paying for is the one after the work, not before it.
Verification after the work is the sampling that usually earns its cost, because unlike a test beforehand it answers a question whose answer changes something: whether you accept the job as complete. It should be carried out by someone with no financial interest in the remediation.
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What a verification actually looks at
Four things: that the visible growth is gone, that the materials are dry to a measured reading rather than to the touch, that the containment did its job and the rest of the house was not contaminated in the process, and that the moisture source was addressed.
Air sampling may form part of it, but the first three are visual and instrumental and do most of the work.
Who should carry it out
Someone independent of the company that did the removal. In New York, Florida and Texas that separation is required by law for assessment work generally; elsewhere it is simply the only way the result means anything.
Where an assessor wrote the original scope, having the same assessor verify against it is the cleanest arrangement, since the standard being checked was written down in advance.
When it matters most
Before a sale, before a new tenancy, when a dispute is live, and whenever the work was extensive enough that you cannot see most of what was done. In those cases the document is what you hand to the other party, and its value comes from the independence of whoever signed it.
Keep it with the drying log and the invoice. Together they answer the question a buyer surveyor or a future insurer will ask.
Whether you need one
Not every job does. These four do.
- 01You are selling or letting. Get it. The document is worth more at the negotiating table than the work is on its own.
- 02The work was large or hidden. Get it. You cannot inspect what is behind a rebuilt wall, and this is the only record that anyone did.
- 03A dispute is live. Get it, from someone with no relationship to the remediator, and get it before the wall is closed up.
- 04It was a small visible patch you watched being done. Probably not. Keep the photographs and the invoice instead.
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What to ask before you agree to anything
Ask these of whoever turns up. A contractor who answers them plainly is the one you want; a contractor who will not is telling you something.
- 01Do you arrange verification, and is it a company you have a relationship with?
- 02Will you leave the containment up until the verification is done?
- 03What happens, and at whose cost, if the verification fails?
- 04What final moisture readings will you record, and where?
- 05Will you photograph behind the wall before it is closed up?
- 06What licence do you hold, and which register publishes it?
Have this ready before you call
Three facts move the first minute past the formalities: what happened, when it started, and whether water is still moving. These add the detail that decides what gets loaded on the van.
- The original scope, if one was written
- Photographs from before and during the work
- Whether a sale, letting or dispute is coming
- Whether the affected area is already closed up
- Who paid for the work and who signed for it
- The state, since independence requirements differ
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Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is published by someone other than us, and each link goes to their own text rather than to a summary of it.