If you’re a resident of Ohio, it’s important to familiarize yourself with Ohio mold laws and facts. This can help you to protect yourself, your family, and your employees in the event of discovering mold in your building. As the top mold removal company in Ohio, here at SafeAir Contractors we often assist individuals, families, and businesses with their environmental remediation needs including mold removal. That’s why today we want to talk a little about some of the Ohio mold laws and facts that you should know.
Ohio Mold Laws and Facts Everyone Should Know
Landlord and Tenant Law
Landlords are responsible for ensuring that their tenants have proper living conditions. This means that they are required to provide a living environment that is free from mold contamination.
If you are a landlord it is your responsibility to ensure that if your property has mold contamination, that you treat it properly at your own cost. A failure to do this permits your tenants to sue you for failure to provide a healthy and habitable property.
If you are a renter and find that the property that you are renting is contaminated with mold, you must report the issue to your landlord and it is your landlord’s responsibility to pay for removal of the mold. By law, your landlord is NOT required to pay for any mold testing, however. This means that in order to prove that your rental property is contaminated with mold, you must prove it by paying for testing or otherwise obtaining testing to prove the presence of mold. If you are able to prove contamination with mold, you may be able to request reimbursement from your landlord for the cost of the mold testing as well as any costs related to injury or illness related to mold exposure. That said, in most cases if mold is visibly present in your rental property, that is enough proof to justify the presence of mold in the property and to seek remediation from your landlord.
Buying a Home
If you are looking into buying a home, it is your right to know whether the home that you intend to purchase has any problems with mold contamination. This contamination must be current, however, and a seller does not have to disclose if a home has had a problem with mold contamination in the past but that contamination has been completely eliminated.
Employers and Employees an Ohio Mold Laws
Similar to landlord and renter relationships, it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the employee has a healthy environment in which to work. This requirement includes proper air quality. If the air quality in a place of employment is contaminated for any reason, employees are permitted by law to seek compensation for illness or injury that results from exposure to poor air quality. This includes mold contamination.
Regulations of Air Mold Contamination
Currently, the EPA has no regulations or standards in place that govern mold contamination. This means that there are no “threshold limit values” or standards for the concentration of mold spores or mold which means that testing for mold is generally a test to determine the presence of mold and the type of mold present. The reason for the lack of mold thresholds from the EPA, OSHA, NIOSH, etc. is simply that research into the effects of indoor molds on human health is still underway. While we are aware that mold exposure can contribute to certain symptoms, there is not enough research at this time to determine at what levels indoor molds become dangerous.
Licensing For Mold Cleanup
We have previously mentioned that in the state of Ohio, there is no license for mold inspection or remediation. In other states, however, there are different regulations in place so be sure to check your state laws in regard to licensing for mold cleanup before hiring a contractor to help with your mold contamination.
Even though a contractor does not have to have a license to perform mold cleanup in Ohio, it’s important to look into the reputation of the remediation company you are considering hiring. Without licensing in place it’s easy for anyone to claim that they are capable of eliminating mold but problems arise after these contractors leave your home having done a poor job at mold remediation and your mold problem comes right back! Save yourself time and money by hiring a reputable company for mold remediation the first time around!
Do You Need Assistance From a Professional Mold Removal Company?
If your property or home has a mold problem that you need resolving, SafeAir Contractors can help with your mold removal needs. With close to three decades of experience in environmental remediation services, our technicians will ensure that your building is thoroughly cleaned and your mold problem is resolved completely.
