The purpose of a typical mould inspection is to identify mould related health hazards in the property, identify the root causes of mould contamination and to evaluate whether indoor air quality is satisfactory. Adequate mould inspection consists of several parts which are closely connected and without which the inspection would not be complete. Each mould inspection should contain at least basic information about the building such as year and type of construction and at least detailed description of construction detains in the affected areas.
Furthermore, professional report should contain description of the immediate area, type of surrounding buildings, description of nearby industrial processes, geographical and topological information along with past and current weather situation.
One of the most important aspects of the investigation is the need to clearly and precisely define the objectives of the mould inspection. As inspection, building and requirement vary so does the objective of the inspection. Sometimes it could be localisation of mould affected areas, hidden mould investigation, indoor air quality assessment, mould spore burden evaluation, content contamination, clean verification and many others. Cleary defining an objective at the beginning of the investigation will help the assessor to select the most appropriate inspection and test methods.
Mould inspection report is a technical document which can and sometimes will be used in the court of law and therefore it has to contain certain attributes of a technical report. It goes without saying that information such as author, dates, company and technical references are integral part of the document. Mould inspection report should also describe the test methods used, or at least reference a standardised method used, test equipment and analytical methods.
If sampling is performed the selected sampling method should be justified and fully described. As for the analysis result these should be presented clearly in logical order and should contain details of mould species detected along with relevant description of identified mould species, preferred habitants and their water requirements.
If the indoor air quality in respect to mould spore burden is to be evaluated it is essential to collect and adequate number of samples including background samples and blank samples.
Because of the lack of internationally recognised guidelines for mould inspection and mould burden interpretation each mould inspector uses his own guidelines. Sometimes these guidelines come from a different country with different climatologic conditions and building constructions and are therefore unsuitable.
Because of mould contamination data are very difficult to correctly evaluate it is essential that any conclusions of investigation hare based not only on the spore or CFU (Colony Forming Units) counts but also on supporting data from humidity/temperature measurements and most importantly photographic evidence of contamination.
If problems with indoor environment are identified mould inspector should offer recommendation on how to remedy the identified problems.
By Tomas Gabor
