Must Report on Mold
Louisiana Home Inspectors: A new law in Louisiana will require home inspectors for real estate transactions to inspect for mold and to include their findings in an inspection report. Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the bill into law June 10. The bill (SB 66) changes the state’s minimum standards of practice for home inspectors to include the requirement that “a licensed home inspector shall include, in his written report, the presence of suspected mold growth, if during the course of inspecting the systems and components of the structure in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and board rules and regulations, the inspector discovers visually observable evidence of suspected mold growth on the inside of the structure.” The law makes Louisiana the only state in the country to require home inspectors to perform mold inspections. The home inspection industry had objected strongly that the law will force inspectors to spend time and money getting new training when there are already well-trained mold specialists available to do this work. Home inspectors are also concerned about what kind of new insurance they will have to get. Proponents of the measure pointed out that inspectors only have to take note of “visually observable evidence” of mold.