Commercial Mold Remediation in Portland, OR: Offices, Retail, Restaurants, and Occupied Buildings

How commercial jobs differ from residential ones

The cleaning methods are the same as in a house: find the water, contain the area, remove and clean, and dry. The EPA's guide, Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, is the source for the size tiers and methods, and they are described on the remediation page. What changes in a commercial building is everything around the cleaning.

Four things are different. The air handling system serves many rooms, so a problem in one can reach others. People other than the owner are in the building: employees, tenants, customers, patients. Schedules matter, because a closed floor is lost income or a missed opening. And the paperwork has more readers: a landlord, a tenant, an insurer, a lender, a buyer, and sometimes a regulator.

OSHA's guide for building owners explains why this deserves attention: widespread symptoms related to a building can lead to investigation, mitigation, relocation of occupants, and loss of tenants or property value, and the owners sometimes bear high costs to resolve the underlying issues. The guide treats prevention as the cheaper path.

Signs a commercial building has a moisture problem

OSHA lists common sources of moisture in buildings; these are the ones to look for.

• Plumbing, roof, or window leaks, including stained ceiling tiles and wet carpet at exterior walls.
• Condensation on cold surfaces, such as sweating pipes and ducts.
• Poorly maintained HVAC drain pans or condensate lines.
• Wet foundations or basements from landscaping or gutters that direct water toward the building.
• Water vapor from unvented or poorly vented kitchens, showers, combustion appliances, or steam pipes.
• A musty odor that employees or tenants notice, especially when the air handler starts.
• Visible growth on walls, ceiling tiles, insulation, or ductwork.
• Repeated complaints from several people in the same area. OSHA's guide says there should not be visible mold growth or objectionable moldy odors in a workplace.

Working around occupants

OSHA's guide on protecting occupants during renovation gives the model. The best strategy is to isolate the area undergoing work from occupied areas, using barriers of plywood or polyethylene sheeting. Supply and return ducts in the work area are covered to prevent the spread of odors and construction dust. Air handling units serving areas under renovation are turned off if they serve only the area being renovated, and units being serviced are locked out. The work area is kept under negative or neutral pressure relative to adjacent occupied space. The guide adds that work areas should be evaluated for potential harm to workers and occupants relocated as needed.

The New York City health guidelines add detail by size. For extensive contamination (Level IV, more than 100 contiguous square feet), they call for complete isolation of the work area with sealed plastic sheeting, including ventilation ducts and grills, a HEPA-filtered exhaust fan to create negative pressure, and airlocks and a decontamination room. They also say that vacating people from spaces adjacent to the work area is not necessary but is recommended where there are infants, people recovering from recent surgery, immune suppressed people, or people with chronic inflammatory lung diseases such as asthma. In a commercial building that last group can include customers and visitors as well as employees.

Oregon OSHA's mold fact sheet says remediation requires some level of isolation or containment and appropriate personal protective equipment, and that professional expertise and conservative methods may be needed when the chance of mold becoming airborne is high or mold-sensitive individuals are present.

HVAC and ductwork

Air handling is the main commercial complication. Mold can grow in HVAC components when moisture is present, and OSHA's guide says that failure to clean one component of a contaminated system can result in recontamination of the entire system. All components must be cleaned, and water-damaged or contaminated porous materials in the ductwork or other air handling components should be removed and replaced. The guide also notes that ventilation filters should be checked to be seated properly and replaced on a routine schedule.

Whether and when to run the system matters. OSHA's mold bulletin says not to run the HVAC system if you know or suspect that it is contaminated with mold. The New York City guidelines treat HVAC remediation as its own category, Level V, and recommend that air monitoring be conducted before reoccupancy with the HVAC system operating, to determine whether the area served is fit to reoccupy.

Moisture sources in the system are usually simple: a drain pan that is clogged or poorly maintained, a condensate line that is not sloped or has failed, an outdoor air intake that brings humid air across a cold coil, or insulation that is wet. OSHA's building guide lists poorly maintained drain pans among common moisture sources. Fixing the source is part of the job.

A building automation or maintenance contractor, not a mold contractor, usually repairs the mechanical equipment. A good plan names who does what and in what order.

How a commercial job is planned and run

Specifics change by building, but the order is stable.

1. 1

   Walk the building with the owner and the facility manager

   Plans, tenant lists, and a history of leaks. Identify what systems serve the affected area.

2. 2

   Find and map the moisture

   Moisture readings, thermal imaging, and inspection of ceiling spaces, chases, and mechanical rooms. For an overview of the instruments, see the inspection page.

3. 3

   Decide whether an independent consultant is needed

   The New York City guidelines say a health and safety professional with experience performing microbial investigations should be consulted for larger work. OSHA's bulletin recommends consulting an industrial hygienist or other environmental health and safety professional if in doubt.

4. 4

   Write the scope and the schedule

   A written scope identifies the areas, the containment type, the method, the HVAC plan, how occupants are protected, and how work is sequenced. Phasing, after-hours work, and weekend work are decided here.

5. 5

   Notify occupants

   OSHA's bulletin lists informing building occupants about mold remediation among the topics for managers. Tell tenants what will happen, when, and who to call.

6. 6

   Contain, clean, and remove

   Work follows containment, HEPA, and cleaning methods on the remediation page. Debris leaves the building in sealed bags by a planned route.

7. 7

   Dry and repair the source

   The moisture source is repaired by the right trade and the structure is dried. Drying standards are on the water damage page.

8. 8

   Verify before reoccupancy

   A visual and moisture check, and sampling where the situation calls for it, before barriers come down. See post-remediation verification.

9. 9

   Document

   The final file includes the scope, photographs, daily logs, moisture readings, disposal records, and the clearance report.

Employees, tenants, and responsibilities

OSHA has no standard for acceptable levels of mold, and its guide says there are no standards that say how much mold is hazardous. It does say there should not be visible mold growth or objectionable moldy odors in a workplace, that employees who see or smell mold or have mold-related health problems should report it to their employer so it can be investigated, and that an employee who believes there is a mold hazard has the right to file a complaint with federal OSHA or, in states with approved plans, the state agency. Oregon has a state plan, administered by Oregon OSHA, whose fact sheet on mold describes sampling, respirators, and containment.

For the people doing the work, OSHA's bulletin says that respirators must be used in accordance with the OSHA respiratory protection standard, that respirators must be certified by NIOSH, and that users must be trained, have medical clearance, and be fit tested. Oregon OSHA's fact sheet notes that compliance with 1910.134, Respiratory Protection, is required for respirator users. Workers also need training on proper clean-up methods, personal protection, and the potential health hazards. Ask any contractor how these are handled.

Between landlords and commercial tenants, the lease usually decides who maintains the roof, the building envelope, the HVAC, and the tenant space, and who pays when moisture comes from one and shows up in the other. This page cannot say how your lease reads. Read it, and have a lawyer review it if responsibility is in dispute. For residential landlords, Oregon statute governs; see the property manager page.

Records, insurers, lenders, and buyers

A commercial job generates documents that other people will read. A commercial property insurer will ask what happened, when, and what was done. Lenders and buyers sometimes ask for environmental or building condition documentation as part of a transaction. A regulator may ask for a record if a complaint is filed. A file that shows the cause, the fix, and the verification answers all of them without a scramble.

Commercial property policies vary widely, and this page does not say what yours covers. Ask your broker or insurer, before work starts, three things: whether the cause of the loss is a covered one, whether the policy limits or excludes mold or fungi, and whether it includes coverage for lost income while part of the building is closed. The patterns for water and mold are on the water damage and remediation pages. Keep dated photographs and a log of when you noticed the problem.

Some settings, such as medical offices, child care, and food service, may have their own inspection and sanitation requirements. Ask the regulator what it requires before reopening an affected area, rather than assuming.

What affects the price of commercial mold work

A commercial quote is tied to the building as much as the mold.

• Area and number of zones Square footage, rooms, ceiling spaces, and floors.
• Containment type Barriers, negative air, airlocks, and decontamination areas for larger jobs.
• HVAC Isolating, cleaning, and repairing air handling systems and ducts.
• Schedule Phasing, nights and weekends, and work around operating hours.
• Materials Ceiling tile, insulation, drywall, flooring, and finish removal and replacement.
• Building systems Sprinklers, fire alarms, and low-voltage cabling near the work.
• Access and logistics Elevators, loading docks, parking, and haul routes.
• Consultant and verification Independent assessment and clearance are separate engagements.
• Source repair Roof, plumbing, and mechanical repairs by other trades.

Questions to ask a commercial mold contractor

These test whether a quote reflects an occupied building.

1. How will you isolate the work area, and how will you protect the HVAC system?
2. How will you keep employees and tenants informed and protected?
3. Can you work in phases or after hours, and how is that priced?
4. Who is responsible for repairing the moisture source?
5. How do your workers meet the respiratory protection requirements?
6. Will an independent consultant write the scope and verify the work, and who pays them?
7. What documentation will you provide at the end?
8. How will debris leave the building?
9. What is excluded from the quote?

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• OSHA, Preventing Mold-Related Problems in the Indoor Workplace: A Guide for Building Owners, Managers and Occupants
• OSHA, A Brief Guide to Mold in the Workplace (SHIB 03-10-10)
• Oregon OSHA, Mold fact sheet FS-10
• NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Guidelines on Assessment and Remediation of Fungi in Indoor Environments (2008)
• U.S. EPA, Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings
• CDC NIOSH, Mold, Testing, and Remediation

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