Our phones have been ringing with questions about Mold and Home Inspection licenses. These new licenses came into existence in July of 2010. The DBPR has provided a short window of time to get licensed via Grandfathering—a process with dramatically fewer requirements than the normal licensing procedure. The deadline to Grandfather for these licenses is March 1, 2011. It is important to note that having a State Certified Contractor license has NOTHING at all to do with getting any of these licenses; however having these new licenses may be a nice compliment to the licenses that you may already hold. Grandfathering is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the DBPR. Future requirements will be as stringent as the requirements to become a Certified Contractor!!
Mold Remediation and Mold Assessment are two separate licenses. Each can be grandfathered in one of two different ways. By far the easiest is by belonging to a state or national mold-related association, completing 30 hours of CEUs for Mold Remediation and 60 hours of CEUs for Mold Assessment on mold related services, and applying with the DBPR. The other option is to Grandfather via Experience. To do this you must establish at least 3 years of experience by submitting at least 40 invoices for mold assessment or mold remediation (as applicable to the license desired). The DBPR may investigate the validity of a mold invoice and, if the applicant submits a false invoice, may take disciplinary action.
There are also two ways to grandfather into a home inspector license. The easiest way is to belong to a state or national home inspection association, complete 14 hours of home inspection CEUs, and then apply with the DBPR. The other option is to Grandfather via Experience. To do this you must establish at least 3 years of experience as a home inspector and complete at least 14 hours of verifiable education on home inspection services. To establish the 3 years of experience, you must submit a list of at least 120 home inspection reports. The DBRP may investigate the validity of a home inspection report submitted and, if the applicant submits a false report, may take disciplinary action.
Please note that these licenses are individual licenses—they do not qualify a business. This means that there must be a licensee on site at each project that is being worked on. So there will need to be a licensed mold remediator on each project while work is being performed. You cannot have staff working on a project without having a licensee present. Assessment work can only be performed by a licensed assessor. Reconstruction can only be performed by an appropriately licensed contractor.
How can Licenses Etc. help you get licensed quickly and easily?
As always, we make preparing the application forms as easy as possible for our clients. We have created a special discounted fee structure for people who are trying to beat the grandfathering deadline. Because we know that many of you will be applying for two or maybe even three of these licenses, we’ve developed a package deal.
Initial Licensing: Grandfathering (via certification and education only)
Mold Remediator, Mold Assessor or Home Inspector:
1st application per applicant: $300—additional concurrent applications $150 each
This charge includes the following:
§ Typed, easy-to-read forms (with the exact information required to get your application approved the first time!)
§ In-depth, 2-time review of the entire application package to ensure everything is exactly right and all necessary supporting documents are included
§ Overnight shipping to the DBPR
§ Monitoring of DBPR’s approval process and immediate response to any issues that arise
§ Unlimited time from us to provide assistance and answer any questions you have related to the license and application process
§ A copy of your entire license package sent to you once we send it to DBPR
You will need to provide proof of certification by a state or national association for the requested license type(s) through proof of a proctored examination and also proof of completing the required number of hours of education per license type(s). We can provide information on different courses that are available…just let us know if you need details.
The other costs for you are the class/membership fees, the DBPR application fee, and the fingerprinting fee. The application fees must be separate checks made out directly to the DBPR for $330 for each license that you’re going to acquire. The fingerprinting costs are $57.25.
This pricing is valid for deposits received no later than February 15th 2011. Applications must be RECEIVED at the DBPR no later than February 28th, 2011.
Call us now and you can have the paperwork in hand when you complete the class. What could be easier than walking out of class with everything together and ready to mail? Contact us NOW…we’ll make things easy for you!
