During the 2008 legislative session, the General Assembly passed The Maryland Mold Remediation Services Act. This law is printed in Title 7 of the Home Improvement Law, contained in the Business Regulation Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

This law requires that any company or firm that provides mold remediation services on residential property in Maryland to obtain a license to provide mold remediation services. In addition the law requires that each employee who provides mold remediation services must be certified by an accreditation body as a microbial remediation technician or supervisor, whichever is applicable. This license is to be issued by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC), an agency within the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR). The license to provide mold remediation services is different from the MHIC license for a contractor, subcontractor, or salesperson.

This law was scheduled to take effect on June 1, 2010. However, due to budget constraints, the DLLR has postponed the implementation of the Maryland Mold Remediation Services Act indefinitely until the funding is provided.

Therefore, until the Mold Remediation Services Act is implemented, a mold remediation contractor who only performs "cleaning" type services (such as cleaning ventilation systems or applying chemicals to kill mold), would not be required to hold a MHIC license.

However, if the mold remediation contractor performs structural renovations to a house in the course of a mold remediation project (for example, tearing out and rebuilding walls, repairing drywall, replacing floors, etc.) is required to hold a MHIC contractor license. Likewise any contractor that currently holds a MHIC contractor or subcontractor license and who also provides mold remediation services on residential properties will be required to hold both the contractor and subcontractor license and the license to provide mold remediation services.

For information about finding an accredited microbial remediation course, please visit the American Indoor Air Quality Council website.

For additional information about this notice, please contact MHIC at 410-230-6309 or send an email tomhic@dllr.state.md.us.