Mold remediation in Queens: the rules, the work and who does what

Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.

Moisture first, mold second

The EPA puts it in one sentence: the key to mold control is moisture control. Its guidance is to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth. If mold is already growing, the water source has to be found and fixed first, or the mold can come back. NYC’s Health Department makes the same point: if mold returns quickly after cleaning, there may be an underlying problem such as a water leak.

That is why mold remediation is usually the second half of a water damage job. If the leak or flood is recent, start with water damage repair in Queens or flood cleanup, and come back here once the source is stopped.

Small patches you can clean yourself

Not every patch of mold needs a professional. The EPA says that if the moldy area is less than about 10 square feet, roughly a 3 foot by 3 foot patch, in most cases you can handle the job yourself. NYC’s Health Department gives these steps for small areas of 10 square feet or less:

• Keep children and pets away from the area.
• Use water and soap, or dish detergent, to clean mold off hard surfaces.
• Wear waterproof gloves.
• Dry the area completely.
• Wash or throw away the sponges and rags you used.

The EPA adds that bleach and other biocides are not recommended as a routine practice during mold cleanup, and warns never to mix cleaning products. Do not run a heating or cooling system you suspect is contaminated with mold.

When it is a job for professionals

Consider professionals when the mold covers more than about 10 square feet or follows a lot of water damage, which is where the EPA points owners to its guidance for larger jobs, and when the water was sewage or floodwater. For that last case the EPA’s advice is direct: call in a professional who has experience cleaning and fixing buildings damaged by contaminated water. The restoration industry’s water damage standard, the IICRC S500, points to a separate standard for mold, the ANSI/IICRC S520, wherever mold growth is found or suspected.

New York’s mold rules, plainly

New York City and New York State both have written mold rules, and they matter for anyone owning or renting in a Queens apartment building.

Owners of buildings with three or more apartments

NYC’s Health Department says owners of buildings with three or more apartments, or of buildings of any size where a tenant has been diagnosed with moderate or severe persistent asthma, are required to keep tenants’ homes free of mold, including safely repairing underlying problems like water leaks. Local Law 55 of 2018 writes this into law for buildings with three or more apartments: owners must keep apartments free of mold and pests, safely fix the conditions that cause them, inspect units every year and respond to tenant or HPD complaints.

The 10 square foot rule in larger buildings

In buildings with 10 or more apartments, or with 25,000 or more square feet of non-residential floor area, the rule tightens. If the area of mold to be fixed is more than 10 square feet, owners or managers must use mold assessment and remediation workers who hold a New York State Department of Labor license. Those workers file paperwork online with NYC DEP’s Mold Abatement website. HPD adds that this work falls under NYC Administrative Code 24-154, New York State Labor Law Article 32 and Local Law 61 of 2018.

The assessor and the remediator must be different people

To protect against fraud, New York State law prohibits the same license holder from carrying out both the assessment and the remediation on a property. HPD says the two contractors must be completely independent of each other. In practice that means one company tests and writes the plan, and another does the removal. If someone offers to do both on the same job, ask why.

The state’s minimum work standards

The NYS Department of Labor’s Mold Program says contractors may not advertise or perform covered mold work without the required license, with limited exceptions such as owners working on their own property. Its minimum work standards include:

• No assessment and remediation on the same property by the same individual.
• An independent assessment to define the scope of the work.
• A posted notice of the project and the licenses.
• Completion of a post-remediation assessment.

The assessment and the clearance at the end are covered on the mold inspection in Queens page.

How mold remediation works

Each job follows the assessor’s plan, but the work usually runs in this order:

1. Assessment. An independent assessor inspects, may take samples, and writes the scope: what is affected, what is removed and how.
2. Fix the water. The leak, the drain or the way flood water got in. Mold removal does not last while the building stays wet.
3. Containment. The work area is sealed off, often with plastic sheeting and air pressure control, so spores do not travel to the rest of the home.
4. Removal. Moldy porous materials such as drywall, insulation, carpet and ceiling tiles are taken out and bagged. Hard surfaces are cleaned.
5. Drying. The structure is dried and checked with moisture readings.
6. Post-remediation assessment. The assessor returns to confirm the work met the plan before walls are closed up.
7. Rebuild. New materials go in once the clearance is done.

Questions to ask before mold work starts

• Will the job cover more than 10 square feet, and does that bring in the state’s mold license rules for this building?
• Who is the independent assessor, and can I see the written scope of the work?
• Can I see the remediation contractor’s New York State mold license, and will it be posted at the job as the state requires?
• Where is the water coming from, and who is fixing it?
• How will the work area be sealed off from the rest of the home?
• Who does the post-remediation assessment, and what happens if it does not pass?

A provider who has seen the job can answer each of these plainly. The answers are also a fair way to compare two quotes.

Black mold

People often search for black mold removal in Queens when they see dark patches. Whatever the color, the steps are the same: find and fix the moisture, clean small areas safely, and use professionals and the state rules for larger ones. If you or someone at home has asthma or other breathing problems, keep them away from the area and mention it to the assessor.

If you rent in Queens

If you see a leak, signs of mold or pests in your apartment, HPD’s advice is to notify your landlord first. If the landlord does not fix the problem, or if repair work is not being done safely, file a complaint online or call 311. Keep a written record: dates, photos and copies of messages. In buildings with three or more apartments, Local Law 55 puts the duty to fix mold and the conditions behind it on the owner.

Mold across Queens

Mold can follow water damage anywhere in Queens: basements in Jamaica and Richmond Hill, apartment buildings in Astoria, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, and shoreline homes in the Rockaways after a flood. Each neighborhood page has more.

Questions people ask