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NORMI CMR: Mold Assessment and Indoor Air Quality

NORMI CMR · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Mold Assessment and Indoor Air Quality

Domain 2 - Mold assessment and indoor air quality. This domain tests the investigative side: deciding whether mold or moisture is present, when sampling is justified, how to interpret lab data, and how building ventilation and moisture affect indoor air quality.

Assess before you sample

  • Begin with occupant interviews, building history, visual inspection, moisture mapping, and HVAC review. Look for water stains, condensation, musty odor, and elevated humidity.
  • Classify findings using normal fungal ecology concepts: Condition 1 is normal; Condition 2 is settled spores or contamination without active growth; Condition 3 is actual fungal growth.
  • Sampling supports a hypothesis; it does not replace inspection.

Sampling logic

  • Air sampling may use nonviable spore traps, viable culture, or PCR. Each has limits: nonviable counts spores but does not show viability; culture is slower; PCR is specific and sensitive.
  • Collect an outdoor control and comparable indoor samples. Interpret types and ratios, not a single number. There is no universal health-based mold threshold.
  • Surface tape lifts, swabs, or bulk samples can identify growth on a material. Use them with moisture and visual evidence.

IAQ and moisture

  • Keep indoor relative humidity roughly 30–50%, and below 60% where possible. Use exhaust fans, dehumidification, and source repair.
  • CO2 is a ventilation indicator, not a mold test. Pressure differences, filtration, and HVAC cleanliness affect distribution of particles.
  • Report limitations and recommend source correction and remediation when growth is confirmed.

Worked example

An office reports a musty odor but shows no visible mold. Moisture readings are 18% on drywall near a window versus 10% elsewhere; an indoor air sample shows lower Cladosporium than outdoors. The lower count does not rule out hidden growth. The assessor should trace the envelope leak, inspect the cavity with a borescope, and recommend source repair plus targeted remediation, not fogging.

Traps

Sampling first, using one air sample, inventing a pass/fail spore number, ignoring outdoor controls, and treating odor alone as proof all lose marks.