Agent Pressure to Skip the Lowest Livable Level
A 1978 split-level home has a lower level that is fully finished, with a family room, a full bathroom, and a bedroom used nightly. The upper main floor has a living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. A real estate agent hires a measurement professional for a pre-closing test. The agent instructs the professional to place the only continuous monitor in the main-floor living room, saying the lower level is just a rec room and that a basement result would complicate the loan. The professional notes a sump pit with no cover and block foundation walls in the lower level. The 48-hour main-floor result is 2.4 pCi/L. The buyer later learns the lower level contains a bedroom and asks whether the test covered it. The professional must decide whether the completed test is representative, what should have been done, and how to respond now.
1. Was the placement correct? Explain the lowest-livable-level rule as applied to this house.
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The placement was not correct. Radon testing is performed in the lowest livable level of the home, meaning the lowest level that is used or could be used as living space. Here the lower level is fully finished and includes a bedroom used nightly, so it is livable. The main-floor living room is above that level and cannot characterize it. The 2.4 pCi/L result may be a valid measurement of the main floor, but it does not show that the lower level is below the action level. The uncovered sump pit and block walls are additional reasons the lower level warrants direct testing. The correct approach would have been to place the monitor in the lower-level bedroom or family room, with a second monitor on the main floor if the client wanted a comparison. The agent's characterization of the space as a rec room does not change its livability.
2. What should the professional do now that the test is complete and the buyer is asking about the lower level?
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Acknowledge that the test did not cover the lower level and that the 2.4 pCi/L result applies only to the main floor. Do not imply that the house as a whole has been cleared. Review the original report and any scope language; if it suggested whole-house coverage, correct it in writing. Offer a new test in the lowest livable level, with closed-house conditions and proper placement away from exterior walls and the sump. The buyer should not rely on the main-floor result for the lower-level bedroom. Document the agent's instruction and your earlier observation of the sump and block walls. If the original report was issued to the buyer, send a clarification promptly. The professional obligation is to describe the limitation accurately rather than let a favorable but incomplete number stand.
3. How should the agent's instruction be handled professionally?
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Decline the instruction and explain the protocol. You can acknowledge the closing pressure, but placement is determined by the lowest livable level, not by which result is more convenient for the loan. Document the request in the project file, including the agent's wording and your response. If the agent persists, state that you cannot issue a report that misrepresents the tested area and that you will report only what was actually measured. If the agent threatens to find another provider, that does not change the correct action. This is both a technical issue and an ethics issue: selecting a testing location to produce a favorable result undermines the purpose of the measurement. A clear written explanation to the agent and buyer, with a proposed retest, is the appropriate professional response.