Agreed Thomas, recommended, not required.
No one is required to test their property, or potential property, in the first place.
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And mitigation is not required either. I tested a property at 130 pCi/L. The buyer knew, the seller knew, the RE agents both knew. The sale fell through, someone else purchased the property, and as far as I know, no mitigation was performed…
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And I am not, thus my comment above.
Things change, often repeatedly, especially when government is involved.
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Pre-mitigation test: If you use 2 canisters side by side, single foundation type/under 2000 SqFt foundation, the result is the average. If you have multiple foundation types, each result is separate and not averaged.
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I use a CRM (Corentium Pro) and if my initial test was 4 pci/l or greater I was to do a “follow up test” after the initial test according to my reading of the material from InterNachi/NRSB using a “CRM”. I need to look into this some more. Thanks Kevin.
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Sure thing Christopher.
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Right!
So, if you find this reference for a follow-up, please let us know. Be sure you are looking at the correct SoP.
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Wrong; read the ANSI protocol that Brian cited. Like I already said above, follow up test or 2 side by side for carbon devices. None with CRM.
Testing & mitigation companies in my area have been dropping like flies over the last 3-4 years. Not really sure what to make of it as 70ish % of the homes tested are above 4.0.
I took the class & passed the test. Before I went through licensing and purchasing equipment, I made the decision to just sub it out. By doing so, I make $50.00 per test. One of the best decisions that I ever made.
Based on your example, the short answer is yes/absolutely. It is your time equipment, etc. that you are committing to this service.
If you are performing a post-medication test, consider getting certified as an NRPP soil, gas, mitigation, compliance, inspection, individual. You can charge actually a bit more to inspect the newly installed mitigation system and perform a post mitigation test in line with the inspection.
You could also extend your test as this is likely after the real estate transaction has been completed and perform a long term test instead of a short term test . The relative cost is a little more expensive, but may provide more value.
It is mostly how you present it to the client and or the realtor.
If you educate the realtor when they are going to ask for a mitigation system to be installed to also request a post mitigation system inspection by a certified individual, this inspection is targeted and likely paid for by the seller not the buyer, take the time to explain the difference between short term tests and long-term tests and you may win a realtor and client for further business.
Returning to the short answer, regardless of what you do going forward your time, experience and services are a value. Yes, you should be charging for them.
The only time I have ever performed a free radon test is when I or one of my techs made a mistake. One time a tech ( me ) did not notice an open window when my inspector got there and made me aware of it we restarted the test at no charge. That’s on me. Thankfully, this did not compromise the deals timeline.
Recommended, not required.
There is only one situation that they get a free test from me, and that is when I am required to do two crm comparisons… every ten tests I have to do a comparison test per the state. other than that every test is a new fee.
I’ll knock some off if I am doing two tests at once (essentially my gas money), or if they are service members, cops, or fire fighters.
Don’t let someone talk you into giving your services away for free.
Edit — if business is slow I try to do my comparison on my own home over a weekend. Why not prevent one of my units from being out of service during a double test if I can avoid it?
Or (I’ve heard of it but have not yet experienced it) when I customer wants, and is willing to pay, for two tests… why give something away for free if someone is willing to pay for it?
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For me, every test requires a fee (unless test failed due to equipment issue which is very rare in which case a new test is conducted with no additional fee to the customer). My pricing covers the fact that I will have at least 2 trips to the site (set up and retrieval). I give customers a discount when they bundle a radon test with an inspection since it saves me a trip. I also give a healthy discount for customers that tested pre-mitigation, had mitigation performed, and then want a re-test post-mitigation. My Agreement specifically states that the cost is for a single-test (unless multiple tests are needed for large footprints as others have noted) for a single point in time only and that any re-testing in the future will be a separate/additional fee.
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