I am a new inspector trying to figure out logistics of Radon testing. As I live in a rural community I will be traveling up to 2 hours to do an inspection. Does it make sense to have a radon tester? If I have the monitors do I have the homeowner or realtor retrieve and mail in the tests? Does anybody have any advice? Thank you.
I’ve considered the idea of leaving a pre-paid mailer (box, etc) for the Realtor or HO. It gets trickier if they have to deal with an extension cord and tripod though. It’s also a pain if it’s too big to fit
in a standard mailbox or if they have to deal with finding a UPS or FedEx store.
Does your state regulate/license radon testers? Is this a real estate radon test?
In MN, we are trained, licensed, regulated, and audited. We have to set and pick up the monitor. A critical component of a reliable test is “closed house conditions”. Setting/picking up the monitor is only one component of that process. Get training. There’s a lot more to radon besides setting the monitor. Otherwise your results can easily be unreliable.
I came to realize that the carbon pouches/canisters do not work for real estate transactions. It’s too easy to tamper with them and skew the results. For real estate transactions, it’s difficult to come up with a Quality Assurance plan to assure reliable readings using carbon pouches. I use Continuous Radon Monitors, which have tampering sensors to support my Quality Assurance plan.
I’m in a very rural area and have long travel distances. I charge mileage to return and pick up the monitor. As an ancillary inspection, I charge for the monitor, plus an additional $2.50/mile to return to pick up the monitor. Radon as a stand alone service w/o a home inspection, I charge $100 for the monitor & report, plus $5.00 per mile to cover the two trips. I recently performed a $400 stand alone radon test.
For my business and location, radon is a good add on service.
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Thank you that is very helpful!