The Watchdogs Express Concerns During the Development of Industry Standards

Jeff Cross is the host of Straight Talk from ISSA Media which is the group that publishes Cleanfax Magazine. While his show is normally fifteen minutes or less, he rolled extra tape to dive into the history of the Restoration Industry Watchdogs with Cliff Zlotnik and Pete Consigli. For nearly an hour, Jeff and his guests discuss some of the questions the two Watchdogs and others started asking when issues with the formation and revision of the standards came about. 

The symbol of the Restoration Industry Watchdogs is the German Shepard. When asked to define what a Watchdog is, Pete says. "We challenge what's out there. We ask a lot of questions. We don't always know the answers but we're curious." As the industry was developing the first S520 which is the Standard Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation Pete, Cliff, and several others began asking some probing questions about the behind the scenes process and the motivations of some of the players. 

Standards of Care for Property Restoration

Cliff believes there have been some key questions that need to be asked whenever standards of care are being composed. Cliff says that there is a problem when we abdicate responsibility from the contractor to a book. The voluntary standards for the restoration industry came as a response to some litigation issues. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States.

There are two approaches of standards:

• Prescriptive based standards
• Performance based standards

As well as two types of standards:

• Voluntary standards 
• Compulsory standards

The standards of care for the property restoration industry have been voluntary in that they are not compulsory such as OSHA standards. They are also prescriptive, outlining how something should be done but not always quantifying the performance outcomes. 

Asking Good Questions

In 2003 Pete and Cliff co-wrote an article, The Future of the Water Loss Industry: Joy and Prosperity or Gloom and Doom? for Cleaning and Restoration (C&R) Magazine. Some people took offense to the publication, as the pair share in this interview, but they were asking the right questions.  Being contentious is not a bad thing, a good debate helps to refine the process and builds a better end product through "contentious collaboration." 

• Create awareness
• Be transparent
• Build true consensus
• Have differing viewpoint and healthy debate 

The pair mentions in the article, 

"As professional restorers engaged in the sewage and mold remediation segment of
the restoration industry, you should pay attention to what is going on and take a proactive approach to your business activities. For example, update your existing policies (and procedures) for handling sewer and mold losses. Invest in technical and safety training, strive to maintain good relations with customers, sub-contractors and vendors. Improve your record keeping and documentation. Keep a close eye on risk management, insurance and liability issues. Use and apply the referenced best practice documents in this article to establish your adherence to a reasonable standard of care."

Unnecessary Use of Big Words

Cliff closes the discussion with a recap of his reservations about fear mongering that was used in the creation of prior standards and still being promulgated in the development of upcoming standards such as fire restoration. He mentions that some people like to hide behind big words in contrast to a pure sign of having a deep knowledge of a subject is whether you can explain it in simple terms to a six year old. 

Additional resources on this topic:

1. To hear more from Pete and Cliff, you can listen to IAQ Radio Episode 514
2. The 2007 Founding Fathers article from Pete Consigli 
3. A recent article co-authored by Jon Isaacson and Pete Consigil in Cleanfax Magazine - Building a Bridge