Architectural Plan Reviews

Here at ASIRI Designs, we’ve been involved in dozens of remediations all around the country. Utilizing this experience, and leveraging its associated data, we can make some rough estimates to better understand what a typical residential remediation looks like from a time & cost perspective. 

The data we have indicates that remediations can be expensive with a high degree of cost variability. Mold and rot problems that arise are different for every affected building and are dependent on the design and architecture of the structure, the associated construction materials, the extent of the damage, local climate conditions, building usage and occupancy, initial installation quality, and the root of the underlying problem, which ultimately determines how it must be addressed. It’s frustrating and distressing enough to navigate a mold remediation or moisture damage, and unknown costs only add to the agony.  

"I have homeowners’ insurance. Won’t that cover any potential remediation costs?" Unfortunately, the answer is almost always no. A typical homeowners’ insurance policy only covers mold or rot remediations if they were caused by a covered peril. This is fancy insurance speak for a specific, sudden, and identifiable event causing property damage that’s covered by your policy. Progressive mold and rot damage induced by poor moisture management and inadequate building envelope design is typically classified as maintenance or wear and tear damage. These types of damages are almost always placed on the exclusions list of a homeowner’s policy. 

This wasn’t always the case, but it started becoming industry standard decades ago due to the uptick in mold-related claims by homeowners. Note that this uptick coincides with the widespread adoption of engineered lumber, less mold-resistant construction materials, and increased energy efficiency requirements, leading to what we call 'reckless' insulation practices. Some of these claims resulted in multi-million dollar payouts and lawsuits, such as Ballard v. Farmers Insurance Group (officially Allison v. Fire Insurance Exchange). Being an unsustainable occurrence for insurance companies, as premiums couldn’t sustain so many claims without going bankrupt, policies were largely rewritten to include mold, wet rot, and fungus on their exclusions list.

What does this mean for homeowners? It means that mold problems related to non-covered perils are paid for exclusively by the homeowner out of pocket. Of course, you should always check with your agent, the policy carrier, and read the policy itself to confirm this is the case for your specific situation.