WASHINGTON, DC — The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International has approved a formal association policy for an issue that is rapidly threatening to become an epidemic in the minds of the public: mold and mildew. The association’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the new position during its annual convention in Chicago, IL, from June 23-25.

The position statement reads, “BOMA International promotes high standards to protect the health and safety of building occupants. To that end, BOMA International supports additional research to examine the health effects of mold in indoor environments. Research should address construction practices, building materials, building design, operations and maintenance, and tenant behavior, and must be based on reliable evidence and sound science, not supposition. Therefore, Congress should move to expand the scope of research on this issue, as it is a largely unsettled matter.”

At the same time, BOMA opposes initiatives by federal, state, and local authorities to write model building codes and standards regulating mold and moisture. The organization also opposes legislation and regulatory initiatives advocating overly broad mold-related disclosure requirements in the sale of commercial properties that might confuse consumers or expose sellers and lessors to unpredictable and unreasonable liability.

Finally, BOMA says that it “supports laws, regulations, and policies that will ensure that adequate insurance coverage for mold claims is available to the commercial real estate industry at a fair and reasonable cost.”

Publication date: 07/15/2002