Zlotnik, Consigli Collaborate and Speculate on The Future of the Water Loss Industry

Cliff Zlotnik (ASCR’s immediate past president and the Water Loss Institute’s Inaugural president in 1996 and 1997) and Pete Consigli (education chair of the WLI from its inception in 1995 to 1999 and presently the Institute’s “Good Will Ambassador) have collaborated on a cautionary tale for the water loss and mold remediation industries.

The two-part feature article appearing in ASCR’s monthly publication, Cleaning & Restoration magazine, was published in the February and March issues of 2003. “The Future of the Water Loss Industry – Joy and Prosperity or Gloom and Doom?” is a perspective piece by the long-time restoration industry activists.

Part I looks at how the forthcoming IICRC mold standard will affect business owners and takes a historical look at the cleaning and restoration industry’s standard-setting activities that started in the late 1980s. The purpose of Part I is to inform all potential stakeholders in the water restoration and drying disciplines and emerging mold remediation industry about the IICRC’s forthcoming new microbial remediation standard and reference guide due for publication in the summer of 2003.

Part II addresses how guidelines, standards and industry best practices affect businesses and takes a look at the evolution of IICRC’s 1st and 2nd publications, S500 Water Damage Standard and Reference Guide, published in the 1990s, and the 3rd version of the S500 expected out in fall of 2003. The primary focus of Part II is to explore the innovations and new total systems approach restorers are taking in the evaluation, restoration, and drying of structures and contents.

One component of Part I is an extensive resource section to locate best practice documents for water, sewage and mold remediation. Part II has a newly published working paper incorporated as a Glossary of Terms. The glossary attempts to establish working definitions for terms such as standards, guidelines, best practices, consensus document, standard of care, and other terminology used for standard setting activities.

The authors spell out some suggestions for an all-inclusive consensus process for both IICRC’s new documents, as well as their opinions on the new emerging technology and best practices to be incorporated in the revised document for the water loss and drying segment of the industry.

To receive a digital copy of the two-part C&R article or subscription information for the magazine, fax a request to Patti Harman at 410-560-1749 or email a request to alhwrite@erols.com. For a hard copy reprint of the article, fax a request to 412-461-7460.