Checking Out a Mold Company in Pennsylvania Before You Sign

By John Calhoun, owner of Mold Remediation Gettysburg PA · Updated October 20, 2026

A truck with “mold” painted on the side tells you what the company wants to do, not whether it should. In Pennsylvania there’s no state mold license to look up, so you vet a mold company the same way you’d vet a roofer or a kitchen remodeler: registration with the Attorney General, insurance, a proper written contract, and a plan that makes sense. Ten minutes of checking now beats a long argument later.

Start with the Attorney General’s registration

Pennsylvania’s Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, passed in 2008, requires contractors who do at least $5,000 of home improvement work a year to register with the Office of Attorney General. Each registered contractor gets an HIC number, and the AG says that number has to appear on all of the company’s advertisements, contracts, estimates and proposals.

To check one:

1. Find the HIC number on the estimate or ask for it.
2. Look it up at the AG’s HIC registration search. It shows active registrations, and searching by number gives an exact match.
3. Make sure the name on the registration matches the name on the quote.

The AG also runs a helpline at 1-888-520-6680. This is a summary, not legal advice. For anything specific about your contract, the Attorney General’s office or a lawyer is the right call.

Ask for proof of insurance

Registration under the state law requires liability insurance of at least $50,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage, in the business’s name. A contractor who is self-insured has to say so in every contract. Ask for a certificate of insurance before work starts, and check that the business name on it matches the company you’re hiring.

What the contract has to say

On any home improvement contract over $500, the state law requires a written contract signed by both of you. The AG’s brochure and the statute (as quoted by the PA Supreme Court) list what it must include. Among the items:

• The contractor’s HIC number, name, address and phone
• Approximate start and completion dates
• A description of the work, materials and specifications, which can’t change without a written change order you both sign
• The total price and any down payment
• The names of known subcontractors
• The agreement to carry the required insurance
• The Attorney General’s toll-free number
• A notice of your right to cancel

That last one matters. You can cancel without penalty within three business days of signing, wherever you signed. The contractor also can’t take payment before the contract is signed. What should be in the scope itself is covered in what a mold remediation estimate should include.

Voluntary certifications

Since the state doesn’t license mold work, the training credentials are voluntary. Two are common:

• IICRC. A certified firm needs at least one active IICRC-certified technician and current liability insurance. The IICRC Global Locator looks up firms and technicians.
• ACAC. The American Council for Accredited Certification offers a Council-certified Microbial Remediator (two years of field experience) and a Microbial Remediation Supervisor (eight years). Certificants recertify every two years.

A credential tells you someone trained. It doesn’t inspect the job in front of you.

Older Gettysburg houses: ask about lead-safe work

Gettysburg borough has a lot of older houses. In pre-1978 housing, the EPA requires firms paid to disturb painted surfaces beyond small minor-repair amounts to be lead-safe certified. A mold job that cuts out painted drywall or plaster in an older house often can cross that line, so ask about it. The details are in does PA require a mold remediation license, and local housing numbers are on the Gettysburg housing data page.

Then judge the plan

Paperwork weeds out the worst. The plan tells you who’s good. Did they find the moisture source, or only measure the stain? Do they explain containment? Do they say how they’ll prove it’s done? The questions to ask before you hire are a good script.

I’m John Calhoun. Ask me every one of these questions, the same as you’d ask anyone else quoting your house. That’s how I’d want my own mold remediation judged, and it’s the fair test for any company doing mold remediation in Gettysburg, PA.