AN ACT CONCERNING COMMERCIAL MOLD REMEDIATION AND FIRE AND CATASTROPHIC RESTORATION BUSINESSES.

House of Representatives
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General Assembly File No. 234
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5227

House of Representatives, March 30, 2026

The Committee on General Law reported through REP. LEMAR
of the 96th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of
the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING COMMERCIAL MOLD REMEDIATION AND
FIRE AND CATASTROPHIC RESTORATION BUSINESSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of this act: 2
(1) "Commercial mold remediation" (A) means mold remediation 3
performed in any building, or any portion thereof, that is not used or 4
designed to be used as (i) a dwelling place, or (ii) a private residence or 5
residential rental property, as such terms are defined in section 20 -419 6
of the general statutes, and (B) does not include any home improvement 7
performed by a contractor, as such terms are defined in section 20 -419 8
of the general statutes; 9
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 10
Protection; 11
(3) "Department" means the Department of Consumer Protection; 12
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(4) "Mold" (A) means any form of multicellular fungi found in water-13
damaged indoor environments or water -damaged building materials, 14
and (B) includes, but is not limited to, Cladosporium, Penicillium, 15
Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Trichoderma, Memnoniella, Mucor 16
and Stachybotrys chartarum; 17
(5) "Mold remediation" (A) means the removal, cleaning, sanitizing, 18
demolition or other treatment of mold or mold -contaminated matter in 19
buildings, and (B) includes, but is not limited to, activities intended to 20
prevent mold or mold contamination in buildings; and 21
(6) "Person" means any individual, association, corporation, limited 22
liability company, partnership, trust or other legal entity. 23
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) On and after January 1, 2027, 24
no person shall perform commercial mold remediation in this state for 25
compensation, or use the title "mold remediator" or display or use any 26
words, letters, figures, title, sign, advertisement or other device to 27
indicate that such person performs or offers to perform commercial 28
mold remediation in this state for compensation, unless such person 29
holds a valid certificate of registration issued by the Department of 30
Consumer Protection pursuant to section 3 of this act. 31
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) A person seeking to perform 32
commercial mold remediation in this state for compensation shall 33
register with the Department of Consumer Protection in a form and 34
manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection. The 35
department shall not issue a certificate of registration to any person 36
under this section unless the person seeking such certificate of 37
registration submits proof to the department, satisfactory to the 38
commissioner, that such person (1) is certified as a mold remediation 39
specialist by the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration 40
Certification, (2) is certified as a mold remediator by the National 41
Organization of Remediators and Microbial Inspectors, or (3) is certified 42
to perform mold remediation by any organization approved by the 43
commissioner, provided the commissioner posts notice of such 44
approval and the name of such approved organization on the 45
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department's Internet web site. 46
Sec. 4. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) A person who holds a valid 47
certificate of registration issued by the Department of Consumer 48
Protection pursuant to section 3 of this act shall perform all commercial 49
mold remediation in this state in accordance with the ANSI/IICRC S520 50
"Standard for Professional Mold Remediation", or any successor or 51
revision to said standard approved by the Commissioner of Consumer 52
Protection, provided the commissioner posts notice of such approval 53
and the name of such approved successor or revision on the 54
department's Internet web site. 55
Sec. 5. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) The Commissioner of 56
Consumer Protection shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the 57
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the 58
provisions of sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act. 59
Sec. 6. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) Any violation of any of the 60
provisions of sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act shall constitute an 61
unfair or deceptive trade practice for the purposes of subsection (a) of 62
section 42-110b of the general statutes. 63
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section: 64
(1) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 65
Protection; 66
(2) "Department" means the Department of Consumer Protection; 67
(3) "Engage in fire and catastrophic restoration work" means to 68
assess, mitigate, repair, restore or reconstruct, for compensation, real or 69
personal property in this state that has been damaged or destroyed by 70
fire, smoke, water, a natural disaster or any other catastrophic event; 71
(4) "Fire and catastrophic restoration business" means a person who 72
holds an active license issued by the Department of Consumer 73
Protection under this section; and 74
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(5) "Person" means an individual, association, company, limited 75
liability company, corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, trust or 76
other legal entity. 77
(b) No person shall engage in fire and catastrophic restoration work 78
unless such person holds an active fire and catastrophic restoration 79
license issued by the Department of Consumer Protection under this 80
section. 81
(c) Each applicant for a fire and catastrophic restoration license shall 82
submit to the Department of Consumer Protection, in a form and 83
manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, an 84
application for a fire and catastrophic restoration license. Such 85
application shall include such information as the commissioner may 86
require to determine that the applicant is fit to hold a fire and 87
catastrophic restoration license. The initial fee for a fire and catastrophic 88
restoration license shall be one hundred fifty dollars and the license 89
renewal fee shall be one hundred dollars. A fire and catastrophic 90
restoration license shall be valid for a period of one year from the date 91
of issuance. Not later than forty-five days prior to the expiration date of 92
a fire and catastrophic restoration license, the department shall send or 93
transmit to the licensee, in a form and manner prescribed by the 94
commissioner, a fire and catastrophic restoration license renewal 95
application. Any applicant aggrieved by any decision of the 96
commissioner made pursuant to this subsection shall be afforded an 97
opportunity for hearing in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 98
of the general statutes. 99
(d) The Department of Consumer Protection shall establish and 100
maintain a publicly accessible registry of fire and catastrophic 101
restoration businesses. Such registry shall, at a minimum, (1) include the 102
name and address of each fire and catastrophic restoration business, and 103
(2) for each fire and catastrophic restoration business, disclose (A) 104
whether such fire and catastrophic restoration business (i) is in good 105
standing with the department, or (ii) has violated any provision of this 106
section or any other law or regulation applicable to fire and catastrophic 107
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restoration businesses, and (B) whether any complaint has been filed 108
against such fire and catastrophic restoration business, and, if so, the 109
nature of such complaint. 110
(e) Each fire and catastrophic restoration business shall: 111
(1) Engage in fire and catastrophic restoration work, and ensure that 112
each of its employees engages in fire and catastrophic restoration work, 113
in a manner that is consistent with all relevant standards established by 114
the American National Standards Institute or a similar organization 115
recognized by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, provided the 116
commissioner has posted the name of such similar organization on the 117
Department of Consumer Protection's Internet web site; 118
(2) Enroll in the Corporate Emergency Access System or a similar 119
system approved by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, 120
provided the commissioner has posted the name of such similar system 121
on the Department of Consumer Protection's Internet web site, and issue 122
standardized credentials to its essential employees in accordance with 123
the requirements established by such system; 124
(3) Ensure that each of its employees wears, at all times while such 125
employee is engaged in fire and catastrophic restoration work on behalf 126
of such fire and catastrophic restoration business, an identification 127
badge that displays the following in a manner that is clearly visible to 128
members of the public: (A) Such employee's name; (B) the name of such 129
fire and catastrophic restoration business; and (C) a photograph of such 130
employee; and 131
(4) Ensure that each of its employees wears, at all times while such 132
employee is engaged in fire and catastrophic restoration work on behalf 133
of such fire and catastrophic restoration business in an area which is the 134
subject of any disaster emergency declaration issued by the Governor 135
pursuant to chapter 517 of the general statutes, any transportation 136
emergency declaration issued by the Governor pursuant to section 3-6b 137
of the general statutes or any major disaster or emergency declaration 138
issued by the President of the United States, (A) the identification badge 139
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required under subdivision (3) of this subsection, and (B) the 140
standardized credentials issued to such employee pursuant to 141
subdivision (2) of this subsection. 142
(f) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall adopt 143
regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 144
general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section. 145
(g) Any person who engages in fire and catastrophic restoration work 146
without an active fire and catastrophic restoration license issued by the 147
Department of Consumer Protection under this section shall be fined 148
not more than one thousand dollars per violation. 149
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 5 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 6 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 7 October 1, 2026 New section

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 2, "Beginning on" was changed to "On and after" for
consistency with standard drafting conventions; in Section 4, "to said
standard" was added for clarity; in Section 6 "any of the provisions of"
was added for consistency with standard drafting conventions; and in
Section 7(a)(3), (b), (e)(1), (e)(3), (e)(4) and (g), references to
engagement "in the fire and catastrophic restoration business" were
changed to references to engagement "in fire and catastrophic
restoration work" for clarity.

GL Joint Favorable Subst.

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Consumer Protection, Dept. GF - Cost 188,958 243,944
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits1
GF - Cost 72,636 96,848
Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill requires commercial mold remediators to be registered and
fire and catastrophic restoration businesses to be licensed by the
Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) resulting in the costs and
potential revenue gains described below.
To meet the requirements of the bill , DCP will need to hire three
additional employees2 for a salary and other expenses cost of $ 188,958
in FY 27 3 and $ 243,944 in FY 28, along with associated fringe benefit
costs of $72,636 in FY 27 and $96,848 in FY 28. The new employees will
be needed to license/register commercial mold remediators and fire and
catastrophic restoration businesses, manage complaints, conduct

1The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 41.82% of payroll in FY 27.
2The new employees include one staff attorney, one special investigator, and one
inspector.
3Costs in FY 27 reflect nine months of expenditures due to the bills 10/1/26 effective
date.
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investigations and inspections, and enforce the provisions of the bill4.
The bill also has a $150 initial license fee and $100 renewal fee for a
fire and catastrophic restoration business license and a fine of up to
$1,000 for anyone engaging in this business without a license resulting
in a potential revenue gain to the General Fund to the extent licenses are
applied for and violations occur.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to employee wage increases, the number
of licenses applied for, the number of violations, and inflation.

4It's estimated that there will be over 200 applications for both the license and the
registration.
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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5227

AN ACT CONCERNING COMMERCIAL MOLD REMEDIATION AND
FIRE AND CATASTROPHIC RESTORATION BUSINESSES.

SUMMARY
This bill requires (1) commercial mold remediators to be registered
with the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) and (2) fire and
catastrophic restoration businesses to be licensed by DCP.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the bill prohibits performing commercial
mold remediation without a DCP registration certificate. To obtain a
registration, a person must have a mold remediation certification from
one of several specified organizations. Commercial mold remediators
must follow certain remediation standards. A violation of these
provisions is a Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA)
violation (see BACKGROUND).
The bill also requires fire and catastrophic restoration businesses to
be licensed by DCP. They must (1) enroll in the Corporate Emergency
Access System or a similar DCP -approved system to allow employees
to access restricted areas after a disaster or emergency and (2) issue
employees credentials under the system.
The bill also requires employees to wear an identification badge and
the system credential described above when the governor or president
declares certain emergencies.
Under the bill, anyone engaging in this business without a license is
subject to a fine of up to $1,000.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
§§ 1-6 — MOLD REMEDIATION
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Beginning January 1, 2027, t he bill requires anyone (individual or
entity) doing the following to hold a valid DCP certificate or
registration: (1) performing commercial mold remediation in
Connecticut for compensation; (2) using the title “mold remediator”; or
(3) displaying or us ing any words, letters, figures, titles, signs,
advertisements, or other devices to indicate that they perform
commercial mediation for compensation.
Under the bill, “commercial mold remediation” is mold remediation
performed in any building, or any portion of it, that is not used, or
designed to be used, as a dwelling place, private residence, or residential
rental property, including preventing mold or mold contamination . It
does not include home improvement performed by a home
improvement contractor.
Under the bill, anyone seeking to perform commercial mold
remediation in Connecticut for compensation must register with DCP in
a way the commissioner sets. DCP must not issue a certificate to anyone
unless he or she submits proof to the commissioner’s satisfaction, that
the person is certified (1) as a mold remediation specialist by the
Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification, (2) as a
mold remediator by the National Organization of Remediators and
Microbial Inspectors, or (3) to per form mold remediation by any
organization the commissioner approves, as long as he posts notice of
the approval and the approved organization’s name on DCP’s website.
The bill requires DCP-registered commercial mold remediators to
perform all commercial mold remediation in th e state in accordance
with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/IICRC S520
“Standard for Professional Mold Remediation, ” or any successor or
revision the commissioner approves, as long as he posts notice about the
approval and the successor’s or revision’s name on DCP’s website.
The bill (1) requires the DCP commissioner to adopt regulations to
implement these provisions and (2) deems violations of these provisions
to be a CUTPA violation.
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§ 7 — FIRE AND CATASTROPHIC RESTORATION
The bill requires anyone (individual or entity) engaging in fire and
catastrophic restoration work to hold a n active DCP license before
beginning such work. Under the bill, “fire and catastrophic restoration
work” is assessing, mitigat ing, repairing, restoring, or reconstruct ing,
for compensation, real or personal property in Connecticut that has been
damaged or destroyed by fire, smoke, water, a natural disaster , or any
other catastrophic event.
Under the bill, e ach applicant must submit to DCP, in the way the
commissioner sets, an application for a fire and catastrophic restoration
license. The application must include the information the commissioner
requires to determine if the applicant is competent for the license. The
initial license fee is $150, and the renewal fee is $100. A license expires
annually from the issuance date. DCP must send or transmit to the
licensee a renewal application at least 45 days before license expiration.
Any applicant aggrieved by the commissioner ’s decision must have an
opportunity for a hearing under the Uniform Administrative Procedure
Act.
The bill requires DCP to establish and maintain a publicly accessible
registry of these businesses. The registry must at least include each
business’s name and address, and certain disclosures for each business.
This business disclosure must include whether (1) it is in good standing
with DCP, or has violated any of the bill’s restoration business
provisions or any other applicable law or regulation, and ( 2) any
complaint has been filed against it, and, if so, the nature of the
complaint.
The bill requires each fire and catastrophic restoration business to:
1. engage in the fire and catastrophic restoration work, and ensure
that each of its employees engages in the work in a manner
consistent with all relevant ANSI standards or a similar
organization the DCP commissioner recognizes, as long as he
posts its name on DCP’s website, and
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2. enroll in the Corporate Emergency Access System , to allow
certain employees to access restricted areas after a disaster or
emergency, and issue standardized credentials to essential
employees under the system’s requirements (or use a similar
system approved by the DCP commissioner , as long as he has
posted its name on DCP’s website).
The bill also requires the business to ensure that each employee wears
an identification badge that displays the employee ’s and business’s
name and the employee’s photograph. When working in an area subject
to any governor-declared disaster emergency or transportation
emergency, or any president-issued major disaster or emergency
declaration, the business must ensure the employee also wears the
standardized credentials issued to the employee as required under the
bill. For both instances, the business must ensure the employee wears
the identification badge in a way that is clearly visible to the public while
he or she is doing fire and catastrophic restoration work for the business.
The bill requires the DCP commissioner to adopt regulations to
implement these provisions.
Under the bill, anyone who engages in fire and catastrophic
restoration work without an active DCP license must be fined up to
$1,000 per violation.
BACKGROUND
Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act
By law, CUTPA prohibits businesses from engaging in unfair and
deceptive acts or practices. It allows the DCP commissioner, under
specified procedures, to issue regulations defining an unfair trade
practice, investigate complaints, issue cease and desist orders, order
restitution in cases involving less than $10,000, impose civil penalties of
up to $5,000, enter into consent agreements, ask the attorney general to
seek injunctive relief, and accept voluntary statements of compliance. It
also allows individu als to sue. Courts may issue restraining orders;
award actual and punitive damages, costs, and reasonable attorney’s
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fees; and impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 for willful violations and
up to $25,000 for a restraining order violation.
COMMITTEE ACTION
General Law Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 20 Nay 0 (03/11/2026)