Real Estate
Radon Risk in Florida Homes, Dwellings and Buildings: A reminder to realtors, renters, property buyers and sellers.
Inquiries about radon measurement results, as part of real estate transactions,
continue to be received at the Florida Department of Health Radon Office. These may include questions from realtors, potential and recent buyers, sellers
and renters, concerning radon measurements in single-family homes, high rise
condominiums, or other types of dwelling clusters, or other buildings, including
commercial buildings.
It is critical to advance and broaden the awareness about the radon risk to the
public during real estate transactions. The time of property transactions
provides a unique opportunity for radon testing because other testing of
property conditions will be occurring (termite, structural integrity, moisture,
other indoor air pollutants, etc.).
Many realtors network with home inspectors who may also be Florida radon
certified. In the past,
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has fined
these businesses for failing to provide radon test disclosures to clients, and
have ordered these to attend a series of education classes.
Radon risk in Florida dwellings and buildings, and professionals providing radon
services, is regulated by Florida Statute. The Notification on Real Estate
Documents [Section 404.056(5), Florida Statutes (F.S.)] shall be provided
"at
time of, or prior to, contract for sale and purchase of any building or
execution of a rental agreement". However, "residential transient occupancy is
excluded provided that such occupancy is 45 days or less" [S. 509.013(11), F.S.].
Some realtors may feel that radon testing may jeopardize the sale or rental of dwellings
or other buildings. This may prove to be a liability. Many carry insurance which includes a
statement of errors and omissions, and other statements about pre-sale or
pre-rental radon tests [S.624.02, F.S.].
Education is a key to reversing misinformation. The department has developed a
free video training about radon, available to realtors, and may provide
training at meetings, if requested ahead of time. Additionally, you should know
that only
Florida certified radon businesses and
professionals shall provide radon related services for a fee or other
remuneration.
Listings of Florida certified radon businesses and professionals
and other radon information is available from the department directly, by
telephone at 850-245-4288, 800-543-8279, by FAX: 850-414-9069 or by
e-mail
(Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do
not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request,
do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by
phone or in writing [F.S. 668.6076]) or at
its web page: http://radon.doh.state.fl.us or by surface delivery.
