A mold infestation can cause more than property damage, especially if the person exposed is a part of the group that is considered high risk: elderly, small children, infants, and people with compromised immune systems. However, the intensity of the illness associated with a mold contamination decides the amount of damages awarded. Liability in such cases hinge on one question: who is responsible for the mold?

Liability is such cases lies with anyone who happens to be connected to the building, or more specifically, the section which is contaminated. An architect who designs a faulty ventilation system can be held liable, especially if the spores are found to be transmitted through that system. The builder who used wet or damp materials or who allowed the materials to remain wet or damp can become a defendant alongside the supplier who provided those materials. Even the insurance company is open to liability if they are warned of a mold problem yet fail to act or delays action.

Oftentimes, deciding direct liability is difficult, if not impossible. The contractor may have built the house, but he used the blueprints designed by an architect. The supplier made and shipped the sheetrock, but the contractor may have let it sit outside of in dank, humid storage room. The same materials may have also gotten wet and developed the beginnings of a colony while in transit—sitting in the back of a trailer in humid weather. In these cases, other factors are used to determine just who is responsible for the mold infestation on the property. These factors may include fraud, breach of contract, and failure to disclose issues. Although the mold case isn’t the actual cause of action, it is a central issue to these cases.

Cases in which mold is the cause of action may include workers’ compensation and professional malpractice cases brought against a contractor or other party whose negligent work contributed to the mold infestation. In some states, strict liability lies with property owners for example, who fail to rid their properties of mold, no matter what the surrounding circumstances are.

Being responsible for mold infestation and being liable for the resulting damages are often two separate things. Consult a personal injury attorney who specializes in mold cases to know where liability stands in such cases.