Radon Awareness
We have been talking to a number of education providers and we hope that an announcement will soon be forthcoming with regard discounts to training in Ontario towards the C-NRPP program. This will assist any members who wish to participate in the C-NRPP Radon measurement and Mitigation programs to gain recognition.
We reached out to Health-Canada with respect to recognising the IAC2-RADON Certification for Radon Measurement. Their response was:
“Health Canada’s position of recognising the C-NRPP program as the only Canadian certification program, is not just about difference in measurement units but a completely different testing philosophy as compared to our American counterparts. A lot of effort has been taken to ensure that the program training & exams reflect HC’s guidelines in testing and mitigation .
The membership for this program has grown to over 250 (and still growing) of measurement & mitigation professionals spread across Canada. The goal is to continue to enhance the program by initiating new measures that improve the quality, reliability & accessibility of these services to Canadians.
We would encourage your organization, the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors to have your members that intend on providing radon services in Canada train & certify under the C-NRPP program.”
It’s good to see that the people at Health Canada are so detail oriented that they failed to realise our Association was the Ontario Association of Certified Home Inspectors, or that they recognise the ability of a consumer to test for themselves, with no training or understanding of the gas, its progeny or how it can migrate from its source into and around a home, but refuse to recognise a professional who is trained.
We have contacted Ben Gromicko, the Education Director, at InterNACHI to see if the IAC2 Radon program can be altered to take into account the differences between the Canadian requirements and U.S, requirements. While the U.S. requirements are based around U.S. measurements and references, many of the collection protocols are the same, as the C-NRPP program and NRPP programs are almost identical. It is interesting to note that the reference level for Radon in Canada is set to 200Bq/M3 whereas the U.S. reference level of 4 pCu/L is 148Bq/M3
It is in areas such as this that the differences lie. As other Canadian and Ontario specific regulations (e.g. Tarion) are based upon the Canadian reference levels it is apparently important, especially to Health-Canada, that these differences are well understood.
An approach has also been made to C-ARST to identify if there is an opportunity for co-operation between them and OntarioACHI. We hope to let our members know more soon.
