WAC 16-228-2005   Wood destroying organism inspections and reporting criteria.  All persons required to be licensed to conduct wood destroying organism (WDO) inspections must comply with the rules set forth in this chapter.

     (1) Purpose: This section will define terms associated with WDO inspections, identify the types of and specify the uses for WDO inspections and reports, and establish minimum rules under which WDO inspections must be conducted and reports written in the state of Washington.

     (2) Definitions: The definitions set forth in this section must apply throughout unless the context otherwise requires. Definitions contained in this section are nonexclusive to other uses in expanded or contracted form found elsewhere in the RCW or the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).

     (a) Accessible areas: Areas typically and routinely visible by normal access.

     (b) Conducive debris: Cellulose or noncellulose material that provides no structural support but can be a source of food or provide a habitat for WDOs. This definition includes, but is not limited to, tree roots, stumps, formboards, scrap wood, paper, wood product, paper product, or other natural or manufactured product.

     (c) Complete wood destroying organism inspection: Inspection for the purpose of determining evidence of infestation, damage, or conducive conditions as part of the transfer, exchange, or refinancing of any structure in Washington state. Complete WDO inspections must also include any WDO inspection that is conducted as the result of telephone solicitation by an inspection, pest control, or other business, even if the inspection would fall within the definition of a specific WDO inspection.

     (d) Conducive conditions: Conditions that may lead to or enhance an infestation of WDOs.

     (e) Detached structure: Separate structure that is not physically connected to the subject structure by a foundation or roof system.

     (f) Earth: Includes, but is not limited to, soil, decorative bark, gravel, rock, or other landscape materials.

     (g) Excluded area: Area not inspected and therefore, not included in a WDO inspection.

     (h) Frass: Specifically, solid larval insect excrement, but can include by-products of insect feeding or tunneling activity in wood or insulation materials.

     (i) Inaccessible areas: Parts of a structure that cannot be inspected without excavation or the physical removal of objects are inaccessible and may be subject to infestation by WDOs. Such areas include, but are not limited to, wall voids, spaces between floors, areas concealed by insulation, substructures with clearances less than eighteen inches between unimproved ground and wood joists or the bottom of wood structural floors without joists or, less than twelve inches between unimproved ground and wood girders, substructures with insufficient clearance between structural members and/or ducts and piping and the finished grade to permit passage by an inspector for the purposes of a WDO inspection, floors beneath coverings, sleeper floors, areas concealed by furniture, appliances, and/or personal possessions, exterior wood decks with less than a five-foot clearance, locked rooms, or areas that imperil the health or safety of the inspector. These rules will not require inspectors to make extraordinary efforts to gain access to areas deemed inaccessible by the inspector. Inaccessible areas are, by their nature, excluded from the inspection.

     (j) Inadequate ventilation: Condition promoting the retention of excessive moisture in substructures or other confined spaces and identified by, but not limited to, the presence of metal rust, condensation, mold, mildew, or fungal growth.

     (k) Specific wood destroying organism inspection: Inspection of a structure for purposes of identifying or verifying evidence of an infestation of WDOs prior to pest management activities.

     (l) Person is defined as any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or organized group of persons whether or not incorporated.

     (m) Structure: A single building that includes any exterior attached decks, walks, stairways, or porches. For the purposes of this definition, entry and exit decks to manufactured homes are considered to be a part of the structure.

     (n) Wood: Any material used in a structure that can be damaged by WDOs.

     (o) Wood destroying organism: Insects or fungi that will consume, excavate, develop in, or otherwise modify the integrity of wood or wood products. For the purposes of this section, WDOs include, but are not limited to, carpenter ants, moisture ants, subterranean termites, dampwood termites, beetles in the family Anobiidae, and wood decay fungi (wood rot).

     (p) Wood destroying organism inspection: The service of inspecting a building for the presence of WDOs, their damage, or conducive conditions leading to their development. For purposes of these rules, a WDO inspection must be defined as either a "complete WDO inspection" or a "specific WDO inspection."

     (q) Wood destroying organism inspection report: The written opinion of an inspector licensed by the WSDA and based upon what was visible and evident at the time of an inspection.

     (r) WSDA: Washington state department of agriculture.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 15.58.040 and chapter 34.05 RCW. 02-24-025, § 16-228-2005, filed 11/27/02, effective 12/28/02.]