The Best Mold Removal Company in the Hamptons? How to Choose One on the East End
By Bayron Alvarez, NYS Licensed Mold Assessor (#25-671AE-SHMO) and NYS Licensed Home Inspector (#16000145204) — Casablanca Environmental & Building Diagnostics, Southampton, NY
After the September 2026 nor'easter, owners across the Hamptons and the East End who find mold are searching for the best mold removal company and getting a page of ads, review sites, and companies that describe themselves as the best. We are licensed mold assessors. We do not perform remediation, and New York law does not allow us to remediate any property we assess. That is why this post does not rank companies. It starts with the rule most homeowners have not heard: in New York, a remediation company cannot inspect or price a mold job over 10 square feet without a licensed assessor's report. Then it lays out what separates a good remediation company from a bad one, how to verify the licenses in a few minutes, what to ask before you sign, and how to compare bids so the best company is the one that does the job right, not the one with the lowest number.
Summary
For mold work over 10 square feet in New York, the best remediation company is the one that does a licensed assessor's written plan, contains the work, removes growth instead of covering it, and passes an independent clearance. The first test is simple: a remediation company cannot inspect or price the job without a licensed assessor. The Department of Labor's guidance is that a remediator cannot work without an assessment, that remediation estimates should not be given before one, that a remediator's own assessment form violates Section 936, and that a homeowner cannot waive the requirement. If a company offers a free inspection, its own assessment, or a price without an assessor's report, do not hire it. Before hiring, confirm the company's New York mold remediation contractor license and its supervisor's individual license in the state's license datasets, its Suffolk County and town licenses, and its insurance, with the certificate sent by the insurer. Get a written contract, keep the deposit small and in escrow, have every company price the same assessor's plan, and compare the bids against the assessor's cost estimate.
What "best" means for a mold remediation company
In New York, the best remediation company is not the one that finds the most mold or quotes the lowest price. It is the one that does exactly the work in a licensed assessor's written plan, contains it properly, removes what has to be removed rather than covering it, dries what is left, and passes an independent clearance on the first try.
That definition comes from how New York structures the work. When the work area is over 10 square feet, New York Labor Law Article 32 requires a licensed assessor's written remediation plan before the work, a separately licensed remediation contractor to do it, and a post-remediation assessment by an assessor afterward. The same company cannot be both the assessor and the remediator on the same property. Our post on hiring mold remediation in New York covers those requirements in detail.
So the question is not which company is best in general. It is which company will do this plan, on this house, and pass clearance. The rest of this post is how to find that out.
A mold removal company cannot inspect or price your job without a licensed assessor
For mold work over 10 square feet, this one rule screens out most of the companies you should not hire. New York's Department of Labor spells it out in its guidance on the mold law:
No work without an assessment. The Labor Law does not allow a licensed mold remediation contractor to perform work on a project without an assessment from a licensed mold assessor.
No inspecting its own job. A remediation company that performs any part of the assessment on a project it will remediate violates Section 936. The department names the "fill-in-the-blank" assessment form that a remediator hands to a homeowner as a violation.
No price before the assessment. The department's position is that remediation cost estimates should not be given before a mold assessment. Its reason: a price quoted before the assessment eliminates the consumer protection that the independent assessor exists to provide.
No waiver. A homeowner cannot sign away the assessment so the remediator can skip it.
That is the problem with a free mold inspection from a remediation company. The company that measures the mold would also decide how much of your house comes out, and then be paid to take it out. New York separated those two jobs so that no company is in that position.
If a mold removal company offers to inspect, test, or quote the job without a licensed assessor's written report, do not hire it. Get the assessor's report first. A good remediation company will wait for it, price the job from it, and sign it before starting work.
The rule applies to remediation of more than 10 square feet. A smaller job falls outside Article 32, and a contractor can look at it and price it directly.
What the best mold removal companies have in common
A New York State mold remediation contractor license. The Department of Labor licenses remediation contractors separately from assessors. To be licensed, a remediation contractor has to show liability insurance of at least $50,000 covering Article 32 work, plus workers' compensation and disability coverage where required. The department does not recognize other states' mold licenses, and an IICRC certificate is training, not a license.
Licensed people on your job. The supervisor running the containment and the workers doing the removal hold individual licenses of their own. Ask who will be on site.
Local licensing and real insurance. In the Town of Southampton, a home improvement contractor needs a town license and general liability coverage of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. Suffolk County, East Hampton, and Shelter Island license home improvement contractors as well.
They work to the assessor's plan. The best companies ask for the plan before they price the job, and their proposal follows it: the same work areas, the same materials removed, the same containment.
They remove growth instead of covering it. The industry standard, ANSI/IICRC S520, treats physical removal as the primary method and does not allow coatings to cover active growth. Article 32 allows disinfectants and antimicrobial coatings only where the assessor's plan specifies them and the product is registered with EPA for that use.
They welcome an independent clearance. A company confident in its work wants the clearance done by someone else. A company that offers to "test it themselves" afterward is offering something the law does not allow on a job it remediated.
They put it in writing. A written contract with the scope, price, schedule, and payment terms, as New York's home improvement contract law requires.
How to check a license in ten minutes
Ask for the license numbers in writing: the company's New York mold remediation contractor license, and the names of the supervisor and workers who will be on your job.
Look up the company in the state's Mold Contractor Licenses dataset. Search by business name or license number, and confirm the license type is remediation, not assessment. Check the expiration date: the dataset covers a four-year window and includes licenses that are no longer current.
Look up the people in Mold Individual Licenses. The supervisor who will run the containment should appear with a current license.
Confirm the assessor and the remediator are separate companies. Compare the business names and addresses in the dataset.
Check the county license with the Suffolk County Office of Consumer Affairs at (631) 853-4600, option 3, which can also tell you about complaints.
Check the town license. In the Town of Southampton, call the town's licensing office at (631) 702-1826. In East Hampton and on Shelter Island, the town building department can confirm it.
Get the certificate of insurance from the insurance company or agent, not from the contractor, with you named as the certificate holder.
Questions to ask before you hire
Will you price the job from the assessor's written plan, and will you sign the plan before starting?
What is your New York mold remediation contractor license number, and who will supervise on site?
How will you contain the work area, and will you run negative air with HEPA filtration?
Which materials will you remove, and which will you clean? Does that match the plan?
Will you use any sprays, foggers, or coatings? If so, which EPA-registered product, and where does the plan call for it?
Is drying included, and how will you confirm the materials are dry before clearance?
How will you handle growth found after walls or floors are opened: stop and call the assessor, and price it how?
Who performs the clearance? The answer should be a licensed assessor who is not your company.
What is included in the price, and what is not: disposal, rebuild, content cleaning, air scrubbers, permits?
How is payment scheduled, and where will my deposit be held?
Red flags
Any one of these is a reason to hire someone else:
A free inspection and a removal price on the same visit. For work over 10 square feet, the Department of Labor's position is that no remediation estimate should be given before a licensed assessment.
An "assessment" written by the company that will do the work, including a form it fills in and hands you. That is a Section 936 violation.
An offer to start without the assessor's report, or a request that you sign a waiver so it can.
An offer to do the clearance testing itself after it finishes. The post-remediation assessment has to be done by a licensed assessor, and not the company that did the work.
No New York mold license number, or an out-of-state license or an IICRC certificate offered in its place.
Spraying, fogging, or painting instead of removal. Coating over active growth is not remediation under ANSI/IICRC S520, and Article 32 allows antimicrobial products only where the assessor's plan calls for them.
A "black mold" surcharge or a sales pitch built on fear. CDC's guidance is that all molds are treated the same for removal.
A large deposit, or payment in full up front. Under the home improvement contract law, a contractor must hold payments received before completion in an escrow account or post a bond or letter of credit instead. In the Town of Southampton, an unlicensed contractor cannot collect a deposit at all.
No written contract, or a contract that leaves out the scope, the price, or your right to cancel within three business days.
The Department of Labor can fine a violator up to $2,000 for a first violation and up to $10,000 for each one after. Those fines are paid to the state. They do not redo the work or refund a deposit, which is why the time to check is before you sign.
How to compare the bids
Give every company the same assessor's plan and ask each to price that plan, not its own scope.
Line the bids up against the plan: the same work areas, the same materials removed, the same containment and air filtration, disposal, drying, and the same clearance criteria.
Compare against the assessor's cost estimate. Our reports include a good-faith remediation cost estimate for this purpose. A bid far below it is usually missing work; a bid far above it should explain why.
Ask each company what it would do if more growth is found once walls or floors are opened, and how that work would be priced.
Pick the company that will do the plan and pass clearance, not simply the lowest number.
Our post on black mold cleanup cost lays out typical East End prices and what moves them.
What we do
We perform mold assessments and post-remediation verifications in the Hamptons and across the East End. Our report is the document a good remediation company prices from: a remediation plan the contractor signs before starting, a good-faith cost estimate to compare bids against, and the clearance criteria the finished work will be measured against. Our post on what happens during a professional mold assessment walks through the visit. By law we do not perform remediation on any property we assess, and we do not rank or sell remediation companies. Call or text (631) 655-9855, email bayrona@casablancaebd.com, or send us the address and what you are seeing.
Common questions about choosing a mold removal company
Can a mold removal company give me a free estimate? Not for mold work over 10 square feet in New York. The Department of Labor's guidance is that remediation cost estimates should not be given before a mold assessment by a licensed assessor. A company that quotes the job from its own walk-through is skipping the step the law puts first.
Can the same company test for mold and remove it? No. Section 936 of the Labor Law prohibits one company from performing both the assessment and the remediation on the same project, and the Department of Labor treats a remediator's own assessment form as a violation.
What is the difference between a mold assessor and a mold remediation company? The assessor inspects, finds the moisture source, samples where the result matters, and writes the remediation plan. The remediation company does the work in that plan. The assessor then returns to confirm the work passed. They hold different New York licenses and must be separate companies.
Is an IICRC-certified company licensed? IICRC certification is training in an industry standard. It is not a New York license. Check the company in the state's mold contractor license dataset.
Do I need an assessor for a small area? Article 32 applies to remediation of more than 10 square feet, and homeowners working on their own house are exempt. A small area can often be handled directly, or by a contractor without an assessment.
How do I know a mold removal company is licensed? Look it up by name or license number in the New York State Mold Contractor Licenses dataset, confirm the license type is remediation, and check the expiration date.
Hamptons and East End questions
A remediation company came to our Southampton house, looked at the basement, and quoted the job on the spot. Is that normal? It is common, and for a job over 10 square feet it is the practice the Department of Labor's guidance says should not happen. Get a licensed assessor's report first, then give it to that company and at least one other, and have both price the same plan.
Our caretaker found mold after the storm and already has a company ready to start. Can they begin while we are away? Not on work over 10 square feet until a licensed assessor has written the remediation plan. If you are away, the assessor can do the visit with access arranged, send you the report, and the remediation company can price and sign the plan before starting.
Does a mold removal company working in Southampton need a town license? Yes. The Town of Southampton requires its own home improvement license under Chapter 143 of the Town Code and does not accept a Suffolk County license in its place. An unlicensed contractor cannot collect a deposit. Call the town licensing office at (631) 702-1826 to confirm.
Sources and further reading
New York State Department oANSI/IICRC S520, Standard for Professional Mold Remediation, fourth edition (2f Labor, Mold Program (license types and insurance requirements); Mold Frequently Asked Questions (no remediation without an assessment, no estimates before an assessment, the "fill-in-the-blank" form, no homeowner waiver, out-of-state licenses).
New York State Department of Labor license data: Mold Contractor Licenses: Four Year Window and Mold Individual Licenses: Four Year Window.
New York Labor Law, Article 32: Section 936 (prohibited conflicts), Section 937 (penalties), Section 945 (mold remediation plan), Section 947 (post-remediation assessment).
New York General Business Law, Section 771 (home improvement contracts).
Town of Southampton, Town Code Chapter 143 (home improvement contractor licensing).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Questions and Answers on Stachybotrys chartarum and Other Molds (as reprinted by ASHI, 2002).