Washington Administrative Code › Title 16 - Agriculture, Department of (See also Titles 24, 60, and 142) › GRAIN AND CHEMICAL › Chapter 16-228 - General pesticide rules › GENERAL PESTICIDE REGULATIONS - WOOD DESTROYING ORGANISMS › Section 16-228-2005 - Wood destroying organism inspections and reporting criteria

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
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.