Ohio radon license lookup for Columbus homeowners, step by step

Someone is about to core through your basement floor and run a pipe up through your house, and the proposal says the work is licensed. In Ohio that claim takes a few minutes to verify, and those minutes belong before your signature, not after it.

Five Ohio radon licenses and what each one allows

The Ohio Department of Health runs the Radon Education and Licensing Program through its Bureau of Environmental Health and Radiation Protection at 246 North High Street in downtown Columbus. Under Ohio Revised Code 3723.02 and the program's rules, the state issues five kinds of radon license:

• Radon tester: may measure radon in a building for someone else, and may give expert advice about testing, exposure, or health risk
• Mitigation specialist: a person who designs systems and supervises installs on site, and who may also test for others
• Mitigation contractor: the business that performs mitigation work
• Radon laboratory: analyzes the devices testers send in
• Training provider: teaches the courses that lead to a license

A mitigation job needs two licenses, not one: a contractor license held by the company and a specialist license held by the person responsible for your install. Ohio ties on-site supervision to the specialist license, so on install day the name that matters is a person's, not a logo's. Our radon licensing FAQ covers each category in more depth.

Checks to run before you sign

Step 1. Get both names and both numbers in writing

A compliant Ohio proposal lists the license number of the mitigation specialist and the license number of the mitigation contractor. If yours shows one number, or shows a national certification where an Ohio license number should be, ask for the missing Ohio number before going any further. The Ohio mitigation proposal FAQ lists everything else that page must carry.

Step 2. Look up the company on the ODH licensure map

ODH keeps a Hire a Professional page for homeowners, and it links to a Radon Licensure map meant for finding licensed testers and mitigation contractors. Find the company named on your proposal and compare what the map shows with your paperwork. The business named on the proposal should be the same business that holds the license.

Step 3. Confirm the specialist and the license date

The map is aimed at companies and testers, so confirming the individual specialist can take one more step. Ask for the specialist's full name and license number, and if the map does not settle it, call the ODH radon program and ask. Look at timing as well. An Ohio license expires two years after it is issued, and specialists must complete 16 hours of continuing education every two years, 8 of those hours on mitigation itself. A license that lapsed last spring is not a license, however recent the company's paperwork looks.

Step 4. If the same company tested, find the conflict paragraph

Buying the test and the fix from one company is legal in Ohio. What the rule demands is candor. When a licensee tested or advised on your building and will also mitigate it, the written contract has to say so plainly, and it has to explain the advantages of a long-term test and the value of a second opinion. If the company that produced your high number is also the one quoting the system, and the contract never mentions it, the paperwork falls short.

Step 5. Ask whether the license is from Ohio at all

A radon professional licensed in another state can work in Ohio for up to 90 days a year after giving notice, under ORC 3723.03. Columbus sits a few hours' drive from several state lines, so the question is fair: does this company hold an Ohio license, or is it working under the 90-day allowance with notice on file?

On install day

Step 6. Know who is supervising

Ask who the licensed specialist is for your job and whether that person will be on site while the work happens. The specialist's name should match Step 3. Before the crew leaves, the Ohio standards call for checking the seals, verifying system pressure, running a backdraft test when natural draft combustion appliances are present, confirming the sump pump still has power, and advising you to retest at least every two years or after a significant alteration. Those checks are the specialist's sign-off on the work, so watch for them before anyone packs up.

After the job

Step 7. Find the license numbers in the closeout package

Once the system is running, Ohio requires a closeout package: the floor plan drawing, test data from before and after, contracts and warranties, a description of the system, any deviations from the Ohio standards, operating and maintenance instructions, what to do if the warning device trips, the installer's name, phone number, and license number, and the phone number for the ODH radon program. File it with the deed and the survey; a future buyer will ask for it. Licensed mitigators also report each project to ODH every quarter, with radon levels before and after, so a licensed job leaves a record with the state. A closeout package with no license number on it is the last red flag and the easiest one to catch.

When Ohio does not require a license

Two exemptions matter to homeowners. An owner or tenant testing or mitigating their own building needs no license, which is why do-it-yourself work on your own house is legal (the DIY mitigation FAQ covers what that involves). Radon-resistant techniques built into new construction also sit outside the licensing requirement, which is why a builder in a new Powell or Lewis Center subdivision can run a passive pipe without one.

The owner exemption stays with the owner. Anyone else who tests or mitigates your home needs the license, and that includes a home inspector who sets out a radon monitor during a sale. If the person placing a test or designing a system is not you, ask for the Ohio license number before the work starts.

Your next step

Run these seven checks on every proposal you receive for a Central Ohio house, including the one you like best. Every install described on radon mitigation in Columbus is performed by an Ohio-licensed mitigation contractor under a licensed specialist, and those numbers are yours to check the same way. Once the licenses clear, the line-by-line proposal guide walks through the rest of the page. Questions about a proposal in hand? Call or text (380) 221-7233.