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What a License, a Certificate, and an Insurance Policy Each Tell You

How to check the three claims companies print on the same line, with the Texas, Florida, and Louisiana mold rules written out as examples.

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Quick Answer

Licensed, certified, and insured usually arrive as one phrase on a truck or a website. They are three records, and they come from three different places. A state license, where the work requires one, comes from a state agency and covers a defined job. An IICRC certificate is issued by IICRC, either to a person or to the firm, and the lookup is IICRC's own locator. An insurance certificate should name the company that will sign your contract. The decal on the truck is the company telling you those records exist. Check the official record and the insurance certificate; ask the issuer to confirm a credential you cannot find online.

What to Ask For

Keep this next to you on the first call. You are listening for a name, a number, and a place you can check them.

CheckAsk for and verifyStop if
The license for this workGet the legal name on the contract and any license number for the work on the estimate. Search the official roster and match the name, the status, and the kind of work. Texas, Florida, and Louisiana each publish a lookup. Another state has its own.The number belongs to a different person or company, the classification does not cover this job, or the company will not name who is signing.
The IICRC recordAsk to see the certificate, including the holder's name and credential number. Search the IICRC Global Locator for the technician and any claimed Certified Firm status. Check the Invalid Firms list separately, matching the company and location. If a locator record is missing, ask IICRC to verify it; some credential holders can opt out of public listings.The company will not supply the credential details it claims, IICRC confirms the claimed credential is not current, or the exact company and location appear on IICRC's current Invalid Firms list. A missing locator result alone is unresolved.
The company's own insuranceAsk for a current certificate in the name of the company that will sign. In Florida, ask for general liability and workers' compensation, or an exemption, before you sign.The name on the certificate is someone else, the dates have lapsed, or fully insured is the only answer you can get.
Who is speaking for the claimAsk whether the company is explaining its own repair estimate or offering to negotiate your claim. Before hiring your own claim representative, confirm the person's authority, fee and conflicts with your state insurance department. In Florida, a contractor cannot both adjust a claim and perform restoration on that property, even with a public-adjuster license.Someone offers to negotiate your claim without establishing their authority, or a Florida contractor offers to both adjust the claim and restore the same property.

Which License

Start with the work on the estimate, then ask who is allowed to do that work where the house is. Pulling water out of a house, cleaning mold, tarping a roof, and rebuilding a wall can sit under different rules. Some of that work has no special restoration license at all. The search that helps is the official roster for that state, under the legal name of the company that will sign, for the classification the contract describes.

Texas, Florida, and Louisiana are useful here because their mold rules are written down and they do not match each other. Read them as examples from those states. A rule you read for one of them does not travel with the truck into another state.

Texas, through TDLR, licenses the people and companies that assess mold and the people and companies that remove it, unless an exemption applies. The agency's FAQ says that in most instances, visible mold of less than 25 contiguous square feet can be cleaned by someone who is not licensed, and that some exemptions cover buildings with fewer than 10 rental units, including houses. Remediation of 25 contiguous square feet or more in a residential property with 10 or more units is work for a licensed mold remediator. A person or a company can hold both an assessment license and a remediation license. On one project, that same licensee generally has to pick one role. The exception TDLR states is a person employed by a school district, working on a project for that district.

There is a catch if you hire a licensed mold remediation contractor for a small patch. The same FAQ says the small-area exemption is for people who are not licensed. Once a licensed remediation contractor is on the job, the licensing rules still apply, even when the mold covers less than 25 square feet.

Florida licenses the person, not the company. DBPR says it licenses mold assessors and mold remediators, and that it does not license a business to do either one. State law draws both assessment and remediation at mold growth of more than 10 square feet. The same chapter generally keeps those two roles apart for 12 months. An assessor may not remediate a structure that the assessor, or the assessor's company, assessed in that window, and a remediator has the same limit in the other direction. A state-certified Division I contractor is the exception written into the statute. If that is who is offering to do both, read that section and the contract before you sign.

Louisiana requires a mold-remediation license for projects costing $7,500 or more. The board describes that classification as removal, cleaning, sanitizing, demolition, or other treatment of mold-contaminated material, and it calls for 24 hours of board-approved training. Drying that turns into reconstruction can fall under a different classification, with its own dollar line. The board's FAQ points at those other thresholds. Search the roster for the classification named in the contract.

IICRC Certificates

IICRC's catalog is a list of different certificates, not a ladder. Names you will see on water, drying, mold, and fire work include Water Damage Restoration Technician, Applied Structural Drying Technician, Applied Microbial Remediation Technician, and Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration Technician. They are separate lines on the same page. One certificate adds a condition in plain language: Mold Remediation Specialist requires at least one year of verifiable mold-remediation experience. That condition belongs to that certificate.

A technician certificate stays in the person's name. IICRC says the certifications follow the person from one company to the next, which is how someone can leave a firm and keep the credential. A renewal each year is what keeps the certificate active. A card in a folder can be expired. Ask who will lead your job, and look that person up.

Certified Firm is the company record, and it asks for different things: current liability insurance, at least one active certified technician, and a completed application. A second office does not ride along. Each location that should appear on the locator is certified on its own, with its own active technician, and that technician cannot be the one already listed for another location. The IICRC Global Locator is the lookup. Match the legal name and the office. Some credential holders can opt out of public referral or verification listings. A missing search result does not establish that a credential is invalid. Ask IICRC to confirm unresolved records; a logo alone does not confirm current status. The separate Invalid Firms list identifies firms IICRC says are using its mark without registration. Match the company and location; that finding is different from a missing search result.

Insurance Certificate

Billing your insurance does not establish coverage or authorize the contractor to represent you in the claim. Florida permits a licensed contractor to discuss its own repair bid with you or your insurer. Negotiating your claim is a different role: even a contractor who holds a public-adjuster license cannot both adjust the claim and perform construction or restoration on the same property. Ask your insurer or agent about coverage; if you want your own claim representative, check that person's authority and any conflicts with your state insurance department.

The certificate you want next is the company's own coverage. IICRC requires current liability insurance before it will list a firm. That requirement gets the firm onto IICRC's list. It does not state the limits, the exclusions, or whether the policy applies to your house. Ask for a current certificate and read the insured name. It should be the company that will sign.

Florida tells you to ask before you sign. The department says a contractor must carry general liability and property-damage liability, and workers' compensation unless the contractor qualifies for an exemption, and that you should get a copy of the proof. Louisiana's board notice, effective August 1, 2026, requires at least $500,000 of liability insurance or qualifying liability-trust protection for mold-remediation, residential and home-improvement applicants, along with workers' compensation coverage. The proof must identify the licensee and cover the licensed scopes of work; check the board's current requirements with the insurance provider. Another state may ask for a different document, or for none. Matching the name and the dates is still worth doing.

Who Handles the Claim

The adjuster your insurer sends is there for the insurer. A public adjuster is someone you can hire to represent you. NAIC describes the work as appraising the damage and negotiating a first-party property claim, for a fee you pay. That fee may be a flat amount or a percentage, and any cap on it is up to the state. The licensing handbook puts it in one place: public adjusters represent the insured, independent and staff adjusters represent the insurer, and more than 30 states require a license for one or more of those adjuster types. Your state insurance department is where you confirm the license and ask what the fee can be, before you sign.

Getting certified yourself is a different errand. IICRC's site is where the courses, the exam, and the yearly renewal live, for people who want to do the work. If you are the one hiring, the useful part of that same system is shorter. Ask which certificate matches the work on your estimate, and check that it is still active.

Sources

  1. Texas TDLR — Mold assessors and remediators FAQsTexas Department of Licensing and RegulationTexasWho must hold a Texas mold assessment or remediation license, the 25-contiguous-square-foot and residential-unit examples, the same-project role limit, the school-district exception, and the rule that a licensed remediator remains under the rules on a smaller area.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  2. Florida DBPR — Mold-related services FAQsFlorida Department of Business and Professional RegulationFloridaDBPR licenses individual mold assessors and mold remediators. It does not license the business.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  3. Florida Statutes § 468.8411 — Mold assessment and remediation definitionsFlorida LegislatureFloridaStatutory definitions of mold assessment and mold remediation, including the greater-than-10-square-foot threshold.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  4. Florida Statutes § 468.8419 — Mold assessor and remediator prohibitionsFlorida LegislatureFloridaTwelve-month limit on the same person or company performing both mold assessment and mold remediation, and the stated state-certified Division I contractor exception.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  5. Florida Department of Financial Services — Contractor residential-property FAQsFlorida Department of Financial ServicesFloridaA contractor cannot interpret a policy or advise on coverage unless also a licensed public adjuster. Ask for proof of general liability and workers' compensation, or an exemption, before signing.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  6. Louisiana LSLBC — Mold remediation classificationLouisiana State Licensing Board for ContractorsLouisianaClassification description and 24 hours of board-approved training for mold remediation. Use the current Types of Licenses source for the inclusive project-value threshold.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  7. Louisiana LSLBC — Contractor licensing FAQLouisiana State Licensing Board for ContractorsLouisianaLicense classifications and current application insurance requirements. The separate August 1, 2026 notice explains the increased liability minimum and accepted liability-trust protection.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  8. IICRC — Certifications offeredInstitute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration CertificationPrivate national credential catalogSeparate certificate names, including WRT, ASD, AMRT, and FSRT, and the one-year experience condition stated for Mold Remediation Specialist.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  9. IICRC — Certification and Certified Firm FAQsInstitute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration CertificationPrivate national credentialTechnician certificates stay in the person's name and require annual renewal. A Certified Firm needs current liability insurance, at least one active certified technician, and an application. Each locator location is certified separately.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  10. IICRC Global LocatorInstitute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration CertificationPrivate national credential registryOfficial lookup for IICRC certified firms and technicians.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  11. NAIC State Licensing Handbook, Chapter 18 — AdjustersNational Association of Insurance CommissionersUnited States; state licensing variesPublic adjusters represent the insured. Independent and staff adjusters represent the insurer. More than 30 states require a license for one or more adjuster types.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  12. NAIC — Public adjuster consumer outreach noticeNational Association of Insurance CommissionersUnited States consumer guidance; fee limits and licensing follow state lawA public adjuster represents the policyholder on a first-party property claim and is paid by the policyholder. The fee may be flat or a percentage. The state insurance department is the place to ask about fees.Link and scope checked October 30, 2026
  13. Florida DFS — Adjuster compliance and contractor claim communicationsFlorida Department of Financial ServicesFloridaA licensed contractor may explain its own repair bid. Public-adjuster licensure does not allow the same contractor to adjust a claim and perform construction or restoration on the same property.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  14. IICRC — Privacy policy and public verification choicesInstitute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration CertificationPrivate credential registrySpecified credential holders can opt out of public referral or verification listings; absence alone is not proof of an invalid credential.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  15. IICRC — Certified Firm verificationInstitute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration CertificationPrivate credential registryDirect issuer verification of a claimed Certified Firm record when public search does not settle its status.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  16. Louisiana LSLBC — Current license types and thresholdsLouisiana State Licensing Board for ContractorsLouisianaCurrent mold-remediation licensing threshold is projects of $7,500 or more; separate classifications apply to other work.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  17. Louisiana LSLBC — 2026 insurance changes, effective August 1Louisiana State Licensing Board for ContractorsLouisianaAct 757 notice effective August 1, 2026: at least $500,000 liability insurance or authorized liability-trust protection, workers compensation, and proof naming the licensee and covering its licensed scopes.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026
  18. IICRC — Invalid FirmsInstitute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration CertificationPrivate credential registryIssuer-published list of firms using the Certified Firm mark without registration. Match company and location; this is separate from absence in the locator.Link and scope checked October 31, 2026

Find Companies

Pick what happened and the city. Compare the companies that are listed, then use the checklist above when you call. You can contact a company directly.

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Questions

Does a restoration company have to be licensed?
Sometimes, and only for the work your state regulates. Mold is licensed in Texas, Florida, and Louisiana on different terms, which this page spells out. Water removal or a rebuild can fall under a contractor license, a mold license, or no special restoration license. Look the company up in the roster for your state and for the work on the estimate.
Is IICRC certification a state license?
IICRC issues the certificate. The state issues the license when that state regulates the work. Ask for the ones that apply to your job, and check each one with the organization or agency that issued it.
What is the difference between a certified technician and a certified firm?
The technician certificate is personal. It stays with the person who earned it, and it has to be renewed every year to stay active. The firm listing is the company's. IICRC asks the firm for current liability insurance, at least one active certified technician, and an application. Each office on the locator is its own listing.
The company says it will bill my insurance. What does that tell me?
It does not tell you the loss is covered or make the company your claim representative. Florida allows a licensed contractor to explain its own repair bid, but prohibits the same contractor from both adjusting the claim and restoring the property, even if the contractor also has a public-adjuster license. Ask your insurer about coverage, and ask the company for its own insurance certificate.
Can I hire someone to negotiate the claim for me?
That person is a public adjuster, and you pay the fee. NAIC says a public adjuster represents you, and the adjuster assigned by the insurer represents the insurer. License rules and any cap on the fee depend on the state. Check both with your state insurance department before you hire anyone.

Related

How to choose a water damage companyWhat mold remediation involvesHow to read a listingAll homeowner guides