ASTM D7338-14
Standard Guide for Assessment Of Fungal Growth in Buildings

Standard No.

ASTM D7338-14

Release Date

2014

Published By

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

Status

Be replaced

Replace By

ASTM D7338-14(2023)

Latest

ASTM D7338-14(2023)

Scope

5.1 This guide presents options for a systematic assessment of fungal growth in buildings.

5.2 This guide allows for site-specific flexibility and professional judgment in the choice of assessment procedures. It may not be necessary to perform in its entirety the basic assessment presented below to resolve a particular problem, for example, where fungal growth is localized and the source and extent of moisture is readily observable.

5.3 Conversely, no matter how comprehensive the survey, all fungal growth may not be identified or located in a fungal assessment.

5.4 Material removal or destructive investigation may be needed to access suspect surfaces.

5.5 Using the procedures described in this guide, the investigator may have obtained the data necessary to suggest specific recommendations, for example, how to remediate the observed fungal growth, or how to prevent further fungal growth, but those recommendations are beyond the scope of this guide.

5.6 Precautions may be needed to protect the assessor and building occupants where access may disturb fungal growth.

5.7 It is the user’s responsibility to protect information that may be considered confidential, or private, or both, in accordance with project contract, corporate protocol, or local, state, and federal regulations, or a combination thereof.

5.8 It may be necessary to enlist other disciplines or trade expertise to assist in some steps of the assessment, but recommendations of when to enlist and whom to enlist are beyond the scope of this guide.

1.1 This guide provides a compendium of information and a menu of options for assessment of fungal growth in buildings, but does not recommend a specific course of action. Due to the wide variety of fungal problems affecting buildings and their occupants, and the wide variety of buildings, it is not possible to describe a set of uniform steps that will always be performed during an assessment (that is, a standard practice); therefore the user of this guide must decide which steps are appropriate for a given situation or building.

1.2 This guide is specific to fungal growth, which is only one potential problem in a building environment. It may be part of, but is not intended to take the place of, a comprehensive indoor air quality investigation.

1.3 This guide describes minimum steps and procedures for collecting background information on a building in question, procedures for evaluating the potential for moisture infiltration or collection, procedures for inspection for suspect fungal growth, and procedures beyond the scope of a basic survey that may be useful for specific problems.

1.4 Assessments for fungal growth may be useful wherever fungal growth is suspected, excess moisture has been present or when there are concerns......

ASTM D7338-14 Referenced Document

• ASTM C1699 Standard Test Method for Moisture Retention Curves of Porous Building Materials Using Pressure Plates
• ASTM C755 Standard Practice for Selection of Vapor Retarders for Thermal Insulation
• ASTM D4442 Standard Test Methods for Direct Moisture Content Measurement of Wood and Wood-Base Materials
• ASTM D653 Standard Terminology Relating to Soil, Rock, and Contained Fluids
• ASTM E1105 Standard Test Method for Field Determination of Water Penetration of Installed Exterior Windows, Skylights, Doors, and Curtain Walls, by Uniform or Cyclic Static Air Pressure Difference
• ASTM E1186 Standard Practices for Air Leakage Site Detection in Building Envelopes and Air Retarder Systems
• ASTM E1356 Standard Test Method for Assignment of the Glass Transition Temperatures by Differential Scanning Calorimetry or Differential Thermal Analysis
• ASTM E2128 Standard Guide for Evaluating Water Leakage of Building Walls
• ASTM E2270 Standard Practice for Periodic Inspection of Building Facades for Unsafe Conditions
• ASTM E331 Standard Test Method for Water Penetration Of Exterior Windows, Curtain Walls, And Doors By Uniform Static Air Pressure Difference
• ASTM E547 Standard Test Method for Water Penetration of Exterior Windows, Skylights, Doors, and Curtain Walls by Cyclic Static Air Pressure Difference
• ASTM E631 Standard Terminology of Building Constructions

ASTM D7338-14 history

• 2023 ASTM D7338-14(2023) Standard Guide for Assessment Of Fungal Growth in Buildings
• 2014 ASTM D7338-14 Standard Guide for Assessment Of Fungal Growth in Buildings
• 2010 ASTM D7338-10 Standard Guide for Assessment Of Fungal Growth in Buildings