How IICRC Advocacy Drives Industry Change

Government agencies write rules whether the restoration industry weighs in or not, and those rules often come from people who have never stepped onto a job site. That was the message Philip Kahn-Pauli, IICRC director of government relations and advocacy, brought to a recent industry conference session on advocacy and its growing role in shaping how cleaning and restoration businesses operate.

Kahn-Pauli, who spent 16 years working in Washington, D.C., before joining the IICRC, told attendees that state and federal policy decisions increasingly affect the restoration field, especially after major disasters draw renewed attention to recovery and cleanup work. He said the people drafting that legislation are often young staffers with little real-world exposure to the industry they regulate.

A shift toward proactive engagement

In 2021, the IICRC board deliberately formalized its advocacy work, not to become political, but to ensure the industry had a voice before rules were written, not after. Kahn-Pauli described a shift from reacting to bills already moving through committee to building relationships with lawmakers and staff ahead of time, so policymakers know who to call when questions about mold, water damage, or fire restoration come up.

That groundwork depends on standards and certifications, he said, because they give lawmakers something concrete to point to instead of guesswork. Once regulators understand what proper restoration work looks like, those frameworks tend to show up in the laws they write.

Wins on the state and federal level

Kahn-Pauli pointed to several examples of that approach paying off. References to the IICRC S500 standard have appeared in earlier versions of the National Defense Authorization Act, and the IICRC is pushing to get mold remediation standards explicitly written into federal law by the end of the year. In California, a state task force examining wildfire smoke damage claims turned to the IICRC for guidance, and the resulting recommendations were recently signed into legislation. The Illinois Department of Public Health also finished regulations that write the S520 mold remediation standard into statute.

The clearest example, Kahn-Pauli said, came out of Virginia. A bill meant to crack down on bad actors in mold remediation would have required a separate state certification exam, effectively stripping the title from technicians who already held an IICRC credential. After IICRC staff and members met with lawmakers and explained the overlap with existing industry standards, the legislature rewrote the bill within 30 minutes of that conversation. The law that took effect in July 2025 requires mold remediation companies to hold an active certification and follow industry standards of care, with no separate state exam or license fee.

Why local relationships matter

Kahn-Pauli said contractors do not need to become policy experts to get involved. State legislators are typically easier to reach than members of Congress, since most state offices are part-time, and a short introduction from a local business owner can open the door to future conversations. He cited a New Jersey mayor and restoration company owner whose outreach eventually turned into an advocacy trip to the state capitol on mold remediation legislation.

A recent legislative fly-in with the Restoration Industry Association brought roughly 100 meetings with congressional staff and members to Capitol Hill, covering issues including disaster response coverage and licensing standards. Kahn-Pauli said that kind of turnout, multiplied across states, is what gives the industry a seat at the table instead of a spot on the agenda.