Commercial Air Quality Testing

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) — sometimes called Sick House Syndrome when it shows up in residential buildings — is a cluster of symptoms that workers and visitors experience while inside a specific building, and that improve once they leave. Health Canada and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) recognize four primary causes:

1. Inadequate ventilation — outdoor air exchange below ASHRAE Standard 62.1 levels, often after building retrofits or HVAC failures.
2. Chemical contaminants from indoor sources — VOCs and formaldehyde off-gassing from new furniture, carpeting, paint, cleaning products, or printers.
3. Chemical contaminants from outdoor sources — vehicle exhaust, plumbing vents, or nearby construction drawn in through air intakes.
4. Biological contaminants — mold, bacteria, dust mites, pollen, or virus particles, typically from water damage, humid HVAC components, or stagnant water in drain pans and humidifiers.

The most reported workplace symptoms are headaches, eye and throat irritation, dry cough, difficulty concentrating, nasal congestion, and nausea or dizziness. Sick building syndrome testing is the only reliable way to identify which of these four cause buckets is driving the symptoms in your space — and the data drives a targeted, defensible remediation plan instead of a $50,000 guess.

A commercial air quality test is only useful if it covers the contaminants that actually exist in your building. We test for five categories — each with the right method, sampler, and accredited lab analysis behind it:

• Mold and bioaerosols — spore-trap and bulk sampling for Stachybotrys (black mold), Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and bacterial colonies. Often triggered by HVAC condensation, roof leaks, or basement humidity. See our dedicated mold testing service for residential cases.

• Asbestos — mandatory before any renovation or demolition in buildings constructed before 1990. Bulk samples of suspect drywall, ceiling tiles, vinyl flooring, pipe insulation, and vermiculite. Required by Ontario Reg. 278/05 and Quebec CNESST regulations. Learn more about our asbestos sampling.

• VOCs and formaldehyde — TVOC + targeted GC-MS analysis. The most common workplace source is new furniture, carpet, paint, cleaning products, printers, and 3D-printing. See our VOC sensors and detectors guide.

• Carbon monoxide and CO2 — real-time monitoring against ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation thresholds (typically <1,000 ppm CO2 indoors; CO must stay below 9 ppm per Health Canada).

• Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) — laser particle counters and gravimetric sampling, especially for facilities near construction, traffic, wildfire smoke, or with on-site combustion.

Every sample we collect goes to an accredited Canadian lab; you receive a written report with concentrations, regulatory thresholds, and a clear pass/fail by category — the kind property managers, insurers, and OHS inspectors actually accept.

A commercial air quality test is a 5-step, evidence-based process — not a single sensor reading. Here’s exactly what we do on every project:

1. Walkthrough and HVAC review. Our IICRC-certified inspector walks the building with your facility lead, flags visible moisture, ventilation, and material issues, and reviews HVAC service records.

2. Real-time CO2, VOC, and particulate monitoring. We deploy lab-grade meters at multiple zones to capture readings under normal occupancy — not after-hours when results don’t reflect reality.

3. Spore traps and bioaerosol sampling. Where mold or bacteria are suspected, we collect timed air-cassette samples and surface swabs, plus an outdoor control sample for comparison.

4. Accredited Canadian lab analysis. Every sample is processed by an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab with chain-of-custody documentation — the same standard insurers and litigators require.

5. Written report and action plan. Within 5 business days, you receive a report with measured concentrations, regulatory thresholds (Health Canada, ASHRAE, CCOHS, OSHA), pass/fail by category, and a prioritized remediation plan. Need professional mold removal afterwards? We work alongside trusted IICRC-certified remediation partners.

Office indoor air quality testing for mold follows the same scientific protocols as residential mold testing — but the stakes and signals are different. The most common workplace red flags are:

• Recurring “musty” smell in conference rooms or near HVAC returns
• Two or more employees in the same zone reporting headaches, congestion, or coughing
• Visible water staining on ceiling tiles, drywall, or window frames
• Recent roof leaks, plumbing failures, or HVAC condensation issues
• Higher absenteeism or sick-day clusters tied to a specific floor or wing

Office air quality testing for mold typically combines an outdoor control sample, 2–4 indoor spore-trap cassettes, and surface swabs of any visible growth. Results are compared to outdoor baselines and indoor-vs-outdoor genus ratios — not to absolute “safe levels” (those don’t exist for mold in Canada). The deliverable is a defensible report with a clear remediation scope, which is what your insurer, board, or landlord will ask for next. Need cleanup afterwards? Our team coordinates with IICRC-certified mold remediation specialists across Ontario and Quebec.