Damp, Moisture and Building Pathology — Level 2

What this course does that others don’t

• It assesses written diagnosis, marked strictly

  Recognising the right option among four is not evidence that you can diagnose a wet wall. Every module assessment includes written answers marked against a mark scheme, and you must pass the written section separately — you cannot carry it on multiple choice.

• It teaches diagnostic error, not just causes

  There is a full module on how competent practitioners get it wrong — anchoring, confirmation bias, and the survey that finds what it was sent to find. Most damp training teaches the four mechanisms and stops.

• It teaches contested ground as contested

  Rising damp, meter readings as evidence and injected damp-proof courses are presented with the actual disagreement in the field, sourced to published standards and named positions — not flattened into a house view.

• It is anchored to current documents

  BS 5250:2021, BS 6576, BS 8104, PAS 2035:2023, BRE digests, Awaab's Law as in force, and the 2026 HHSRS changes.

Curriculum

Modules are worked in order and each is locked until the one before it has been passed. Modules marked as in preparation are being written and are included in the price.

1. Module 1

   Moisture, Air and Materials

   Free sample

   The physics the rest of the course stands on: vapour pressure, what relative humidity actually measures, capillarity, hygroscopic salts, and why a meter reading is not a moisture content.

   • 1.1Vapour Pressure — What Actually Moves Water9 min
   • 1.2Relative Humidity Is a Ratio, Not an Amount8 min
   • 1.3Capillarity and Pore Structure9 min
   • 1.4Hygroscopic Salts and the Moisture They Hold10 min
   • 1.5Sorption, Equilibrium and What 'Dry' Means8 min
   • 1.6What a Moisture Meter Actually Measures9 min
   • Module assessment
2. Module 2

   Buildings and How They Handle Moisture

   Solid wall, early and modern cavity, timber frame and system-built housing — the moisture strategy each was designed around, and the small number of ways each one is defeated.

   • 2.1Every Building Has a Moisture Strategy8 min
   • 2.2Solid Wall and the Breathable Model10 min
   • 2.3Early Cavity Walls Are Their Own Thing9 min
   • 2.4Modern Cavity Walls and Built-In Insulation9 min
   • 2.5Timber Frame — Where the Moisture Control Actually Is9 min
   • 2.6System-Built and Non-Traditional Housing8 min
   • 2.7Roofs, Floors and Basements9 min
   • Module assessment
3. Module 3

   Health, Law and Duty

   What the evidence on damp and health does and does not support, the duties Awaab's Law and the HHSRS create, who holds them, and where the surveyor's own liability sits.

   • 3.1Damp, Mould and Health: What the Evidence Supports9 min
   • 3.2Awaab's Law — The Structure of the Duty10 min
   • 3.3The HHSRS and Hazard Assessment9 min
   • 3.4Who Owes What8 min
   • 3.5The Building Safety Act and the Wider Regime8 min
   • 3.6Your Own Duty of Care9 min
   • Module assessment
4. Module 4

   Evidence-Based Diagnosis

   Running the methods properly and combining them: instruments and their limits, gravimetric and carbide sampling, salt analysis, profiling, thermography, logging, differential diagnosis — and how competent people get it wrong.

   • 4.1What Each Instrument Establishes8 min
   • 4.2Gravimetric and Calcium Carbide Sampling10 min
   • 4.3Salt Analysis in Practice8 min
   • 4.4Moisture Profiling8 min
   • 4.5Thermography and Its False Positives9 min
   • 4.6Data Logging and the Moisture Excess9 min
   • 4.7Differential Diagnosis9 min
   • 4.8Diagnostic Error11 min
   • Module assessment
5. Module 5

   Biological Agents

   Mould, wood-decay fungi and wood-boring insects: what each requires, how to tell active from historic, and why so much treatment is sold for conditions that do not need it.

   • 5.1Mould, and What Its Pattern Tells You9 min
   • 5.2Wood-Decay Fungi11 min
   • 5.3Dry Rot: The Reputation and the Evidence9 min
   • 5.4Wood-Boring Insects — Active or Historic?10 min
   • 5.5The Over-Treatment Problem9 min
   • 5.6Safe Handling and Specimen Collection8 min
   • 5.7Writing Up a Biological Finding8 min
   • Module assessment
6. Module 6

   Retrofit and Moisture Risk

   PAS 2035 moisture risk assessment, BS 5250 as integrated management, insulation and interstitial condensation, hygrothermal modelling and its limits, ventilation strategy, and how retrofits actually fail.

   • 6.1PAS 2035 and the Moisture Risk Assessment9 min
   • 6.2BS 5250 as Integrated Moisture Management8 min
   • 6.3Internal Wall Insulation and Interstitial Condensation10 min
   • 6.4Hygrothermal Modelling and Its Limits9 min
   • 6.5Ventilation Strategy Versus Ventilation Product9 min
   • 6.6How Retrofits Actually Fail9 min
   • Module assessment
7. Module 7

   Proportionate Remediation

   Specifying to the diagnosis: external and drainage first, when a chemical damp-proof course is and is not indicated, conservation-compatible repair, interventions people can actually run, and proving the fix worked.

   • 7.1Specify to the Diagnosis, Not the Symptom8 min
   • 7.2External and Drainage Works First8 min
   • 7.3Chemical Damp-Proof Courses10 min
   • 7.4Conservation-Compatible Repair9 min
   • 7.5Interventions People Can Actually Run8 min
   • 7.6Proving the Fix Worked8 min
   • Module assessment
8. Module 8

   Reporting, Ethics and Practice

   The defensible report: structure and language, recording reasoning rather than only conclusions, scope that means something, conflict of interest when you also sell the remedy, and giving evidence.

   • 8.1The Defensible Report9 min
   • 8.2Recording Reasoning, Not Just Conclusions8 min
   • 8.3Scope and Limitations That Mean Something8 min
   • 8.4When You Also Sell the Remedy9 min
   • 8.5Expert Evidence and Disputes9 min
   • Module assessment
9. Module 9

   Final Case-File Examination

   In preparation

   A full property case file — construction, occupancy, readings, logged data, external observations and documents — assessed by written diagnosis, differential, specification and client advice.