From Pam Warkentin at CARST

We’re contacting you to inform you of a new guideline that should be of particular interest to your organization and your members. This new guideline pertains to the measurement of radon gas as part of a real-estate transaction.

Up until this time, there has not been a Canadian guideline for including radon measurements in a real-estate transaction. Due to the increasing prevalence of this type of transaction, however, we have developed a guideline that all real-estate professionals should be familiar with.

The Canadian Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (CARST) is a professional association representing all of the certified radon professionals and radon laboratories across Canada. Working closely with Health Canada, CARST runs the Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program (C-NRPP), which provides radon training and certification. As of January 2019, all certified radon professionals will be required to follow this guideline.

The purpose of the new guideline is not to mandate that radon testing be included in every real-estate transaction, but rather to provide a set of impartial and informed guidelines for those homebuyers who wish to include a radon test as one of their pre-purchase conditions. While this may be a rare occurrence in some parts of the country; in some areas it is already quite common, and the lack of clear guidelines has left both buyers and sellers at a disadvantage.

In addition to the guideline itself, we have developed the following supporting documents to assist Realtors© in discussing radon with their clients and also to explain and interpret the guideline:

- Explanatory One-Page document for Realtors©
- CARST's Guideline for Conducting a Radon Assessment as Part of a Real-Estate Transaction of a Residential Dwelling in Canada
- Webpage for Homeowners
- Webpage for Realtors©

We hope that you will disseminate this information to your members, and encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Best Regards,

Pam Warkentin
CARST/C-NRPP