Commercial & Institutional
Radon testing and mitigation for schools, daycares, and commercial buildings.
Multi-point continuous monitoring, EPA-protocol design, HVAC-aware mitigation systems. Iowa-licensed crew with school-district experience. Quoted per square foot.
Who we work with
Schools (K–12 public and accredited nonpublic)
Iowa Code 280.30 requires every public and accredited nonpublic school in Iowa to test for radon every five years in all ground-contact occupied rooms, using ANSI/AARST MAMF-2017 protocol. Districts that document elevated radon must mitigate or implement a written remediation plan. We run the full cycle: initial testing across every required classroom and ground-contact space, mitigation design where needed, install supervision (coordinated with district facilities), and follow-up verification testing. We’ve worked with several Linn County school districts on the 5-year recertification cycle.
Daycares & preschools
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services licensing standards address radon for daycare facilities. Indoor radon poses a higher proportional risk to young children because of their faster respiration rate and longer remaining exposure window. Testing and mitigation for daycares follow MAMF-2017 protocol and require documentation that gets filed with the state licensing inspector.
Commercial office, retail, & medical
Office buildings, medical office buildings, and retail spaces in Cedar Rapids increasingly include radon in their environmental due-diligence checklists, particularly for buildings where employees occupy ground-contact space (basement-level offices, slab-on-grade single-story builds). We design mitigation systems that integrate with existing building HVAC and don’t disrupt the air-handling pressure envelope.
Warehouses with attached office
Mixed-use buildings where warehouse slab connects to office slab are common in Cedar Rapids’ industrial corridor. The pressure dynamics across the combined slab can produce unexpected hot spots. We multi-point test and design mitigation that addresses the full slab even though the warehouse portion may not be occupied long enough to require remediation on its own.
Multi-tenant residential
Apartment buildings and multi-family complexes with ground-floor units have radon exposure profiles closer to single-family homes — the EPA action level applies, and individual units need testing. We’ve designed building-wide mitigation systems for several multi-family properties across Cedar Rapids and Marion.
How a commercial project runs
Walk-through & scope
We visit the building, review floor plans, and identify ground-contact occupied spaces requiring measurement. For schools and daycares this means every ground-floor classroom or activity room; for office buildings, every basement-level or slab-on-grade occupied office.
Multi-point testing
CRMs deployed simultaneously at the density required by protocol — one device per 2,000 sq ft minimum, often denser. Test runs 48 hours under closed-building conditions. We coordinate with facility staff to ensure HVAC operates in normal occupied mode during the test.
Reporting & remediation plan
Full report goes to the facility owner or district administrator. If mitigation is needed, we propose a system design that accounts for the building’s foundation, HVAC, and occupancy patterns. Plan goes through facility engineering for sign-off before any install work begins.
Install (staged, often off-hours)
Commercial installs run 2–5 days depending on size. We stage work to avoid disrupting occupants — classroom-by-classroom for schools, zone-by-zone for office buildings. Where required, we work nights and weekends.
Verification testing
Post-mitigation testing runs 48 hours minimum at the same multi-point density as initial testing. Verification report goes to facility owner, district administrator, or IDPH compliance officer as required.
Pricing
Commercial work prices per square foot of ground-contact floor area, with the unit price falling as building size goes up. Typical ranges:
- Testing only: custom quote per sq ft of ground-contact area; minimum project sizes apply for smaller buildings
- Mitigation install: custom quote per sq ft, scoped to foundation type, HVAC complexity, and number of suction points
- Combined testing + mitigation: custom quoted with a single fixed-price contract
We don’t quote a commercial job without a walkthrough. Estimates over the phone for commercial work are not reliable enough — foundation type, HVAC design, and ceiling/wall structure all materially affect the install cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is radon testing required in Iowa schools?
Iowa Code 280.30 requires all public and accredited nonpublic schools to conduct radon testing in occupied ground-contact rooms every five years using ANSI/AARST MAMF-2017 protocol. This is significantly more rigorous than residential testing — every ground-contact classroom, every basement-level occupied space, and every connected portable classroom needs measurement. Districts that find elevated levels in any tested space are required to either mitigate or implement a remediation plan within statutory timeframes. We handle the full cycle for several Linn County school districts: initial testing, mitigation design, install supervision, and follow-up verification.
How does commercial mitigation differ from residential — why can’t you just scale up a home install?
Commercial buildings have larger floor plates, often with multiple foundation types in the same building (slab-on-grade office attached to a basement utility room attached to a slab-on-grade warehouse), and HVAC systems that actively manage building pressurization. A residential one-suction-point install will not work — you need a network of suction points (sometimes 3–8 across a building) sized for the floor area, each tied into either a dedicated fan or a manifolded system. We also have to design around the existing HVAC pressure envelope; a poorly designed mitigation system can interact badly with a make-up air system or a variable-speed RTU. Commercial mitigation is a structural and HVAC problem first, a radon problem second.
What’s the testing protocol for an occupied commercial building?
ANSI/AARST MALB-2014 is the protocol for large buildings and ANSI/AARST MAMF-2017 specifically for schools. Both require multi-point measurement: one CRM per 2,000 square feet of ground-contact floor area, minimum, deployed simultaneously for at least 48 hours under closed-building conditions. Closed-building means HVAC running on normal occupied-mode setpoints, but no manual venting (windows propped open, exterior doors held open for deliveries). We coordinate with facility managers to schedule testing during a representative occupancy week — not the week before spring break when HVAC may run a reduced schedule.
How long does a commercial mitigation install take, and does the building have to be vacated?
Most commercial installs take 2–5 days depending on building size and the number of suction points. The building typically does not have to be fully vacated; we work in stages, coordinating with facility staff to clear specific rooms or zones during active drilling and PVC routing. We’re set up to work nights and weekends on schools, daycares, medical buildings, and any other occupied space where daytime work isn’t viable. Daytime work in commercial office buildings is usually fine — modern radon installs produce manageable dust with HEPA-vacuum-attached core drills and small-bore PVC routing.
Are there grants or funding programs that cover commercial radon mitigation in Iowa?
Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) administers periodic grant programs for school radon mitigation, with priority given to schools that demonstrate documented elevated levels and a written remediation plan. Daycares licensed through the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services can sometimes access mitigation funding through licensing-improvement grants. Commercial property owners are typically not eligible for state funding but can often deduct mitigation as a tier-1 environmental capital improvement. We’re happy to provide the documentation (system specifications, post-mitigation verification, professional licensure verification) needed for any of these pathways.
Call Now
(319) 774-8138
Cedar Rapids radon team. We answer Mon–Sat during business hours. Voicemails returned within 24 hours.
Call (319) 774-8138Have ready when you call:
- Your address (we’ll pull the assessor record)
- Year built and basement type, if you know them
- Any recent radon test result
- Closing date, if it’s a real-estate transaction
Or email info@cedarrapidsradonpros.com.