Consultation services

Most of the answers to the questions Nicole is asked can be found in her book: Healthy Home Healthy Family.

Book a PHONE consultation with Nicole*

1. Quick consult. (15 minutes) Ideal if you have a couple of questions or need advice about a product. Cost: $80. Book HERE.
2. Need advice. (30 minutes). This time frame is ideal if you are seeking a professional opinion regarding interpreting mould laboratory reports, mould reports; advice regarding testing or remediating your home; tips on purchasing or renting a healthy home or have a series of questions that require more attention. Cost: $150. Book HERE.
3. Working on a project: (60 minutes). This is ideal if you want professional advice for a project such as designing or building a healthy home, a second opinion on a mould report such as lab interpretation and/or mould remediation. Cost: $280. Book HERE.

*Payment is required at the time of the booking. Change of booking with more than 24 hours notice incurs no fee. Refunds not permitted when cancelling or changing a booking with less than 24 hours notice.

Book a HOME consultation with Nicole*

Do you think your house is making you sick? Do you experience asthma, allergies, recurrent colds and flus that persist for weeks or months and dont respond to treatment. Have you been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lymes Disease, CIRS or an autoimmune dissease. Did your health decline after moving into your home or after renovations or after a water event? Does your health improve when you are away from the home? Sounds like you need a Building Biologist to assess your home. Homes outside of the Melbourne metropolitan area will incur an additional travel fee ($110 per hour pro rata). For homes in other states, go to www.asbb.org.au.

My home consultation service to assess the entire home involves:

• Taking a comprehensive environmental exposure history online (zoom) which may take up to 1 hour
• Undertaking a site visit (1/2 day for single storey dwellings, more time required for multi level homes) which involves a site inspection, thermal imaging, moisture mapping, and biosampling.
• Writing a comprehensive report with findings, interpretations and recommendations (emailed 2 weeks after the assessment)
• Doing an online (zoom) consult around 2 weeks after the assessment to explain the report findings (around 1/2 hour)

How much does it cost to test my home?

If you think your house is making you sick, or if you have been referred to me by your naturopath or integrative GP, Id recommend that you get the entire house tested. The average single storey home with 14 samples cost ~$3000 and takes around 1.5 days of my time; most double storey homes with 20 samples costs ~$3500 and takes me around 2 days of my time. The actual cost will depend on the number of samples taken which I will discuss on the day of the assessment once I have assessed the property.  If you wish to save costs, I can get the lab to analyse less samples, in that way, if these samples identify elevated water damaged moulds, you have the option to get the remaining samples analysed as I will take samples of the whole house regardless. Please note I will NOT take on jobs if the client is unwilling to pay for at least 6 samples for a single storey home and 8 samples for a double storey home as I cannot gather enough evidence to make an assessment of your home.

My consulting fee to test the entire house (this doesnot include any samples).

• $1500 (plus gst) for a single storey home which can take between 3 and 4 hours on site plus two zoom calls (~1/2 hour each). Additional hours on site are $220 per hour. Includes a comprehensive report.
• $2000 (plus gst) for a double storey home (which takes up to 6 hours on site) plus two zoom calls (~1/2 hour each). Additional hours on site are $220 per hour. Includes a comprehensive report.
• Commercial premises and larger homes. Please email the site and house plan to info@aces.edu.au for a quote.

My consulting fee to test part of the home (this doesnot include a report or any samples).

• $330 per hour (onsite or phone support), minimum of 2 hours. I will only provide a verbal recommendation.

PLUS Laboratory sampling costs: 

1. $110 per sample (air or surface) to be sent and analysed by the lab. Most single storey homes require between 12 and 16 samples. Double storey homes are between 16 and 30 samples.
2. $450 ERMI (swiffer cloth or vacuum sample)
3. ATP samples are free (up to 5)

What I need from you if you decide to go ahead:

1. Email me the floorplan (site plan is also helpful but not compulsory) to nicole@aces.edu.au

2. Pay a $1000 deposit to go ahead with the job. The remaining payment and cost of the lab samples is required on the day of the assessment. Samples will not be sent to the lab until payment is made. We accept credit card over the phone and paypal (info@aces.edu.au). A cancellation fee of $220 will be charged for cancellations less than 48 hours notice.

3. For at least 48 hours before the day of the assessment, I need you to

• Close all windows and doors
• Turn off air purifiers and dehumidifiers
• Do not dust or vacuum
• Dont mulch or do any gardening that week
• No drycleaning or steam cleaning the carpets or furnishings
• Donot paint inside the home

Free HOME consultation by students from the Australian College of Environmental Studies

Can’t afford a consultation? The Australian College of Environmental Studies is a registered training organisation (21740) that teaches the only nationally accredited Mould Testing course in Australia. They require homes for their students to assess to gain the practical skills as part of their training. This involves having up to 12 students in your home for a day which is supervised by an experienced building biologist trainer. There are no costs involved and ACES will cover the laboratory costs (up to $2000). The most professional student report will be emailed to the client approximately 8 weeks after the assessment. In exchange for this our Conditions are: 1. all adult occupants must provide signed consent to allow ACES students to assess their home; 2. all adult occupants provide permission to enable ACES to use the information gathered from the assessment (photos, exposure history, moisture readings, lab findings etc) to be used as a case study for future classes and/or conferences (all occupants and the address location will be deidentified); 3. we require 13 floorplans of the home (a site plan is also helpful but not compulsory) and 4. the home must be located within a 40 minute drive from the CBD or airport of the following cities: Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Adelaide, to be considered. If after receiving the report, you wish to discuss the findings with the Building Biologist who supervised the training, the rate is $150 (up to 30 minutes).

Building a healthy home

1. Package 1 (5 hours): $1400. This is package is ideal if you have already passed the design stage and the plan is currently with or has been approved by council, and you just want to get an idea on finishes (paints, floor finishes, furnishings). This includes five hours of work and the average turn around time is 3 to 4  weeks. Double storey homes are an additional cost (ring to arrange a quote). The hourly rate after this is $280. For commercial jobs, please obtain a quote. A 50% deposit is required to start the job and the remaining amount is due before the report is submitted. 
2. Package 2 (10 hours): $2200. This package includes up to ten hours of work, with a focus on establishing a healthy, low allergy home that has good indoor air quality, low electromagnetic fields especially in key areas like bedrooms, living spaces and study, and preventative strategies to reduce the likelihood of condensation and mould-related problems. Our consultants are experienced in building biology, and bring with them over two decades of experience in the building industry. We’ll be able to work with your architect, draftsmen or building designer to ensure the design meets your needs in relation to the health aspect of the home. After an initial one hour brief to determine your needs, resources, timeline and discussion involving your drawings, the remaining time will be spent analysing and sourcing appropriate building materials within your requirements that do not adversely impact indoor air quality or alter the natural background terrestrial radiation, low in man-made electromagnetic fields and condensation risk, whilst also taking into consideration their sustainability criteria. This will also include ideas on wiring the home, integrated pest management and insulation, as well as furnishing suggestions. This will be documented in a report. The average turn around time is 4 to 6 weeks. Should you need more time beyond the ten hours, the hourly rate is $220. Double storey homes are an additional cost (ring to arrange a quote). For commercial jobs, please obtain a quote. A 50% deposit is required to start the job and the remaining amount is due before the report is submitted.