Slab moisture reports drafted from the tester's field log, with the decisions left to your people.

On a commercial slab, moisture testing leaves behind a field log and not much else: a plan with test locations marked, a probe or dish number at each one, dates and times, readings, the air temperature and humidity in the room, and a remark about whether the building's HVAC was running. Someone then writes that into a report for the general contractor, the design team or your own project manager, with the method named and every location listed.

For the test, AI reads copies of those logs and drafts the report: method and edition, locations against the count the specification requires, each reading beside the limit in the adhesive maker's data sheet you supply, ambient conditions, and a list of the areas that need a decision before anyone spreads adhesive. It never says a slab is ready. Your reviewer goes through each draft, line by line, against the report a qualified tester signed.

Each method makes its own report. ASTM F2170 is the Standard Test Method for Determining Relative Humidity in Concrete Floor Slabs Using in situ Probes. ASTM F1869 measures moisture vapor emission with anhydrous calcium chloride, and its public scope leaves out gypsum concrete and floors with lightweight aggregate. The University of Houston's resilient tile section lists both tests and states a maximum for each, one in pounds of water per 1,000 square feet in 24 hours and one as relative humidity. New York's terrazzo section relays the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association's view that plastic-sheet tests and hand-held meters are unreliable. The draft names the method and edition on every line and never merges two methods into one result.

The count changes with the owner. New York State's 2024 master spec keeps each test area to 1,000 square feet for resilient sheet and resinous floors and 200 square feet for resinous terrazzo, with at least three tests in every installation area and the test areas evenly spaced. A Los Angeles World Airports terrazzo guide, revised May 2014, asks for at least one probe per 5,000 square feet and takes the pre-installation readings for information only. The draft counts the locations in the log, sets that against what the section requires, and lists any shortfall by area with the section named.

Whose limit applies is its own question. CRI 104 points the contractor to the maker's written instructions for allowable moisture and pH. The Port of Portland's carpet section ties testing to the limits of both the flooring maker and the adhesive maker, and calls for mitigation when results fall outside them. A carpet tile and its adhesive may publish different figures, so the draft prints each limit with the product, data sheet and date you supplied, sets each reading beside it, and lists the areas over. It doesn't choose a limit or call a number a pass.

The room and the surface can both fool a test. University of Houston's carpet section keeps carpet out until spaces are enclosed and weather tight and temperature and humidity are held at occupancy levels, so a log that shows no HVAC running earns a line. ASTM F710, the practice for preparing concrete floors to receive resilient flooring, now in a 2026 edition, has all concrete slabs tested for moisture and all floors for pH in its public abstract. CRI 104 warns that a low pH can mean residue left on the surface and that over-cleaning can strip the thin carbonation layer and push the reading high. On renovations, the Resilient Floor Covering Institute's January 2018 removal practices warn against drilling, sanding or dry scraping old resilient flooring or cutback adhesive, and say to presume asbestos unless positively certain. The draft carries the tester's surface notes and lists any location logged over an old floor.

A report is one moment, and money follows it. ASTM's public summary of F2170 says a result describes the slab only at the time and places tested, so the draft shows the test date, the planned installation date and the gap between them. The Port of Portland's section says starting installation is acceptance of the sub-floor. The terrazzo association's guide spec has the contractor make a written recommendation on mitigation and leaves the cost as an alternate, a unit cost or a change order. The International Concrete Repair Institute certifies Concrete Slab Moisture Testing Technicians and says a growing number of specifications require one. Your reviewer will look first at the method named, the count, the limit quoted and its date, ambient conditions, and any area shown as settled when nobody settled it.

After your reviewer's yes, new field logs are drafted for about 30 days as testers turn them in.

A qualified tester reads, corrects and signs every report, and nothing reaches a general contractor or designer until they have.

The live job has a fixed price, agreed before you sign. Anything after it is priced on its own, and monthly support starts once a job is running.