How to Check a Pest Control License in Any State

Look the company up in your state pest control regulator’s license database, or call the regulator: states, not the federal government, license the businesses that apply pesticides for hire and the people who apply them. A useful record check confirms that the business license or registration is active, shows which certified applicator stands behind it, and lists a certification category that covers the job; termite work is often certified separately.

Who licenses pest control

A state agency does. The National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) explains that in each state one agency works with EPA to enforce federal pesticide rules and respond to complaints. EPA’s page on state and territorial pesticide agencies links to NPIC’s contact list and names what those agencies handle: reports of pesticide misapplication, whether a product is registered in the state, state-specific rules such as posting signs before applications, and certification of applicators.

The agency’s name varies, which is why a search for “pest control license” can lead in several directions:

• California: the Structural Pest Control Board, one of the boards of the Department of Consumer Affairs, whose licenses can be checked in the department’s online license search.
• Illinois: the Department of Public Health’s Structural Pest Control program, which licenses and inspects about 750 commercial business locations, certifies about 2,600 people by examination, and offers a public business search.
• New York: the Department of Environmental Conservation, whose online database, NYSPAD, covers business registrations and certified applicators and technicians.
• South Carolina: the Department of Pesticide Regulation at Clemson University.
• Texas: the Texas Department of Agriculture, under rules in Title 4, Chapter 7 of the Texas Administrative Code.

What the federal rules require

Federal rules set minimum standards; states build on them. EPA’s Certification of Pesticide Applicators rule, 40 CFR Part 171, governs who may use restricted-use pesticides, products that only a certified applicator, or someone under that applicator’s direct supervision, may buy and apply. EPA revised the rule in 2017. States had to submit revised certification plans by March 4, 2020, the deadline for EPA approval was extended to November 4, 2023, and EPA’s page reports that 67 of the 68 proposed plan revisions have been approved.

The revised rule sets a federal minimum age of 18 for certified applicators, requires recertification at least every 5 years, and requires specialized certification for fumigation and aerial application. Among the federal categories for commercial applicators, category (g), industrial, institutional and structural pest control, covers work in, on or around dwellings; separate categories cover ornamental and turf work and non-soil fumigation.

The federal rule covers restricted-use products only. State licensing reaches further. EPA notes that many state pesticide regulatory agencies require certification for all commercial pesticide use, restricted or not, and its termite guidance states that firms offering termite services must be licensed by the state.

Business license and applicator certification are different records

They are separate: states license or register the business and certify the individuals who apply pesticides, so a check on the company alone does not show who will treat your home or what that person is certified to do. States handle the pairing in different ways:

• New York requires a business registration to offer, advertise or make pesticide applications for hire, and the business must employ an applicator or technician certified in each category it works in; for structural categories, a certified applicator is required.
• South Carolina requires a pesticide business license for structural pest control work and a Designated Certified Applicator, licensed in category 7A, in place before the license is issued. That person must work full time at the location and cannot serve as the designated applicator for a second one.
• Texas allows written estimates and treatment disclosures for termite work to be made only by licensed technicians or certified applicators licensed in the termite category.

So a license check has two halves: the business, and the individual.

Match the category to the job

Categories split the trade, and the split differs by state. New York, for example, certifies structural and rodent control (7A), fumigation (7B) and termite control (7C) separately. Certification for household pests does not by itself cover termite work or fumigation in such a system. Lawn and yard work can fall under yet another category; at the federal level, ornamental and turf pest control is its own category.

Ask which category the applicator holds, then confirm it in the state record.

How to run the check

Work from the state agency’s own records, in six steps:

1. Find the agency. NPIC keeps a list of state pesticide regulatory agencies, and EPA’s page on state agencies links to it.
2. Search the record. Search by business name, license number or the individual’s name, and note the status and expiration date.
3. Read the category. Confirm that the certification covers the work proposed.
4. Ask about complaints. EPA’s consumer guide suggests calling your state or local pesticide regulatory agency, or a local consumer office, to ask whether it has received complaints about the company.
5. Ask about recertification. The same guide suggests asking the state agency about its certification and training programs and whether applicators must recertify periodically. It adds that some cities issue their own licenses, which are one more record to check where they exist.
6. Keep records. NPIC suggests noting the company’s contact information, the technician’s name, treatment dates, product names, EPA registration numbers, formulations and safety precautions.

NPIC’s questions for choosing a company start with licensing, including whether the license is the correct classification for the job, and go on to how the company keeps staff informed of changes in regulations and safety, whether it uses integrated pest management, and whether it has a certified entomologist on staff.

Questions the license does not answer

EPA’s consumer guide treats the license as the first question about a company, not the last, and lists further ones: whether the company carries insurance and can show proof on paper, whether its employees are bonded, whether it guarantees its work and what the owner must do to keep that guarantee valid, and whether it will discuss the proposed treatment and share the pesticide label.

Before you hire a professional: what to ask

Hiring a licensed professional is the point of the check, and these questions complete it:

• Under what name and number is your business licensed or registered in this state?
• Which certified applicator supervises this work, and in which category?
• Is the technician who will treat my home certified or registered, and under whose supervision?
• Which products will you use, and may I see the labels before treatment?
• What does your guarantee cover, and what would void it?
• Can you show a current certificate of insurance?