California pest control business license: prepare the business application

DPR requires a separate LIC-042 for each principal and branch location. The person who supervises pest control at a location holds a Qualified Applicator License, which DPR issues to an individual under a separate application, the California applicator license.

Before you start the form, collect the business details, the list of locations, the name and QAL card of the applicator for each location, and the documents for your business type. For any work in buildings, ask DPR which license covers it before you apply.

Who needs the license and who is exempt

You must hold the license if you perform pest control for hire: advertising, soliciting or operating as a pest control business. The requirement applies to principal and branch locations. This includes businesses that apply pesticides on the ground, in water or from the air, farm and golf course management companies whose services include pest control, and packing houses, shippers and storage facilities that treat commodities owned by another person or firm (cooperatives excluded).

Exempt under FAC section 11531: activity that is structural pest control and must be licensed under Chapter 14 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, preservative treatment of fabrics or structural materials, seed treatment incidental to the person’s regular business, and live capture, removal or exclusion of vertebrate pests, bees or wasps without pesticides. Pest control incidental to new construction, such as paving, new landscapes or building homes, is also exempt; if you use or supervise restricted material pesticides, you still need a valid QAL or QAC with the appropriate category. Any treatment to existing structures is structural pest control.

Sections of LIC-042

Application type and business type

In Section A, an owner or entity-type change requires you to notify DPR immediately, and a business name or entity-type change means you re-apply as a new applicant and pay the appropriate fees. An address change or a duplicate or replacement license costs $20. Add Branch Location lists the additional branch locations.

In Section B, check one business type: corporation, individual, limited liability company, partnership, non-profit association or limited liability partnership. Enter the location address if it differs from the mailing address; keep the address where mail arrives separate from the address where the work is run. Pick the legal entity shown on your supporting documents, not the one that sounds closest.

Sections D and E need every owner and officer with title and mailing address, so write that list out first. If an accountant or office manager prepares the packet, ask an owner or officer to check the legal names and roles before signing.

In Section C, a name change comes with a $20 replacement fee and the supporting documents for your business type; name changes may affect the current renewal cycle and additional fees may apply. DPR issues a new license automatically for a name change, and a name or address change must be reported immediately to the Licensing and Certification Office in writing.

Documents that verify the business name and type

A sole proprietor who uses his or her surname as part of the business name submits no documents.

Failure to complete or provide the requested information may delay the processing of the application.

Qualified applicator for each location

FAC section 11701.5 requires at least one person in a supervisory position who holds a valid QAL with the appropriate categories at each principal and branch location. Section F names that person, the QAL number and categories, the expiration date and the location address. Each main and branch location has its own qualified applicator, who is responsible for supervising all pest control operations performed at that location. Attach an additional sheet when more space is needed.

Section G records a change: the current applicator’s name, QAL number, categories and stop date, and the new applicator’s name, QAL number, categories and start date.

Agree the stop and start dates with both people before you file, and confirm who supervises the work in between. If there will be a gap, ask DPR how to handle it. Do not keep presenting the departing applicator’s QAL as the one for that location after the stop date.

Pest control types and QAL categories in Section H

Section H has two lists. The first is the type of pest control: aerial application, ground application, landscape maintenance, indoor plant maintenance, biological control, disease control, microbial control, nematode control, insect, mite and other invertebrate control, defoliation, soil or non-soil fumigation, stored agricultural product or post-harvest treatment, seed treatment, plant growth regulators, vertebrate control including birds, weed control, wood preservation, and other.

Before ticking boxes for a new service, write two lines about it: who the customer is, what pest and site, and which method. Compare that with the activity boxes and with the categories on your supervisor’s QAL, and if the match is unclear, send the description to DPR and ask. Say plainly if any of the work happens inside buildings.

The second is the QAL category the business requires: A residential, industrial and institutional; B landscape maintenance; C right-of-way; D plant agriculture; E forest; F aquatic; G regulatory; H seed treatment; I animal agriculture; J demonstration and research; K health related; L soil fumigation; M non-soil fumigation.

Financial responsibility, insurance and fees

Section I accepts one of three forms of proof, and the coverage must include chemical liability.

On an ACORD certificate, the “Certificate Holder” box must read Department of Pesticide Regulation, DPRinsurance@cdpr.ca.gov.

Every applicant that is an employer under Section 3300 of the Labor Code must carry workers’ compensation insurance. Section J takes the carrier name, policy number and expiration date; a business with no employees writes “No employees.” With an expired policy, submit a certificate of insurance from your insurer stating that the policy is valid and its expiration date, or the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Verification form PR-PML-120.

All fees are non-transferable and non-refundable. The application fees are $360 for a main location and $180 for a branch per calendar year; renewal fees for the two-year cycle are $720 and $360. DPR does not prorate the renewal fee for a late renewal, and a license postmarked after December 31 of the expiration year adds a late fee of 50 percent of the total renewal fee. One application form carries at most $20 in miscellaneous fees. A fee-exempt request submits a completed “No Fee Pest Control Business Application Supplement.”

Check the insurance and bank papers come from the insurer or the bank that issued them, not from you. Before you write “No employees” in Section J, make sure it is true. Note the policy expiration date so it is not lapsed when you start work. Check the current fee amounts in the DPR packet before paying, and keep a copy of your fee calculation in case DPR questions the total.

License term and fee examples

A new license may be issued for up to two years, depending on when you apply and your license cycle; each renewed license is valid for two years unless you renew late.

Names starting with A through L expire on December 31 of even-numbered years. Names starting with M through Z, including those starting with “The”, expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years.

A new application in an even year pays the one-year fee ($360 main, $180 branch) for names A–L and the two-year fee ($720 main, $360 branch) for names M–Z. In an odd year it is the reverse. A business named Plum Corporation that applies in January 2021 receives a license that expires December 31, 2021, and pays $360.

Disclosure, signature and mailing

Section L asks whether, during the last three years, any administrative, civil or criminal action for violating state or federal pesticide laws resulted in disciplinary action or is pending against you; answer Yes with an explanation on a separate page, or No. The owner, officer or QAL holder signs the Section M declaration under penalty of perjury.

Enclose a check, money order or credit card information payable to “Cashier, DPR” and mail the packet to the Department of Pesticide Regulation, Attn: Cashier MS 4A, PO Box 4015, Sacramento, CA 95812-4015. DPR cannot accept electronic submittals. Questions go to LicenseMail@cdpr.ca.gov. A preparer can assemble the packet, but the person who signs Section M should read what is being submitted.

The most common application errors are incorrect fees, no insurance documents or documents that do not meet DPR’s requirements, missing business type information, and no listed qualified person.

County registration, equipment inventory and records

Register the license with the county agricultural commissioner in each county where you intend to perform pest control, before you conduct any work. Each principal and branch location registers in each county before advertising, soliciting or operating there, and a separate registration form is completed for each branch and each county. Most counties charge an annual fee that covers one calendar year. Plan registration only for the counties you really will work in, and ask each commissioner’s office what its current requirements are.

The individual who holds the QAL card and is responsible for pest control operations at the location presents three items to the commissioner: the pest control business license, the QAL card with appropriate categories, and an inventory of pest control equipment including number and kind. Before the visit, check that the inventory matches the machines you own, lease or have just bought.

Once licensed, the business retains application notification records for two years and pesticide use records for two years, submits pesticide use reports to the commissioner in the county where the application was made, holds valid permits for restricted materials used, and retains agricultural pest control adviser written recommendations for one year. A business that applies pesticides by aircraft also needs a person who holds a valid journeyman pest control aircraft certificate. Decide before the first job who files notifications, recommendations and use reports, so each one can be found by customer and application.

Next step

Complete the DPR business-license packet, then register with the agricultural commissioner of each county where the business will operate.