Article 1. Licenses And Permits of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 6. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.

It is unlawful for a person to advertise, solicit, or operate as a pest control business, unless the person has a valid pest control business license issued by the director.

Every principal and branch office of a business licensed pursuant to Section 11701 shall have at least one person in a supervisory position who holds a qualified applicator license issued pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 12201). The qualified applicator license shall include the categories of pest control activities supervised by that person who is employed by that business.

Applicants for a pest control business license shall do all of the following:
  (a) Submit information to the director covering the applicant's business and personal qualifications that the director requires.
  (b) Designate in the application the qualified applicator who shall be responsible for the conduct of the principal office of the applicant and of each branch location.
  (c) Satisfy the director of the responsibility of the applicant as to any of the following:
  (1) Equipment and facilities.
  (2) Financial ability to perform the work authorized by the license and to respond in damages for any illness, injury, or damage resulting from the work, which ability may be satisfied by insurance in a form satisfactory to the director insuring against liability for personal injury and property damage in an amount prescribed by regulation of the director. The amount shall be related to the volume and type of pest control operations for which the applicant is licensed to perform.
  (3) Personal responsibility to conduct the business. The director shall establish by regulation the general classes of pest control operations in which the applicant may be qualified. Licensing by the director shall not derogate from the authority of commissioners stated in Sections 11731 to 11741, inclusive.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in Sections 11704 and 11707, the application shall be accompanied by a fee as prescribed by the director pursuant to Section 11502.5.
  (b) If the applicant maintains any branch office in this state or outside this state and the applicant engages in the pest control business in this state from that branch office, the applicant shall pay an additional fee as prescribed by the director pursuant to Section 11502.5 for each of these branch offices.

(a) A person who is regularly engaged in the business of maintenance gardening and who desires to engage in pest control for hire incidental to that business shall qualify for a pest control business license in the maintenance gardener category by passing the certified commercial applicators examination in both the laws and regulation and the landscape maintenance categories.
  (b) The maintenance gardener category shall be limited to pest control in ornamental and turf plantings indoors, in commercial parks, or surrounding structures. A contract or verification that the pest control operation is incidental and that maintenance gardening is the primary purpose shall be immediately submitted to the commissioner or director upon request.
  (c) An application for a license limited to the maintenance gardener category shall be accompanied by a fee as prescribed by the director pursuant to Section 11502.5.

The director shall issue to each applicant that satisfies the requirements of this article a license which authorizes the applicant to perform the type or types of pest control activities specified in the license during the calendar year for which the license is issued, unless the license is sooner revoked or suspended.

The license may be renewed annually upon application to the director, accompanied by the proper fee, on or before the first day of January of the calendar year for which the license is issued.

To any fee which is not paid by the date of expiration, there shall be added a penalty as prescribed by the director pursuant to Section 11502.5.

The director may refuse to grant any license and may revoke or suspend any license if the applicant or licensee:
  (a) Does not have, or has not maintained at its principal office and at each branch location, a person who holds a qualified applicator license issued pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 12201) to actively supervise all operations performed for each such location as prescribed by regulations of the director. This subdivision does not apply to businesses that are licensed only in the maintenance gardener category.
  (b) Does not have, or has not maintained, adequate safe equipment and facilities to perform the operations undertaken or to be undertaken.
  (c) Does not have adequately trained personnel to perform the operations undertaken or to be undertaken.
  (d) Violates or permits the violation of any provision of this division and Division 7 (commencing with Section 12501) pertaining to pesticides or of any regulations adopted pursuant thereto by the director or any commissioner or any industrial safety order relating to pesticides issued by the Department of Industrial Relations.
  (e) Fails to maintain and report to the director or commissioner, as required, information concerning pest control performed or authorized to be performed by the license or the registration of the commissioner. Any hearing to deny, suspend, or revoke a license shall be heard under the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. However, if the director finds on the basis of affidavits submitted to him or her by the enforcement personnel provided in Section 11501.5, or by injured parties, that the protection of the public welfare or safety requires immediate action, the director may, without hearing, temporarily suspend or condition the license of any pest control operator and shall forthwith schedule the matter for hearing. The director may terminate the suspension of, or any condition placed upon, a license upon correction of the defects of equipment, establishment of adequate safety practices, or any other corrective action as he or she deems satisfactory to assure compliance with the requirements of statutes and regulations. In that event, the matter may proceed to hearing as though the license had not been suspended or the conditions placed upon it.

A person not regularly engaged in the business of pest control that operates only in the vicinity of his or her own property and for the accommodation of his or her neighbors is not required to pay the fee specified by Section 11703, but is required to procure a license. The person shall register with the commissioner as provided in Section 11732, and is subject to all other provisions of this division. The determination of the director that a person is engaged in the business of pest control beyond the vicinity of his or her own property or for the accommodation of others than his or her neighbors is final.

A person that is regularly engaged in the business of tree surgery is not required to procure a license to remove diseased or infested tissues or apply disinfectants to wounds or cavities incidental to tree surgery. If such person desires to engage in any other pest control operation, he shall procure a license from the director, shall register with the commissioner as provided in Section 11732, and is subject to all other provisions of this division.

Unless worker's compensation insurance is not required, no license may be issued or renewed under this chapter to any person who is an employer, as defined in Section 3300 of the Labor Code, unless the application is accompanied by identification and the number and expiration date of the worker's compensation insurance policy of the applicant or the applicant is a qualified self-insurer.