Trade · Starting a company · TX
Start a pest control company in Texas
What do you need to open a pest control company in Texas?
Form the business with the state and get its Comptroller (or federal) taxpayer ID. The SPCS licence is tied to that Tax ID. Then: Get the person who will be the responsible certified applicator qualified and licensed: meet one of the three experience or degree routes, pass the General Standards exam plus a category exam, and pay the $125 licence fee. Have your insurance agent file form ALS-1101 with TDA showing at least $500,000 bodily injury and property damage per occurrence and a $1,000,000 aggregate, with the care, custody and control exclusion deleted.
Key fact$300 for a commercial business license (TDA SPCS business page and form SPC-401).
Texas ties the business licence to one responsible certified applicator. If that person leaves, you need a replacement on file before you keep working.
Structural pest control Commercial Business License from TDA's Structural Pest Control Service (application form SPC-401, or apply online through TDA's TAP portal). Noncommercial and noncommercial political business licences also exist for in-house operations.
$300 for a commercial business license (TDA SPCS business page and form SPC-401). Apprentices registered on the application are $125 each. Noncommercial/noncommercial political business licences carry no fee. SPCS application fees are non-refundable.
Every commercial business licence holder has to designate a commercial certified applicator, registered with the business, as its responsible certified applicator. One certified applicator can't be the responsible applicator for more than one business at the same time. To become a certified applicator you need ONE of: (1) a technician licence held for at least six months, plus employment doing pest control under a licensed certified applicator for at least 12 of the last 24 months; (2) a degree in a biological science (official transcript); or (3) proof of verifiable pest control employment, out-of-state included, for at least 12 of the past 24 months. Then pass the General Standards exam plus at least one category exam at 70%. The certified applicator licence fee is $125; exam fees are paid separately to the testing vendor.
Commercial and noncommercial businesses must file a policy or contract of insurance of at least $500,000 bodily injury and property damage coverage, with a minimum total aggregate of $1,000,000. It has to cover damage to persons or property under your care, custody or control, and the 'care, custody and control exclusion' must be deleted from the policy (Texas Occupations Code 1951.312). Your agent files it on TDA form ALS-1101 (no other form accepted), and everything on it must match the business registration exactly. Noncommercial political businesses are exempt.
Step by step
- 01Form the business with the state and get its Comptroller (or federal) taxpayer ID. The SPCS licence is tied to that Tax ID.
- 02Get the person who will be the responsible certified applicator qualified and licensed: meet one of the three experience or degree routes, pass the General Standards exam plus a category exam, and pay the $125 licence fee.
- 03Have your insurance agent file form ALS-1101 with TDA showing at least $500,000 bodily injury and property damage per occurrence and a $1,000,000 aggregate, with the care, custody and control exclusion deleted.
- 04Apply for the Commercial Business License through TAP or on form SPC-401 with the $300 fee, naming and signed by the responsible certified applicator. Use one licence per location, branches included.
- 05Register every employee with the business licence within 10 days of hire, and put the TDA jurisdiction statement on your contracts and customer paperwork.
Also on the list
- A separate business licence for each business location, branch offices included.
- Register employees with the business licence within 10 days of hire (SPC-002 for previously licensed people moving companies; SPT-430 or the online system for new people), and terminate them within 10 days (SPC-003).
- The licence is tied to the business's Tax ID. A change of Tax ID means a new licence application.
- A business licence holder who lives outside Texas must file a resident agent form.
- Printed contracts, warranties, service agreements, termite disclosure documents, guarantees and customer information sheets must carry TDA's jurisdiction statement: 'Licensed and Regulated by: Texas Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 12847, Austin, TX 78711-2847, Phone (866) 918-4481'.
- All licensing activity must be finished within one year of the application date or the application is void.
Opened a shop in Texas? Owners in the LTK Discord trade notes on insurance brokers, routing software and first hires.
Ask owners in the Discord(opens Discord in a new tab)Sources
- TDA SPCS — Structural Pest Control Business
- TDA SPCS — Insurance Requirements
- TDA SPCS — Certified Applicator Licensing
- TDA SPCS — Structural Pest Control Licensing
- TDA form SPC-401 Commercial Business License Application (rev. 05/15/18)
Fees and forms change. This is a summary of the state’s published rules, not legal advice — confirm with the agency before you file.
