PF - FAQs

• How do I obtain a Kansas pesticide business license?

  
  

  1. Submit a completed and signed application.
  2. The owner or one or more employees of the business must be a certified commercial applicator in each category for which the license application is made.
  3. Submit one of the following forms of proof of financial responsibility: surety bond, certificate of liability insurance, letter of credit or escrow account.
  4. Pay the required fees.
     • License application: $140 per category
     • Uncertified applicator: $15 per uncertified individual employed to apply pesticides
     • Registered Technician: $40 less $15 uncertified applicator fee, if previously paid. (Only for subcategories 3A, 3B, 3C, 7A, 7E)
  5. Kansas corporations are required to be registered with the Secretary of State and must be in good standing with that office before a business license can be issued.

  (K.S.A. 2-2440(b) and 2-2440b)

• Who is required to have a Kansas pesticide business license?

  Pesticide businesses who advertise, offer for sale, sell or perform any service for the control of a pest or apply a pesticide on the property of another for compensation are required to obtain a Kansas Pesticide Business License. Only the following are exempted:

  1. Any person or their employee who applies pesticides on or at premises they own, lease or operate
  2. Veterinarians or physicians making pesticide applications as part of their professional services
  3. Governmental agencies

  (K.S.A. 2-2440)
  
  Note:  Lawn mowing companies that apply weed & feed fertilizers or spray for weeds in fence lines or concrete cracks need pesticide business licenses - even if they buy their products at a regular retail store.

• What are the categories of Kansas pesticide business licenses?

  Category 1, Agricultural Pest Control - in the production of agricultural crops and animals
  Category 2, Forest Pest Control - in forest, forest nurseries and forest seed producing areas
  Category 3, Ornamental, Turf Pest Control and Interior Landscape - to control pests in the maintenance and production of ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers and turf
  Category 4, Seed Treatment - pesticide applied to seeds
  Category 5, Aquatic Pest Control - purposefully applied to standing or running water
  Category 6, Right-of-Way Pest Control - maintenance of public roads, powerlines, railways

  Category 7, Industrial, Institutional, Structural and Health Related Pest Control - in, on or around food handling establishments, human dwellings, institutions such as schools and hospitals, industrial establishments including warehouses, grain elevators, food processing plants, and any other structures and adjacent areas, public or private, and for the protection of stored, processed, or manufactured products
  (K.S.A. 2-2444a and K.A.R. 4-13-3)
  

   

• Do I have to mark my vehicle?

  Category 3 and 7 Vehicles
  Pesticide businesses licensed in Categories 3 and 7 must mark any vehicle used in the application of pesticides, including any vehicle used in transporting pesticide application equipment to an application site. The business name or registered trade name and the pesticide business license number must be placed on each side of the vehicle, with letters and numbers not less than 1½ inches in height and in a color contrasting from that of the vehicle. (K.A.R. 4-13-6)

  Aircraft - Category 1
  Each pesticide business licensed in Category 1 which uses aircraft to apply pesticides must identify each aircraft with a decal furnished by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Decals will not be issued until all licensing requirements are met and are not transferable. For fixed wing aircraft, the decal shall be affixed to and prominently displayed on the left rear portion of the cockpit or canopy or on the left rear portion of the fuselage near the rear of the cockpit or canopy. For rotary wing aircraft, the decal must be affixed to and prominently displayed on the left side of the aircraft but not on the tail rotor. (K.A.R. 4-13-19)

• Do I need to be certified to conduct termite inspections?

  If your termite inspections are associated with real estate transactions or loans secured by interests in real estate, Kansas requires that you have a current commercial pesticide applicator certification in subcategory 7A, wood destroying pest control.  The requirement is not a part of our Kansas Pesticide Law even though we administer the certification exams and issue the certifications. 

  The requirement is part of the Kansas Attorney General's Kansas consumer protection act and states as follows:

  50-6,113. Pest inspections relating to real estate transactions; certification required; deceptive act.

  (a) Any person performing inspections for evidence of wood destroying insects, at the request of a buyer, seller, real estate broker, real estate salesperson, relocation company or financial institution, in connection with a real estate transaction or a loan secured by an interest in real estate shall hold, at the time of inspection, a valid certification, issued pursuant to the Kansas pesticide law, which authorizes the person to use or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides in the control of wood destroying insects.

  (b) Any person who performs an inspection specified in subsection (a) and who fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (a), shall be guilty of a deceptive act or practice in violation of K.S.A. 50-626, and amendments thereto.

  (c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any employee of the Kansas department of agriculture who performs an inspection for evidence of wood destroying insects as a part of such employee's duties pursuant to the Kansas pesticide law.

  (d) This section shall be a part of and supplemental to the Kansas consumer protection act.

  History: L. 2007, ch. 64, § 1; July 1.

   

  For more information about Kansas commercial applicator certification, go to Commercial Applicator Certification.