California pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 11, 2026 · 9 min read

The short answer

In California, anyone in the business of pest control for hire must keep a use record of every pesticide application, general use as well as restricted: the date and time, the name of the property’s operator (the customer), the location, the site treated, the acreage or units treated, and the pesticide with its EPA or California registration number and the amount used. Restricted materials add the certified applicator’s name and license number and the names of noncertified applicators. Keep records 2 years. Each month you also report a summary of your pesticide use to the agricultural commissioner of each county you worked in, by the 10th of the next month, and you must tell the customer the date, the pesticide and its precautions before each application. California’s fertilizer law sets no turf application rules.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and can depend on what you apply and where. Confirm what applies to your business with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the product label before you rely on anything here.

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) licenses and certifies people and businesses that apply pesticides for hire, including pest control businesses and maintenance gardener pest control businesses. County agricultural commissioners carry out local enforcement of the state program under the Director’s supervision, and they take the monthly use reports and the yearly county registrations.

The rules for pest control operations are Title 3, California Code of Regulations, Division 6, Chapter 3 (sections 6500–6799). DPR publishes a copy and names Barclays’ Official California Code of Regulations as the official text.

DPR’s pest control business packet says a business license is required for anyone who performs pest control for hire, meaning advertising, soliciting or operating as a pest control business, at the main location and each branch. Pest control incidental to new construction, including establishing new landscapes, needs no business license, but anyone using or supervising restricted materials still needs a Qualified Applicator License or Certificate.

Sources: DPR: Apply for a License, 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 1 Pesticide Regulatory Program (§ 6000 Definitions), DPR copy, 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 3 Pest Control Operations (§§ 6500–6799), DPR copy, California Legislature: Food and Agricultural Code and Education Code (official bulk data, current text), DPR: California Code of Regulations (Title 3), Division 6 index, DPR: Pest Control Business License Packet (PDF)

Licenses you need

Pest control business license: a pest control business must have at least one person in a supervisory position at each main and branch location who holds a valid Qualified Applicator License (QAL) in the right categories. The QAL holder supervises the business’s applications and is responsible for its safe and legal operation.
Category B, Landscape Maintenance Pest Control: covers pest control in the maintenance of existing planted or artificial ornamental plants and turf around residences, parks, streets and commercial, industrial and institutional buildings, but not direct application to water or fumigants. Category A (Residential, Industrial and Institutional) does not include landscape maintenance pest control for hire.
Maintenance gardener pest control business: DPR says this license is for a maintenance gardener (mowing, yard cleanup, care of plants and turf) who occasionally does pest control in support of the gardening business; if pest control is the business’s primary purpose, a pest control business license is needed. It must be supervised by a holder of a Category B license or certificate, or a Qualified Applicator Certificate (QAC) in Subcategory Q (Maintenance Gardener), with at least one qualified person at each business location.
Subcategory Q allows incidental pest control in ornamental and turf plantings indoors, in commercial parks or around structures under a maintenance gardener business license. It does not allow buying or using restricted materials or applying directly to water.
A QAC holder may supervise applications but not the operations of a pest control business, except a maintenance gardener business. A QAL or QAC is needed to apply or supervise the application of federally restricted use pesticides or California restricted materials.
Exams: applicants must be at least 18, pass a Laws, Regulations and Basic Principles exam and at least one category exam (Subcategory Q applicants take only the Q exam), and need 70 percent to pass.
Fees: a new pest control business license is $360 a year plus $180 per branch, a maintenance gardener business $180, a QAL $180 new and $135 a year to renew, a QAC $90 new and $70 a year to renew, and $115 per exam.
Renewal: licenses and certificates run up to two years and expire December 31, names starting A–L in even-numbered years and M–Z in odd-numbered years. A renewal not postmarked by December 31 owes a 50 percent penalty. For a business, the supervising individual’s license or certificate must be renewed before the business license.
Continuing education: QAL and QAC holders need 20 hours of approved continuing education per two-year period, at least 4 on pesticide laws and regulations; holders of only Subcategory Q need 8 hours, at least 2 on laws and regulations. Without the hours, or after 12 months without a valid license, you apply again and retake the exams.
Insurance: for ground applications a pest control business carries at least $100,000 per person / $300,000 per occurrence bodily injury and $50,000 property damage (or a $75,000 certificate of deposit or surety bond). A maintenance gardener business may instead carry $5,000 / $10,000 / $5,000, a $5,000 deposit or bond, or state under penalty of perjury that it can pay chemical damages from its own assets.
County registration: a pest control business, maintenance gardener businesses included, may not advertise, solicit or operate in a county until it has registered with that county’s agricultural commissioner for the current calendar year. DPR’s packets say to register before doing any work and bring the business license, the qualified person’s card and an inventory of pest control equipment. Most counties charge a yearly fee; Los Angeles County, for example, charged $25 for 2026, with a $5 late fee after January 31, and says the requirement also covers maintenance gardeners and landscape contractors doing chemical weed control.
Restricted materials may be possessed or used only under a permit from the county agricultural commissioner, except that federally restricted use products on the state list only under section 6400(a) need no permit when used by or under a certified applicator unless the commissioner requires one. When a noncertified employee uses a restricted material, the supervising certified applicator must check the employee’s training records, give site- and pesticide-specific instructions and be available to direct the work (or be present when the label, permit or rules require).
Notify the Director in writing immediately of any change in name, business address, organization, qualified person, bond, insurance or other application information.

Tip: Every ground rig and service rig used to mix or apply pesticides must be marked with the business name (or “Licensed Pest Control Operator” or similar) and its license number, readable at 25 feet. No one under 18 may handle a restricted material or mix or load a pesticide that requires a respirator, closed system or full chemical-resistant clothing.

Sources: DPR: Pest Control Business License Packet (PDF), California Legislature: Food and Agricultural Code and Education Code (official bulk data, current text), 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 1 Pesticide Regulatory Program (§ 6000 Definitions), DPR copy, 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 3 Pest Control Operations (§§ 6500–6799), DPR copy, DPR: Maintenance Gardener Pest Control Business License Packet (PDF), DPR: Qualified Applicator License Packet (PDF), DPR: Qualified Applicator Certificate Packet (PDF), 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 2 Pesticides (restricted materials, supervision, permits), DPR copy, Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner: Maintenance Gardener Pest Control Business 2026 Registration Information (PDF)

What to record for each application

Under 3 CCR 6624, anyone engaged for hire in the business of pest control keeps pesticide use records, for general use as well as restricted pesticides. Each record holds:

The date and time of the application
The name of the operator of the property treated (the owner or the person legally entitled to possess or use it)
The location of the property treated
The crop, commodity or site treated
The total acreage or units treated at the site
The pesticide, including the U.S. EPA or California registration number on the label, and the amount used

The extra items in 6624(c) (start and end times, township and range, operator and site ID numbers, method, applicator names) apply only to production agriculture. For pest control for hire at a school site, the record also shows the time the application was completed, the school’s name and address, and where at the school it was applied.

When a restricted material is used by or under a certified commercial applicator, the record also shows the address of the person it was used for (unless their permit or operator ID number is recorded), the certified applicator’s name and license or certificate number, the names of any noncertified applicators under their direct supervision, and the address where those applicators’ training records are kept.

A copy of the registered labeling that allows the use must be available at each use site.
No pesticide may be applied to a property without the consent of its owner or operator.
Before and during an application, weigh the equipment, weather, the property and surrounding properties, and do not apply when people not involved, nontarget property or animals may reasonably be contaminated or harmed.
Listed pyrethroids (such as bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, permethrin) applied outdoors at residential and other sites may go on lawn or turf only as a spot, pin-stream, a perimeter band up to 3 feet from a building, or a broadcast no closer than 2 feet to pavement; sweep granules off pavement, and do not apply during rain, to standing water, to drains or gutters, or within 25 feet downslope of aquatic habitat.
Products containing clopyralid may not be applied to residential lawns at all, and on other lawn and turf only if the grass clippings stay on the property.

Sources: 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 3 Pest Control Operations (§§ 6500–6799), DPR copy, 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 1 Pesticide Regulatory Program (§ 6000 Definitions), DPR copy, 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 4 Environmental Protection, DPR copy

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Keep pesticide use records for 2 years and make them promptly available to the Director or the county agricultural commissioner on request.
Employers keep the use records of pesticides their employees handled, the matching Pesticide Safety Information Series leaflets and a Safety Data Sheet for each pesticide at a central location the handlers can reach, display the completed leaflet N-8 (handlers in noncrop settings) before employees handle pesticides, and give an employee, their representative or their doctor access to required records within 48 hours of a request.
Train each handler before they handle pesticides and at least once a year. Record the date and extent of training, the materials used, the employer and the trainer, have the employee sign it, and keep it 2 years at a central workplace location.
Certified applicators count as trained. When a restricted material is used by an applicator whose license or certificate does not cover the use, the employer keeps a copy of that license, or a record of its type, number, categories, expiry and issuer, for 2 years from the use.
We found no rule requiring a lawn care business to give the customer a copy of its application records.

Source: 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 3 Pest Control Operations (§§ 6500–6799), DPR copy

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

For non-agricultural applications, the person doing pest control must make sure the operator of the property (the customer) is told before each application, orally or in writing, the date, the identity of the pesticide (brand or common chemical name, including adjuvants) and any label or legal precautions for protecting people during the application. The customer in turn tells everyone on the property, or who may enter during the application or any entry restriction, the date, the pesticide and the precautions for entering the treated area. No wording is prescribed.

California’s field posting and completed-application notice rules are written for agricultural fields and fieldworkers; we found no state rule requiring lawn signs on residential or commercial turf. We also found no state neighbor or sensitive-person notification registry for landscape applications; DPR’s SprayDays site covers only intended agricultural use of restricted materials.

Schools and child care (Healthy Schools Act):

At public schools and child care centers the school designee, not the contractor, posts a “Warning/Pesticide Treated Area” sign from 24 hours before the application until 72 hours after it, naming the product, manufacturer, EPA registration number, intended date and areas, and reason. DPR publishes a template for it.
A business hired to apply pesticides at a child day care facility (not a family day care home) must give the facility’s designee, at least 120 hours in advance (except emergencies), the product name, manufacturer, EPA registration number, active ingredients, areas, intended date and reason.
Anyone hired to apply a pesticide at a school site must complete at least a one-hour DPR-approved IPM and pesticide safety course before applying there and in each later licensing period; it can count toward continuing education.

Sources: 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 3 Pest Control Operations (§§ 6500–6799), DPR copy, DPR: Final Text of the Healthy Schools Act (PDF), DPR: Healthy Schools Act pesticide warning sign template (PDF), DPR: Table of Healthy Schools Act Responsibilities (PDF), California Legislature: Food and Agricultural Code and Education Code (official bulk data, current text), DPR: Pesticide Use in California

Fertilizer rules

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program is an industry-funded program of registration, inspection and research that checks fertilizing materials are safe and effective and meet their guarantees. It is unlawful to sell an unregistered fertilizer product in California. A fertilizing materials license is required of every person who manufactures or distributes fertilizing materials, for each plant and business location; retail sellers of packaged products bearing another licensee’s registered label are exempt.

California’s fertilizer law covers licensing, registration, inspection fees, tonnage reports, labeling, sampling and penalties. It sets no applicator certification, application records, nitrogen or phosphorus limits, blackout dates or setbacks for turf.

Sources: CDFA: Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program, CDFA: Fertilizer Laws and Regulations (PDF), CDFA: Do I Need A Fertilizing Materials License? (PDF), California Legislature: Food and Agricultural Code and Education Code (official bulk data, current text)

Reports filed with the state

Everyone who must keep use records under 6624, other than production agriculture, reports a monthly summary of pesticide use to the agricultural commissioner of each county where the work was done, by the 10th of the following month (a mailed report’s postmark is the delivery date). The summary shows the applicator’s name and address, the county, the month and year, the site (or a use code), each pesticide with its EPA or California registration number and the amount used, the number of applications per pesticide and in total, and acres or units treated (except with a use code).

DPR’s form DPR-PML-060 says landscape maintenance gardener pest control businesses, agricultural pest control businesses performing residential work and structural pest control businesses report all applications, including spray adjuvants and plant growth regulators. Use code 30, “Landscape Maintenance Pest Control”, covers landscape plantings around homes and buildings, golf courses, parks and cemeteries.
On the form each separate site (home, apartment complex, building) counts as one application, each pesticide in a tank mix is credited with one application, the amount is the product as packaged (not the diluted mix), and a separate report is filed for each county.
A licensed business that does no pest control work in a month in a county where it is registered still files a report saying so by the 10th of the next month.
DPR says most use reports are filed electronically through CalAgPermits; paper forms go to the county where the application took place.
Applications at a public K-12 school site or child day care facility are also reported to DPR at least once a year, by January 30 of the next year, on form DPR-ENF-117 (business, county, date and time, school name and address, location, pesticide with registration number, amount used).
Any emergency or accidental release of pesticides must be reported to the commissioner as soon as practicable, with the location, the pesticide and the estimated amount.

The statute requires the business registered in a county to keep a record of each property treated and report it as the Director or commissioner requires; refusing or neglecting to keep those records or make those reports is unlawful. A county agricultural commissioner may levy a civil penalty of up to $3,000 per violation, or up to $15,000 for a Class A violation, after written notice and the chance of a hearing.

Tip: GroundsQuote gives you the monthly totals; you file the report. Its totals export can be run for one month, by county, supervisor or product (California only, and restricted use only if you want), with the total used as formulated and the number of record lines and jobs per product. Its count is close to but not exactly DPR’s rule for applications, it has no use code, operator ID or county number, and it is not in DPR-PML-060’s or CalAgPermits’ format, so copy the figures onto each county’s report and file it, including months with no work, yourself.

Sources: 3 CCR Division 6, Chapter 3 Pest Control Operations (§§ 6500–6799), DPR copy, DPR-PML-060 Monthly Summary Pesticide Use Report, with instructions (PDF), DPR: Pesticide Use Reporting, DPR: Healthy Schools Act and Training, DPR-ENF-117 School Site and Child Day Care Facility Pesticide Use Reporting by a Business (PDF), California Legislature: Food and Agricultural Code and Education Code (official bulk data, current text)

How GroundsQuote’s chemical records line up

GroundsQuote keeps an application record for each chemical a crew puts down on a job. On a job at a property in California, Finish job asks the crew for the details California lists, and the records export with the columns in California’s order. Here is each item California lists, set against what the record actually holds. Keeping the record complete and correct is still your responsibility.

California record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
California asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Date and time of the application	Date and time applied (when the job was finished), with the job’s start and finish times (the office can correct them) and each chemical’s own start and finish when entered	Recorded
Name of the operator of the property treated	Customer name	Recorded
Location of the property treated	Address, unit number (on the property), city, state, ZIP and county	Recorded
Crop, commodity or site treated	Where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), with the service; required on California jobs	Recorded
Total acreage or units treated	Area treated (sq ft)	Recorded
Pesticide with its EPA or California registration number, and the amount used	Product name, EPA Reg. No. and state registration number from the chemical’s setup, and total used	Recorded
School site: time completed, school name and address, where at the school	The job’s finish time, the customer name and address, and where on the property	Recorded
Restricted materials: address of the person it was used for	Customer mailing address and the property address	Recorded
Restricted materials: certified applicator’s name and license or certificate number	Supervised by, offered on California jobs, and everyone who applied it, with license numbers when license-keeping is switched on	Recorded
Restricted materials: names of noncertified applicators under direct supervision	Applied by: everyone riding with the crew that day starts checked, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered); trainees offered on California jobs	Recorded
Restricted materials: address where the noncertified applicators’ training records are kept	Not kept: training records can be kept for each person, but the record does not carry the address where they are kept	Not recorded
Monthly summary to each county: products, registration numbers, amounts, number of applications, use code	The totals export for one month by county, supervisor or product, with total used as formulated, applications and jobs; no use code and not on DPR’s form: you fill in and file the report yourself	Partly
Report saying no work was done, for each registered county in a month with none	Not handled by GroundsQuote: file it yourself	Not recorded
Healthy Schools Act: 120-hour notice to a child day care facility and the yearly DPR-ENF-117 report	Not handled by GroundsQuote: send the notice and file the report yourself; you can log a notice on the customer’s page	Not recorded
Continuing education hours and license renewals	Not handled by GroundsQuote: each person’s license expiry can be kept, but hours and renewals are yours	Not recorded

Use the totals export’s monthly figures to fill in and file the monthly use report for each county you are registered in (including months with no work) yourself; register with each county every year, and tell each customer the date, the pesticide and its precautions before every application; GroundsQuote’s visit reminder does not name the pesticide. Keep the county restricted materials permits, handler training signed by each employee, the posted N-8 leaflet, Safety Data Sheets, continuing education hours, licenses and insurance outside GroundsQuote, and handle the Healthy Schools Act reports and notices yourself.

Everything a GroundsQuote application record holds

When:: Date and time applied (when the job was finished), job start and finish times (the office can correct them), each chemical’s own start and finish when several go down on one job, and when people may go back onto the lawn (from the label’s re-entry interval)
Where:: Customer name, phone and mailing address, street address, unit number, city, state, ZIP and county of the property, and where on the property it went (front lawn, beds, fence line…)
Who:: Everyone who applied it (the crew riding that day starts checked) and the person supervising, trainees and people who planned it, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered), license number, certification or ID number, category and expiry, and the business license when license-keeping is switched on
Product:: Name, type, manufacturer, EPA registration number, state registration number, EUP / Section 18 / 24(c) number, active ingredients, scientific name, concentration, N-P-K and slow-release %, formulation, restricted-use flag, signal word, re-entry interval, the label’s precautions, and copies of the label, safety data sheet and fact sheets on file
Amounts:: Rate applied (per area), area treated in sq ft, total product used, mix ratio, use dilution (%), water or carrier (gallons, and the carrier when it is not water), gallons of mix applied, devices placed, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft
Job:: Target pest and the equipment used (both set on the job), the vehicle or sprayer’s license plate, where it was mixed and loaded, permit number, other records the label requires, the supervisor’s instructions, whether the drift plan was used, a review sign-off with the reviewer’s license number and corrective action, a map of the treated area attached to the job, service and crew; your business name, address and phone
Weather:: From the nearest weather station at the start and finish (temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, gusts, rain in the last hour, conditions), and the conditions on site: the crew confirms the station reading or enters the wind, direction and temperature they measured
Your state:: Each job follows the rules of the state its property is in: Finish job asks for the details that state lists and waits until they are filled in, and the records export in that state’s column order
Paperwork:: An application statement for each job to print, leave or email (each product with its EPA number, active ingredients, type, purpose, rate, amount and mix, where on the property, the date and time, who applied it, the re-entry time and your notes for the customer, with the state’s own lines), and lawn signs laid out from the state’s rule
Kept beside the records:: Each person’s training, ID copies and certificates and what they are responsible for; neighbor requests and notices, registry notices and attempts, notices given to customers, signed waivers and contracts, each with a copy of the paper; soil tests per property; incidents, disposal and purchases in the chemical logs; totals for a year or a month by county, supervisor or product; whether a customer agreed in writing to get application information by email
Changes:: Corrections are saved as history; the earlier record is kept
Reminders:: Finish job reminds the crew of the state’s own steps (a record deadline, trainee paperwork) and warns when a restricted-use chemical has nobody certified applying or supervising it; the schedule lists chemical jobs left without a record in states with a deadline

See how it works on the job in chemical records and field tools, or read about GroundsQuote for lawn treatment companies.

Official sources

Everything on this page comes from these California sources, checked on October 11, 2026. Read them for the full text and any changes since.

Keep application records as the crew finishes the job

Set the chemicals each service uses once. The crew sees the planned amounts for each lawn, and finishing the job saves the record with the product, rate, area, applicator and weather.

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Questions

Do I need records for general use products, or only restricted materials?

Both, for for-hire work. California’s rule covers every pesticide application made in the business of pest control for hire, general use as well as restricted. Restricted materials add the certified applicator’s name and license number, the names of noncertified applicators under their supervision, and where their training records are kept.

Do I have to report my pesticide use to the county?

Yes. A monthly summary of pesticide use goes to the agricultural commissioner of each county where you worked, by the 10th of the next month, and a business registered in a county files a report saying it did no work there in a month with none. DPR says most reports are filed through CalAgPermits. GroundsQuote gives you each month’s totals by county; you fill in and file the report yourself.

Must I tell the customer before I spray?

Yes. Before each non-agricultural application, the customer must be told, orally or in writing, the date, the pesticide’s brand or common chemical name (including adjuvants) and any label or legal precautions for protecting people during the application. We found no state rule requiring lawn signs on residential or commercial turf.

Which license does a mowing company that sometimes sprays weeds need?

DPR’s Maintenance Gardener Pest Control Business license is for a maintenance gardener who occasionally does pest control in support of the gardening business, supervised by a Category B license or certificate holder or a QAC in Subcategory Q. Subcategory Q does not allow restricted materials. If pest control is the business’s primary purpose, a Pest Control Business license is needed. Register with each county you work in either way.

Does California have a turf fertilizer law for lawn care companies?

We found none. California’s fertilizer law covers licensing, registration, fees, tonnage reports, labeling and sampling of fertilizing materials; it sets no applicator certification, application records, nitrogen or phosphorus limits, blackout dates or setbacks for turf.