Pennsylvania pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · 8 min read

The short answer

In Pennsylvania, a pesticide application business must record every application, not only restricted use: the date (and, for a product with a reentry time, the hour it was finished), the customer’s name and address, the site if different, the brand name and EPA number, the total used, the rate, and the name and certification or technician number of each person applying or supervising. Complete the record within 24 hours and keep it at least 3 years. PDA says lawn fertilizing needs no license of its own, but turf fertilizer has rate, season and setback limits.

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

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) regulates both. Its Bureau of Plant Industry, Division of Health and Safety regulates pesticides and pesticide applications, including applicator certification, under the Pesticide Control Act and 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128. Fertilizer falls under the same department, through 3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 68.

State law occupies the whole field for both: a local ordinance cannot regulate pesticide use where it conflicts with the Act, and a municipal fertilizer ordinance must be consistent with, and no more stringent than, Chapter 68. PDA can assess a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per offense under the Pesticide Control Act.

Sources: PDA: Pesticide Programs, 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128. Pesticides, Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act of 1973, 3 Pa.C.S. (Agriculture), Chapter 68, Fertilizer

Licenses you need

Pesticide application business license: needed by any business that applies pesticides on other people’s property. It runs to December 31 each year and costs $35 a year. Lawn care is business category (C), Ornamental and Turf Pest Control.
Certified applicator: the business must employ at least one at all times, and may only work in the applicator categories it has a certified applicator for. Lawn work is category 07, Lawn and Turf. Anyone who applies or supervises applications on another’s property must be certified as a commercial applicator.
Certification takes a proctored written core exam and category exam, at 18 or older. Commercial certificates cost $40 a year, expire September 30 and need recertification credits in core and category topics every 3 years. An applicator working for two businesses needs a certificate for each.
Registered technicians: noncertified employees may only apply under the direct supervision of a certified applicator. To apply without a certified applicator physically on site, they must be registered as pesticide application technicians, after at least 30 days of training run by a certified applicator with at least 1 year of experience in those categories. Technicians must be 16 or older, are registered annually ($30 a year for a commercial technician, expiring February 28, not transferable to another business) and need training every year.
Crews: a crew may work without a certified applicator on site only if everyone applying is a registered technician. Workers who are neither certified nor registered need a certified applicator physically present, in voice and visual contact. A certified applicator supervising technicians must be able to reach the site within 5 hours.
Fertilizer: PDA says lawn care providers need no license or registration to use fertilizer, but a pesticide license is needed for fertilizers that contain pesticides, such as weed and feed or preemergent products.

Tip: Your PDA license number goes on both sides of every vehicle used in pesticide application, in figures at least 3 inches high in a contrasting color. The business also needs liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and $100,000 for property damage, with a deductible of no more than $2,500.

Sources: 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128. Pesticides, Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act of 1973, PDA: Pesticide Application Businesses, PDA: Pesticide Applicators, Registered Technicians, and Certification Exams, PDA: Fertilizer, Frequently Asked Questions

What to record for each application

7 Pa. Code § 128.35 requires a record of every pesticide application, not only restricted-use ones. For lawn care, each record holds:

Date of application
For a pesticide with a reentry time on its label, the hour the application was completed
Name and address of the customer
Address and location of the application site, if different from the customer’s address
Brand name of each pesticide used
EPA product registration number
Total amount of each pesticide applied to the treated area, in pounds, ounces, gallons or liters
Dosage or rate of application (the concentration applied to the target, for example gallons per acre or pounds per 1,000 sq ft)
Name and certification or technician registration number of each person making or supervising the application
When it applies, the names of anyone involved who is neither certified nor registered

The record must be completed in written or printable form no later than 24 hours after the application.

Source: 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128. Pesticides

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Application records: at least 3 years, made immediately available to PDA on request.
In an emergency, product and application information must be made immediately available to medical personnel. On request, give PDA the brand name, EPA registration number and active ingredients of the pesticides you use.
Technician training: a business with technicians keeps records of the training given (completed within 24 hours of the training, kept at least 3 years, immediately available to PDA) and copies of each technician’s identification documents, kept secure against identity theft.
Customer copies: the rule that a customer gets a copy of the record within 30 days covers only restricted-use pesticides used to produce an agricultural commodity, not lawn care.

Sources: 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128. Pesticides, Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act of 1973

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

Get permission from the owner, or the occupant who has care of the property, before applying pesticides to it.

Neighbors who ask: a neighbor may ask a lawn care company in writing to be told of future applications on a property next door. This applies to businesses in categories 06 or 07, for neighboring property sharing a border within 100 feet of the application site.

The request names each neighboring property; your duty starts 7 days after you receive it, and requests expire on December 31 of the year they are made.
Notify the neighbor at least 12 hours before the application with the proposed date and time, the brand name and EPA number of every pesticide, and your business name, address and phone number.
If the neighbor asks in writing, send copies of the labels within 10 days.
Keep the requests and the notices you gave for 3 years. Tree injections are exempt.

Hypersensitivity registry: PDA sends every licensed business the current list by March 1 and July 15 each year. Before any application, notify each person on it whose primary residence or listed secondary location has a property line within 500 feet of the site.

Give the date, the site, the earliest start and latest finish time (no more than 24 hours apart), the brand name, EPA number and active ingredient of the products that may be used, and your business name, phone number and pesticide business license number.
Notify 12 to 72 hours before, by phone, in person, certified mail, or email or fax where available. After two failed phone attempts you may leave the written notice on the front door in that window.
Send a label copy within 10 days of a written request.
Record every contact and attempt, and make a record of the notice (its time and method) within 24 hours after the application; keep it at least 3 years and make it immediately available to PDA.
Applications below the soil surface, tree injections and tamper-resistant bait stations are exempt.

Restricted-use pesticides: before a nonagricultural application of a restricted-use pesticide, notify a person in every dwelling on land next to the site, and keep a record of how you gave notice, who asked for more information, the date and time of individual notices and related correspondence for 3 years.

We have not listed a lawn sign rule for Pennsylvania here. Ask PDA whether posting applies to your work.

Source: 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128. Pesticides

Fertilizer rules

Pennsylvania’s fertilizer law is 3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 68, added by Act 83 of 2022 and amended by Act 20 of 2023. For turf:

No more than 0.7 lb of readily available nitrogen, or 0.9 lb of total nitrogen, per 1,000 sq ft per application. For enhanced-efficiency nitrogen, no more than 0.7 lb per 1,000 sq ft released at any one time.
Zero phosphorus, unless the product is labeled for establishing turf for the first time or reestablishing or repairing it, or is an enhanced-efficiency, natural organic or organic-based phosphorus fertilizer; those are limited to 0.25 lb of phosphorus per 1,000 sq ft per application and 0.5 lb per year.
The rate limits do not apply under a site-specific plan based on a soil test from the previous three years done by Penn State’s procedures, with rates recommended by Penn State or another PDA-approved Pennsylvania university.
After December 15 and before March 1, no more than 0.5 lb of total nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft.
No nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer on ground frozen at least two inches deep or covered with snow.
None on driveways, sidewalks, patios, roads or other impervious surfaces; remove any that lands there right after the application.
Not within 15 feet of the top of the bank of a lake, pond, wetland, stream, river or creek, except at the top of the bank with a drop spreader, a rotary spreader with a deflector, a targeted spray or other targeted technology when establishing or maintaining a stream buffer.
Use a properly calibrated spreader or sprayer meant for fertilizer, never use fertilizer to melt snow or ice, and do not store or discard it where it could reach a storm drain or waterway.

PDA’s guidance also says not to apply fertilizer near water, storm drains or drainage ditches, or when heavy rain is expected. We did not confirm whether lawn care companies must keep a record of each fertilizer application; ask PDA.

Sources: 3 Pa.C.S. (Agriculture), Chapter 68, Fertilizer, Act of July 11, 2022, P.L. 1538, No. 83, Act of Nov. 1, 2023, P.L. 146, No. 20, PDA: Fertilizer, Homeowners and Applicators

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 Pennsylvania, Finish job asks the crew for the details Pennsylvania lists, and the records export with the columns in Pennsylvania’s order. Here is each item Pennsylvania lists, set against what the record actually holds. Keeping the record complete and correct is still your responsibility.

Pennsylvania record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
Pennsylvania asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Date of application	Date applied	Recorded
Hour the application was completed (products with a reentry time)	Time applied: when the job was finished (the office can correct it), plus the job’s start time; the re-entry time follows from the label’s interval	Recorded
Name and address of the customer	Customer, address, city, state, ZIP and county	Recorded
Address and location of the site, if different	The property’s address and where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), set on the job	Recorded
Brand name of each pesticide	Product name, from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
EPA registration number	EPA Reg. No., from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Total amount used	Total used	Recorded
Dosage or rate of application	Rate applied, mix ratio and gallons of mix applied, set on the job	Recorded
Name and certification or technician number of each person applying or supervising	Applied by (everyone who applied it) and Supervised by on each chemical, with each person’s certification or technician number when license-keeping is switched on	Recorded
Names of noncertified, nonregistered people involved	Each person’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, or not certified or registered) is kept on the record, and the export lists anyone applying who is neither certified nor registered	Recorded
Neighbor and registry notices (requests, contacts, time and method)	Chemical notices & contracts on the customer’s page: each neighbor request (received date and what it covers), each notice and registry contact or attempt with the time, method and products named, and the signed paper	Recorded
Technician training records and identification copies	Training and ID records for each person (date, who gave it, hours, what was covered, and a copy of the ID or certificate), seen only by owners and admins	Recorded

GroundsQuote keeps the neighbor and registry records, but it does not send the notices: give them yourself within the rule’s time limits. The visit email can tell the customer what was applied, but it is not a registry or neighbor notice: it does not carry your business license number or the start and finish window those notices need.

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), 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, 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, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered), license 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, N-P-K and slow-release %, formulation, restricted-use flag, signal word, re-entry interval, and a copy of the label on file
Amounts:: Rate applied (per area), area treated in sq ft, total product used, mix ratio, water or carrier, gallons of mix applied, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft
Job:: Target pest and the equipment used (both set on the job), service and crew
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
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
Changes:: Corrections are saved as history; the earlier record is kept

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 Pennsylvania sources, checked on October 10, 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.

Start your 30-day free trial

Chemical records are on the Pro and Business plans.

Questions

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

Every application. 7 Pa. Code § 128.35 requires a pesticide application business to keep a record of every pesticide application, not only restricted-use ones.

Can a technician treat lawns without a certified applicator on site?

Only if they are registered with PDA as a pesticide application technician, and only on a crew where everyone applying is a registered technician. A certified applicator supervising them must be able to reach the site within 5 hours.

Do I need a license to fertilize lawns in Pennsylvania?

PDA says no license or registration is needed to use fertilizer, but you must follow the label and the rate and site limits. Fertilizers that contain pesticides, such as weed and feed or preemergents, need a pesticide license.

Other states

Pesticide and fertilizer record rules by state →