Texas pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · 7 min read

The short answer

In Texas, lawn and ornamental pest control and weed control for hire are licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Structural Pest Control Service. The responsible certified applicator makes sure a record is kept of every pesticide use, general use as well as restricted use: the customer’s billing name and address, the service address, each product’s name and EPA registration number, the amount applied (or the mixing rate and total material for mixed products), the target pest or purpose, the date, and the name and license number of everyone applying, supervising or being trained, with the business’s TPCL number. Keep the records 2 years at the business location. Before an outdoor treatment at a home, make TDA’s consumer information sheet available. Texas’s fertilizer law sets no rules on how lawn fertilizer is applied.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and can depend on what you apply and where. Confirm what applies to your business with the Texas Department of Agriculture, Structural Pest Control Service and the product label before you rely on anything here.

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The Texas Department of Agriculture’s Structural Pest Control Service licenses and regulates the business of structural pest control under the Texas Structural Pest Control Act (Texas Occupations Code chapter 1951). That business includes inspecting for, bidding on or treating pests or diseases of trees, shrubs or other plantings next to a home, business, institutional building or street, for pay. TDA says this can cover landscape and lawn maintenance companies that offer weed and plant insect control around homes and businesses, and that it is commercial work needing commercial licenses.

TDA’s rules are 4 Texas Administrative Code chapter 7, subchapter H, “Structural Pest Control Service”. Cities and other local governments may not adopt their own ordinances on pesticide sale or use, except as the Act allows.

There is a second route: someone who treats grass, trees, shrubs or other plants under a TDA commercial or noncommercial applicator license issued under Agriculture Code chapter 76 that covers the work (or under the direct supervision of such a licensee) is outside the Structural Pest Control Act. Under chapter 76, buying or using restricted-use or state-limited-use pesticides or regulated herbicides takes an applicator license that covers them, or direct supervision by a licensed applicator, and a business applying them to another’s land for hire applies for a chapter 76 commercial applicator license.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1951, Texas Structural Pest Control Act, TDA Structural Pest Control Consumer Information, 4 TAC ch. 7 subchapter H, Structural Pest Control Service, Tex. Agric. Code ch. 76, Pesticide and Herbicide Regulation

Licenses you need

Structural pest control business license: required for each place of business, branch offices included. The business must employ a certified commercial applicator at all times and name a responsible certified commercial applicator for each location, who is responsible for training and supervising all of its pest control work. The license fee is $300; a business license expires on the last day of the month 12 months after it was issued.
Insurance: general liability of at least $500,000 for bodily injury and property damage with an annual aggregate of at least $1,000,000, filed on TDA’s form, kept for the whole license period, with at least 30 days’ notice to TDA before cancellation.
Categories: Lawn and Ornamental covers pests or diseases of trees, shrubs and other plantings in parks and around structures, businesses and streets; Weed Control covers weeds in rights-of-way, around homes, in parks and around structures and streets. A business license shows only the categories in which at least one certified applicator is actively licensed, and applicators and technicians may work only in the categories they hold.
Certified commercial applicator: pass the general standards exam and a category exam (70% to pass) and meet an experience or education requirement, such as 12 of the past 24 months in pest control under a certified applicator including at least 6 months as a licensed technician, or a related biological science degree. The license is $125, each exam $64. Each calendar year after the first, earn 2 continuing education units in general training (at least one in laws, pesticide safety, environmental protection or IPM) and 1 in each category, and keep each course certificate for 2 calendar years after the year it was earned.
Technician: licensed in at least one category and works under the direct supervision of a certified applicator, who must be physically present with the technician at least 1 day a week. Direct supervision means working under the instructions and control of a certified commercial applicator who is responsible for you and available for consultation; the certified applicator need not be at the application. Technicians need 8 hours of verifiable training each calendar year after the first, certified by the responsible certified applicator on TDA’s form. The license is $125.
Apprentice: a new employee (at least 16) is registered as an apprentice within 10 days of starting work; TDA gives the fee as $125. No pest control work without a technician or certified applicator physically present until 20 classroom hours of general training, plus 8 classroom hours and 40 hours of on-the-job training in each category, are done; after that a certified applicator must be with the apprentice at least 3 days a week. To become a technician, complete a TDA-approved technician course of at least 6 hours and pass the exam with 70% within the 12 months of the apprentice card.
Keep apprentice and technician training records in the business files for 2 calendar years after the year the training was completed, and tell TDA in writing within 10 days of hiring or letting go any licensee or apprentice.
Late renewals cost 1.5 times the fee up to 90 days late and twice the fee up to a year late.

Tip: Carry your license or apprentice card while working and show it to a customer or inspector who asks. Every service vehicle shows the business license number, permanently affixed, as “Texas Pest Control License #” or “TPCL #”, on both front fenders or both front doors, at least 2 inches high and 1 inch wide in a contrasting color. Contracts, warranties and service agreements carry the business name, license number, address, phone and TDA’s “Licensed and regulated by” statement; invoices carry the business name, license number, phone and address.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1951, Texas Structural Pest Control Act, 4 TAC ch. 7 subchapter H, Structural Pest Control Service, TDA SPCS Business License, TDA SPCS Certified Applicator Licensing, TDA SPCS Technician and Apprentice Licensing

What to record for each application

Under 4 TAC § 7.144, the responsible certified applicator makes sure correct and accurate records are kept of all uses of pesticides and pest control devices registered with EPA and TDA, including minimum-risk products exempt under FIFRA section 25(b). That means general use as well as restricted use. The rule says each record must include, but is not limited to:

The billing name and address of the customer
The service address where the products were used
The names of the pesticides and their EPA registration numbers (if registered), or the pest control devices used
The total amount of each ready-to-use pesticide applied
The pest control devices used and how many of each
For products mixed with water or another material: the mixing rate (or percentage of active ingredient) and the total amount of material applied
The target pest or purpose
The date
The name and license number of each person applying, supervising or receiving training, and the business’s TPCL number

Use every pesticide according to its labeling, including site, rate, concentration, interval and reentry interval. Keep a hard copy of the complete label of every pesticide you store, for as long as you store it, and have it ready for a TDA inspector where it is stored.

Failing to make and keep these records is grounds for license suspension, revocation, penalties or refusal to renew. A violation of the Act or TDA’s rules carries a civil penalty of $50 to $2,000 for each act and each day, TDA may assess an administrative penalty of up to $5,000 per violation, and a violation of the Act is a Class C misdemeanor (Class B after a prior conviction).

If you work under an Agriculture Code chapter 76 commercial applicator license instead, the chapter 76 rule (4 TAC § 7.33) asks for a record of every application, whatever the product’s classification, kept 2 years: the date and start time, the customer, the location, for each product the name, EPA number, rate per unit, total mix or material per unit and target pest, the site treated, the total area, wind direction and speed (outdoors), air temperature, the method or equipment, the licensed applicator’s name and license number and the person applying if different, any regulated herbicide spray permit number, and documentation of training for supervised workers. Keep it current at your principal place of business.

Sources: 4 TAC § 7.144 Pest Control Use Records, 4 TAC ch. 7 subchapter H, Structural Pest Control Service, Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1951, Texas Structural Pest Control Act, Tex. Agric. Code ch. 76, Pesticide and Herbicide Regulation, 4 TAC § 7.33 Records of Application (Agriculture Code ch. 76 applicators)

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Pesticide use records: 2 years, on the premises of the business location.
TDA can ask for them in writing or verbally, and may inspect them during normal business hours. TDA may enter a licensee’s premises during business hours to examine records, and inspects each licensed business at least once in its first year and at least every 4 years after.
Failing to give TDA true and accurate information about the methods and materials used or the work performed is grounds for disciplinary action.
Chapter 76 records: shown to TDA immediately on request during business hours, and copies sent within the time TDA sets in a written request.
Apprentice and technician training records, and certified applicators’ course certificates: 2 calendar years after the year the training was completed.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1951, Texas Structural Pest Control Act, 4 TAC § 7.144 Pest Control Use Records, 4 TAC ch. 7 subchapter H, Structural Pest Control Service, 4 TAC § 7.33 Records of Application (Agriculture Code ch. 76 applicators)

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

For an outdoor treatment at a private home that is not rental property, the certified applicator or technician must make TDA’s pest control information sheet available at the home before the treatment begins. At a rental property with fewer than five units, make it available at each unit at the time of treatment. TDA publishes a “Consumer Information Sheet: Lawn & Ornamental Insect Control” among its consumer information forms.

Texas’s 48-hour pest control sign and posting rules are for indoor treatments (rental properties with five or more units, workplaces, and buildings such as schools and hospitals). For outdoor work, the only sign rule is in TDA’s school district IPM rules: on school district grounds, mark the treated area with a sign at every entry point, or secure or monitor it to keep students out until the reentry time. We found no posting or lawn-sign rule for other outdoor lawn treatments in the Act or TDA’s structural pest control rules.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1951, Texas Structural Pest Control Act, TDA Structural Pest Control Consumer Information Forms, TDA Consumer Information Sheet: Lawn & Ornamental Insect Control (PDF), 4 TAC ch. 7 subchapter H, Structural Pest Control Service

Fertilizer rules

Texas’s commercial fertilizer law (Agriculture Code chapter 63) and its rules (4 TAC chapter 65, Office of the Texas State Chemist) cover permits, registration, labeling, inspection fees and sampling of fertilizer that is made or sold. They contain no applicator license, application record, nitrogen or phosphorus limit, blackout date or setback for lawn fertilizer.

Chapter 63 also overrides any city or county ordinance, order or rule on the sale, distribution, use or application of commercial fertilizer, so local lawn fertilizer ordinances are preempted.

Sources: Tex. Agric. Code ch. 63, Commercial Fertilizer, 4 TAC ch. 65 Commercial Fertilizer Rules

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

Texas record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
Texas asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Billing name and address of the customer	Customer name and mailing address (the billing address is kept only when a mailing address is entered on the customer; otherwise the property address)	Partly
Service address	Street address, city, state, ZIP and county of the property	Recorded
Pesticide names and EPA registration numbers	Product name and EPA Reg. No., from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Pest control devices used and how many of each	Not kept: the record covers chemicals only	Not recorded
Total amount of each ready-to-use pesticide	Total product used	Recorded
Mixing rate (or % active ingredient) and total material applied, for mixed products	Mix ratio and gallons of mix applied, set on the job; active ingredients from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Target pest or purpose	Target pest (editable on the job)	Recorded
Date	Date applied	Recorded
Name and license number of each person applying and supervising	Applied by and Supervised by, with license numbers when license-keeping is switched on	Recorded
Name and license number of each person receiving training	Listed only if checked as one of the people who applied it	Partly
Business TPCL number	Business license number, when license-keeping is switched on	Recorded
Chapter 76 route: start time of the application	Job start time (the job’s, not each product’s)	Partly
Chapter 76 route: site treated, total area, rate and total mix per unit	Where on the property, area treated, rate applied and gallons of mix applied	Recorded
Chapter 76 route: wind direction and speed, air temperature	Weather from the nearest station at the start and finish, and conditions on site confirmed or measured by the crew	Recorded
Chapter 76 route: method or equipment	Equipment used, set on the job	Recorded
Chapter 76 route: regulated herbicide spray permit number	Not kept	Not recorded

Pest control devices, trainees who did not apply anything and regulated herbicide permit numbers need to be kept outside GroundsQuote. GroundsQuote does not hand out TDA’s consumer information sheet; a copy of a notice given can be kept with the customer’s notices.

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
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
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 Texas 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.

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Questions

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

Both. 4 TAC § 7.144 covers all uses of pesticides and pest control devices registered with EPA and TDA, including minimum-risk products exempt from registration, so every lawn application by a licensed business is recorded.

Do I need a license just to spray weeds or treat lawn insects for customers?

Yes, if you do it for pay. Weed control around homes and pest or disease control on trees, shrubs and other plantings are structural pest control in Texas, licensed by TDA’s Structural Pest Control Service in the Weed Control and Lawn and Ornamental categories, unless you work under a TDA Agriculture Code chapter 76 commercial applicator license that covers the work. TDA says this can include landscape and lawn maintenance companies that offer weed and plant insect control.

Do I have to put up a lawn sign after treating a yard in Texas?

We found no lawn-sign or posting rule for outdoor lawn treatments at homes in the Act or TDA’s structural pest control rules; the 48-hour sign rules are for indoor treatments, and the only outdoor sign rule is for school district grounds. For an outdoor treatment at a home that is not rental property, you must make TDA’s pest control information sheet available at the home before the treatment begins.

Does Texas limit when or how much lawn fertilizer I can apply?

We found no state rule on it. Texas’s fertilizer law and rules cover registering, labeling and selling fertilizer, not applying it to lawns, and the law preempts city and county fertilizer ordinances.

Other states

Pesticide and fertilizer record rules by state →