West Virginia pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · 7 min read

The short answer

In West Virginia, commercial applicators and licensed pesticide application businesses must record every pesticide application, general use as well as restricted use: the brand name and EPA registration number, the formulation, dilution rate and quantity used, the time, date and place, the name and address of the customer, the pest, the site, the size of the area treated, and the name and certification number of each certified and non-certified applicator. Keep the records at least 2 years; the Department of Agriculture may inspect them or ask for them. Everyone applying pesticides for a business must be certified or a registered technician under a certified applicator’s supervision, though since 2022 the Act’s license provisions do not apply to unlicensed people applying lawn care products sold in general retail stores. We found no lawn-sign or customer notice rule for residential lawns and no turf fertilizer application law.

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

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Pesticides program regulates pesticides under the West Virginia Pesticide Control Act of 1990 (W. Va. Code Chapter 19, Article 16A) and licenses the companies and people who apply them. Its rules are 61 CSR 12A, “Certified Pesticide Applicator Rules”, and 61 CSR 12B, “Licensing of Pesticide Businesses”, both effective April 15, 2024; fees are in 61 CSR 12.

The Department may enter public or private premises, other than a dwelling house and its curtilage, at reasonable times after reasonable notice, to inspect equipment, lands exposed to pesticides and storage areas, and to investigate complaints.

Sources: WVDA: Pesticides, 61 CSR 12A Certified Pesticide Applicator Rules, 61 CSR 12B Licensing of Pesticide Businesses, 61 CSR 12 Fee Structure for the Pesticide Control Act of 1990, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-25 Right of commissioner to enter and inspect

Licenses you need

Pesticide application business license: no one may apply pesticides for hire without one. Since 2022 the Act’s license provisions do not apply to unlicensed people who apply, for pay or not, lawn care or pest control products generally available at groceries, drug stores and other stores selling a broad variety of consumer products. A business applying pesticides to the lands of others for hire is a Licensed Pesticide Application Business; the license costs $60 a year. Every branch office, franchise location, sub-office or worker location needs its own license.
The license is not issued until the owner, manager, partner or a corporate officer passes an exam on state and federal pesticide law and the safe use and storage of pesticides. The business must employ certified commercial applicators for each category it works in and is limited to those categories.
Insurance: before the license is issued, file a surety bond or general liability insurance of at least $300,000 for bodily injury or death and $100,000 for property damage, and tell the Department 45 days before it is reduced or cancelled. The Department’s license page also lists workers’ compensation, a current certificate of liability insurance and a copy of the business registration certificate.
Business licenses expire at midnight on December 31; apply to renew at least 30 days before. A license, permit or certification not renewed by April 1 needs a new exam, and renewing after January 15 adds a 25 percent penalty (50 percent after February 1).
Certified applicator: lawn care is the Ornamental and Turf category. Certification takes a written exam passed with at least 70% (the general standards and at least one category; $20 per session), one year of experience, education or training, and a minimum age of 18. A failed exam can be retaken after 28 days, then 56 days. The commercial applicator fee is $20 a year.
Recertification: 20 continuing certification units (10 hours) in each category every three years; one unit is 30 minutes of approved training.
Everyone applying pesticides as a business, restricted use or not, must be a certified applicator in the right category or a registered technician under the direct supervision of a certified commercial applicator. Restricted use pesticides may be used only by a certified applicator or someone under a certified applicator’s direct supervision.
Registered technicians: register each employee who performs pest control within 30 days of hiring. Each must finish Department-approved training, taught in part by a certified applicator, within 30 days and before registering; until then they may apply only with a certified applicator physically present. Technicians pay $20 a year, need 4 units (2 hours) in each category every year, and carry their Department ID card. Notify the Department in writing within 30 days when one leaves.

Sources: W. Va. Code § 19-16A-7 Annual pesticide business license, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-14 Exemptions, 61 CSR 12B Licensing of Pesticide Businesses, 61 CSR 12 Fee Structure for the Pesticide Control Act of 1990, WVDA: Licensed Pesticide Application Business, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-8 Financial security requirement for licensed pesticide business, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-13 Renewals, 61 CSR 12A Certified Pesticide Applicator Rules, WVDA: Pesticide Applicator Examination, WVDA: Commercial Applicator, WVDA: Registered Technician, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-16 Employee training program, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-10 Restricted use pesticides

What to record for each application

Under 61 CSR 12A § 9.1, commercial applicators keep records of the application of all pesticides, general use and restricted use alike; licensed businesses keep them too, as a condition of their license (61 CSR 12B §§ 7.1-7.2). Each record holds at least:

The pesticide brand name, with its EPA registration number
The formulation, the dilution rate and the quantity used
The time, date and place of application, with the name and address of the person it was applied for
The pest it was used against
The crop, commodity, stored product or site where it was applied
The size of the area treated
The name and certification number of each certified and non-certified applicator (the business rule says certification or registration number)

Ornamental and turf businesses may record the quantity as each applicator’s total for the day when less than 1 gallon of use-dilution spray or 1 pound of dust, powder or bait is used at any one location; above that, keep the location’s quantity separately. A licensed business’s records may serve as the records of its certified employees.

Before a non-certified applicator uses a restricted use pesticide, the commercial applicator must create or verify a record of how that person qualified; for someone qualified by registered technician training within the last 12 months it holds the person’s printed name and signature, the date the training was met, the trainer’s name and a title or description of the training.

Sources: 61 CSR 12A Certified Pesticide Applicator Rules, 61 CSR 12B Licensing of Pesticide Businesses, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-9 Records of pesticide businesses

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Application records: at least 2 years.
Restricted use qualification records for non-certified applicators: accessible at the principal place of business for 2 years from the date the person used the product.
The Department has access to all of a pesticide business’s records for inspection and may require them to be sent in. Failing to keep or submit them is grounds for revoking the license, and making false records or refusing to let the Department copy them are violations.
Penalties: a violation is a misdemeanor with a fine of $100 to $500 for a first offense and $500 to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both for a second. The Department may also assess civil penalties of up to $500 for a first, nonserious violation and up to $1,000 for a serious, repeat or intentional one; under its schedule a first records violation with no adverse effects draws a letter of warning.

Sources: 61 CSR 12A Certified Pesticide Applicator Rules, 61 CSR 12B Licensing of Pesticide Businesses, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-9 Records of pesticide businesses, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-21 Violations, W. Va. Code § 19-16A-22 Criminal penalties; civil penalties, 61 CSR 12F Assessment of Civil Penalties and Procedures for Consent Agreements or Negotiated Settlement

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

We found no lawn-sign, posting or customer pre-notification requirement for residential lawn applications in the Pesticide Control Act or its applicator and business rules.

Pesticide sensitivity registry: the Department keeps a registry of people with a physician-documented sensitivity to pesticide drift and sends it to pesticide application businesses “for voluntary notification”, every March or when a business is first licensed, with an update every four months or more often.
Schools and child care facilities: a licensed business contracted for a Level 3 (crack and crevice or spot) or Level 4 (broadcast or space) application must notify the school or child care administrator 48 hours before. The rule’s grounds include lawns, playgrounds and sports fields, and certified applicators working there must be certified in the General Pest Control and Urban Integrated Pest Management subcategories.

Sources: W. Va. Code § 19-16A-4 Powers and duties of the commissioner, 61 CSR 12E Registry of Persons with Health Sensitivity to Pesticide Drift, 61 CSR 12J Integrated Pest Management Programs in Schools and Child Care Centers/Facilities

Fertilizer rules

West Virginia’s Fertilizer Law (W. Va. Code Chapter 19, Article 15) and its rule (61 CSR 6) regulate the registration, labeling, inspection and sale of fertilizers. We found no applicator certification, application record, nitrogen or phosphorus limit, blackout date or setback for turf. The state’s nutrient management certification is for people who write nutrient management plans for farms.

Fertilizer sold for lawns is “specialty fertilizer”: its label must give the recommended rate per area, the timing and minimum intervals, and “Apply Only As Directed” or a similar statement.
Counties and cities may not regulate the use or application of fertilizers.

Sources: W. Va. Code Ch. 19, Art. 15 West Virginia Fertilizer Law, 61 CSR 6 Sale and Distribution of Fertilizer, W. Va. Code § 19-15-16a Local legislation prohibited, 61 CSR 6D Nutrient Management Certification

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

West Virginia record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
West Virginia asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Pesticide brand name	Product name, as entered in the chemical’s setup	Recorded
EPA registration number	EPA Reg. No., from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Formulation	Formulation, from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Dilution rate	Mix ratio and water or carrier, set on the job	Recorded
Quantity used	Total product used	Recorded
Time of application	Time applied is when the job was finished, not each product’s own time	Partly
Date of application	Date applied	Recorded
Place of application	Street address, city, state, ZIP and county of the property	Recorded
Name and address of the person it was applied for	Customer name and mailing address	Recorded
Pest it was used against	Target pest (editable on the job)	Recorded
Crop, commodity, stored product or site where applied	Where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), set on the job	Recorded
Size of the area treated	Area treated (sq ft)	Recorded
Name of each certified and non-certified applicator	Applied by: everyone riding with the crew that day starts checked, and the crew unchecks anyone who did not apply it	Recorded
Certification or registration number of each applicator	License number, kept only when license-keeping is switched on and the number is entered	Partly
Restricted use: how each non-certified applicator qualified (name, signature, date, trainer, training)	Kept beside the records as each person’s training record with a copy of the signed paper; there is no signature field	Partly

Keep each registered technician’s registration, training proof and continuing education units, your business license for each location and the Department’s sensitivity registry list yourself: GroundsQuote does not file them, count units or check addresses against the registry.

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 West Virginia 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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Chemical records are on the Pro and Business plans.

Questions

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

Both. West Virginia’s applicator rule asks commercial applicators to keep records of the application of all pesticides, and the business rule asks licensed pesticide application businesses for the same.

Do I have to record the EPA registration number for every product?

Yes. Both rules list the pesticide brand name including its EPA registration number as a record item, without limiting it to restricted use products.

Do I have to post signs or notify customers before treating a lawn?

We found no lawn-sign or customer pre-notification rule for residential lawns in the Pesticide Control Act or its applicator and business rules. The Department does send businesses a registry of people with a documented sensitivity to pesticide drift for voluntary notification, and at schools and child care facilities a business must notify the administrator 48 hours before a Level 3 or Level 4 application.

Does West Virginia regulate lawn fertilizer applications?

We found no turf fertilizer application law: no applicator certification, application record, nitrogen or phosphorus limit, blackout date or setback. Lawn fertilizer labels must give the rate, timing and minimum intervals, and counties and cities may not regulate fertilizer use or application.

Other states

Pesticide and fertilizer record rules by state →