How Do I Check a Louisiana Pest Control License?

Who licenses pest control in Louisiana?

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, through its Structural Pest Control Commission, is the licensing body for structural pest control. The commission was created within the department, according to the state legislature's published law.

The department and its commission are the places to check a license, and the place to ask about the rules that apply to the work. The state legislature's website carries the law that created the commission, and the department's own pages set out the licensing process in more detail.

A homeowner who wants to know whether a company is entitled to apply pesticides in Louisiana is asking a question the department can answer. The homeowner should not rely on a website's own statement, including this one, when a regulator's record is available.

What is the difference between a business license and an applicator certification?

A business needs the appropriate license for the work it does. A person who applies pesticides needs a separate certification as an applicator. The two are different credentials, and a homeowner should ask about both.

A business license covers the company as an entity and the categories of work it is allowed to do. An applicator certification covers the individual who mixes and applies the product in the home. A company can hold a license and still have a technician whose certification is not current, and the homeowner should check both.

Ask who will apply the product. The answer should name the person or the role and say how that person is certified. A vague answer such as 'our team is trained' is not an answer to the question about certification.

How do I check it with LDAF?

Use the department's published licensing pages, and compare the license number and the company's name with what the department shows. If the detail cannot be matched, ask the company to explain before work begins.

The department publishes information about structural pest control licensing on its own website, and the commission's pages describe how a business and an applicator are licensed. Check the license number against the department's record, and check that the name on the license matches the name on the invoice and the contract.

If a company cannot give a number, or the number does not match the department's record, do not sign anything and do not pay a deposit. A company that cannot be checked should not be engaged, whatever the price or the promise.

Are there exam details I should know?

The department has changed how exams are taken in recent years. This guide does not give exam details, because they change, and the department's own pages should be checked for the current arrangements before a person plans to sit one.

A homeowner who is considering a career in the trade, or who is checking whether an applicator has passed the required exam, should read the department's current pages. Exam formats and locations are the kind of detail that changes, and a guide that quotes them can be out of date by the time it is read.

For a homeowner the practical question is simpler: is the person who applies the product certified now? That is the answer to check, and the department's record is where it can be checked.

What should I do if something does not match?

Stop before any work begins. Ask the company to explain the mismatch in writing, and if it is not resolved, contact the department and describe what you were told.

A mismatch can be innocent, such as an old name or a new branch. It can also be a sign the company is not entitled to do the work. Either way, the homeowner should not proceed until the mismatch is explained.

The department is the regulator for the trade, so a complaint about a licence or an applicator goes to the department. Keep a note of the company's name, the number given, the date and the answers, so that the complaint can be made with the detail the department needs.

What the department's pages are for

The department's published pages are the place to find the current licensing process, the forms for an applicator or a business and the contact for questions. They are the authoritative source, and this guide points to them rather than repeating them in full.

The licensing process changes over time, and the forms and the contacts are the part most likely to be out of date in a guide. A homeowner should use the department's pages to confirm the current process, and treat any summary, including this one, as a starting point and not the final word.

The pages also explain what the department regulates and what it does not. A homeowner with a question about a product, a label or a specific complaint can use the same pages to find the right route, which may be the department itself or a different office for a different matter.

When an applicator changes company

An applicator who moves from one company to another needs the records to be right for the new employer. The homeowner should check the applicator's certification for the company that is doing the work, not for the company the applicator used to work for.

A change of employer is a common reason a certification record is out of date. The applicator may hold a valid certification, but the business that employs them may not be the one named in the record. Asking for the applicator's name and checking it against the department's record catches that mismatch.

The same logic applies to a business that changes its name or its address. The license is tied to the business as recorded, so a change should be shown on the record before work begins. A company that cannot explain a change of name should be asked to put the explanation in writing.

Questions to ask by phone, and what to ask in writing

On the phone, ask for the license number and the applicator's name. In writing, ask for the license and certification details, the scope of the work and the written plan before the work begins. The written answers are the ones to keep.

A phone call is fast, and the answers on it are easy to forget. The homeowner should note the company's name, the person who answered, the date and the numbers given. Those notes are the first record of the check and they are useful if a complaint is needed.

The written request should ask for the same details in a form that can be checked later. A reply that gives the numbers and the scope in writing is the strongest evidence a homeowner can keep. A company that will not put its details in writing is a reason to look elsewhere.

What a complaint about a license or an applicator involves

A complaint about a license or an applicator goes to the department that regulates the trade. It should describe what was done, when, by whom and what was said about the credentials, with copies of any written documents.

The department asks for facts it can check. The company's name, the date of the work, the address, the number given for the license and the name of the applicator are the most useful details. A complaint built on those facts moves faster than one built on a general sense that something was wrong.

Keep the original documents, including the plan, the invoice and any written answer about credentials. A homeowner who has a copy of what was promised is in a much stronger position than one who relies on memory of a phone call.

A complaint is separate from a dispute about the work itself. If the homeowner's concern is that the treatment did not work, that is a matter for the company and the written plan, and the department route is for the credential and the conduct of the licensed business. Keep the two conversations apart so that neither is lost.

Keeping the check on file

Once the license and the applicator details have been checked, keep a short record with the date of the check, the numbers, the name of the person who checked and the result. The record is what makes a later question easy to answer.

A check made in the spring is only a check for that date. A homeowner who uses the same company for a yearly service should check the details again each year, since a certification can lapse and a business can change its name or address.

Store the record with the house papers, next to the written plan and the inspection reports. A file that holds the license details, the plan and the findings together is far easier to use than three separate folders, and it is the record a buyer or a later contractor will ask to see.