SECTIONS 11701-11711 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 11701-11711

11701. It is unlawful for a person to advertise, solicit, or
operate as a pest control business, unless the person has a valid
pest control business license issued by the director.

11701.5. Every principal and branch office of a business licensed
pursuant to Section 11701 shall have at least one person in a
supervisory position who holds a qualified applicator license issued
pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 12201). The qualified
applicator license shall include the categories of pest control
activities supervised by that person who is employed by that
business.

11702. Applicants for a pest control business license shall do all
of the following:
(a) Submit information to the director covering the applicant's
business and personal qualifications that the director requires.
(b) Designate in the application the qualified applicator who
shall be responsible for the conduct of the principal office of the
applicant and of each branch location.
(c) Satisfy the director of the responsibility of the applicant as
to any of the following:
(1) Equipment and facilities.
(2) Financial ability to perform the work authorized by the
license and to respond in damages for any illness, injury, or damage
resulting from the work, which ability may be satisfied by insurance
in a form satisfactory to the director insuring against liability for
personal injury and property damage in an amount prescribed by
regulation of the director. The amount shall be related to the volume
and type of pest control operations for which the applicant is
licensed to perform.
(3) Personal responsibility to conduct the business.
The director shall establish by regulation the general classes of
pest control operations in which the applicant may be qualified.
Licensing by the director shall not derogate from the authority of
commissioners stated in Sections 11731 to 11741, inclusive.

11703. (a) Except as otherwise provided in Sections 11704 and
11707, the application shall be accompanied by a fee as prescribed by
the director pursuant to Section 11502.5.
(b) If the applicant maintains any branch office in this state or
outside this state and the applicant engages in the pest control
business in this state from that branch office, the applicant shall
pay an additional fee as prescribed by the director pursuant to
Section 11502.5 for each of these branch offices.

11704. (a) A person who is regularly engaged in the business of
maintenance gardening and who desires to engage in pest control for
hire incidental to that business shall qualify for a pest control
business license in the maintenance gardener category by passing the
certified commercial applicators examination in both the laws and
regulation and the landscape maintenance categories.
(b) The maintenance gardener category shall be limited to pest
control in ornamental and turf plantings indoors, in commercial
parks, or surrounding structures. A contract or verification that the
pest control operation is incidental and that maintenance gardening
is the primary purpose shall be immediately submitted to the
commissioner or director upon request.
(c) An application for a license limited to the maintenance
gardener category shall be accompanied by a fee as prescribed by the
director pursuant to Section 11502.5.

11705. The director shall issue to each applicant that satisfies
the requirements of this article a license which authorizes the
applicant to perform the type or types of pest control activities
specified in the license during the calendar year for which the
license is issued, unless the license is sooner revoked or suspended.

11706. The license may be renewed annually upon application to the
director, accompanied by the proper fee, on or before the first day
of January of the calendar year for which the license is issued.

11707. To any fee which is not paid by the date of expiration,
there shall be added a penalty as prescribed by the director pursuant
to Section 11502.5.

11708. The director may refuse to grant any license and may revoke
or suspend any license if the applicant or licensee:
(a) Does not have, or has not maintained at its principal office
and at each branch location, a person who holds a qualified
applicator license issued pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with
Section 12201) to actively supervise all operations performed for
each such location as prescribed by regulations of the director. This
subdivision does not apply to businesses that are licensed only in
the maintenance gardener category.
(b) Does not have, or has not maintained, adequate safe equipment
and facilities to perform the operations undertaken or to be
undertaken.
(c) Does not have adequately trained personnel to perform the
operations undertaken or to be undertaken.
(d) Violates or permits the violation of any provision of this
division and Division 7 (commencing with Section 12501) pertaining to
pesticides or of any regulations adopted pursuant thereto by the
director or any commissioner or any industrial safety order relating
to pesticides issued by the Department of Industrial Relations.
(e) Fails to maintain and report to the director or commissioner,
as required, information concerning pest control performed or
authorized to be performed by the license or the registration of the
commissioner.
Any hearing to deny, suspend, or revoke a license shall be heard
under the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code. However, if the director finds on the basis of affidavits
submitted to him or her by the enforcement personnel provided in
Section 11501.5, or by injured parties, that the protection of the
public welfare or safety requires immediate action, the director may,
without hearing, temporarily suspend or condition the license of any
pest control operator and shall forthwith schedule the matter for
hearing. The director may terminate the suspension of, or any
condition placed upon, a license upon correction of the defects of
equipment, establishment of adequate safety practices, or any other
corrective action as he or she deems satisfactory to assure
compliance with the requirements of statutes and regulations. In that
event, the matter may proceed to hearing as though the license had
not been suspended or the conditions placed upon it.

11709. A person not regularly engaged in the business of pest
control that operates only in the vicinity of his or her own property
and for the accommodation of his or her neighbors is not required to
pay the fee specified by Section 11703, but is required to procure a
license. The person shall register with the commissioner as provided
in Section 11732, and is subject to all other provisions of this
division. The determination of the director that a person is engaged
in the business of pest control beyond the vicinity of his or her own
property or for the accommodation of others than his or her
neighbors is final.

11710. A person that is regularly engaged in the business of tree
surgery is not required to procure a license to remove diseased or
infested tissues or apply disinfectants to wounds or cavities
incidental to tree surgery. If such person desires to engage in any
other pest control operation, he shall procure a license from the
director, shall register with the commissioner as provided in Section
11732, and is subject to all other provisions of this division.

11711. Unless worker's compensation insurance is not required, no
license may be issued or renewed under this chapter to any person who
is an employer, as defined in Section 3300 of the Labor Code, unless
the application is accompanied by identification and the number and
expiration date of the worker's compensation insurance policy of the
applicant or the applicant is a qualified self-insurer.