How to check a California pest control company's registration

Company registration, the three branches, the qualifying manager, the $12,500 bond and $500,000 insurance minimums, contracts signed at home and complaints.

In California every pest control business, from a one-truck ant-and-spider service to a statewide termite company, must be registered with the Structural Pest Control Board (SPCB), part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. The registration tells you what kinds of work the company may do, and the law behind it requires a bond, liability insurance and a licensed manager. Here is how to check a company before you sign.

Registration is required for the company, licenses for the people

Section 8550(e) of the Business and Professions Code makes it unlawful for any business "to engage or offer to engage in the practice of structural pest control, unless registered". The individuals doing the work need their own licenses: operators, field representatives and applicators. Unlicensed salespeople may solicit work for a registered company, but section 8550 forbids them from inspecting, identifying pests or recommending treatment, and it is unlawful for any unlicensed person to offer an opinion on whether pest control work is needed.

Each registered company must designate a qualifying manager who holds an operator's license in every branch the company works in and who supervises its daily business (section 8610(c)); one operator may qualify no more than two companies. Every branch office must have a branch supervisor licensed in the branches the office handles, and that license must be prominently displayed in the office (section 8611).

The three branches

Section 8560 divides pest control into three branches, and a company may do only the work its registration covers:

• Branch 1, fumigation: controlling household and wood-destroying pests with poisonous or lethal gases, the "tenting" used against drywood termites and bed bugs.
• Branch 2, general pest: household pests such as ants, cockroaches, spiders, rodents and other vermin, without fumigation.
• Branch 3, termite: wood-destroying pests or organisms, treated with insecticides or by structural repairs and corrections, without fumigation. Only Branch 3 companies may issue termite inspection reports.

Each listing on this site shows which branches the office is registered for, taken from the board's public file. A company registered for Branch 2 or 3 can recommend fumigation and then subcontract it to a Branch 1 company, but section 8514(e) requires your written consent to subcontracted fumigation, advance written notice of the subcontract, and notice that you may choose another company to do it.

Bond and insurance

Two financial protections stand behind every registration. Section 8697 requires each registered company to maintain a bond from an admitted surety insurer of $12,500. Section 8690 bars the board from issuing a registration unless the company files evidence of liability insurance, and section 8692 sets minimum limits of $500,000 for bodily injury and $500,000 for property damage per loss. The insurance does not have to cover errors and omissions in inspection reports. The public file does not show the policy, so ask the company for a certificate of insurance and, for larger jobs, the name of its bonding company.

How to look a company up

1. Find the company here by city or name. Each listing shows the registration number, the branches it covers, the date first registered and, for a company with more than one office, links to its other registered offices.
2. Confirm the registration on the DCA License Search (Structural Pest Control Board). The state record is the authority and is updated continuously.
3. Ask for the name and license number of the technician who will inspect or treat your home, and check it on the same search.
4. Make sure the company name on the contract matches the registration. Many companies trade under a "DBA" name, which appears in the board's file.

Reading a listing on this site

Registered for. The branches the board records for that office. A company's principal registration and its branch offices can cover different branches, so check the office that will actually serve you. Registered since. The original issue date of the registration; older records carry only a year. A long history shows a company that has kept its registration, bond and insurance in place for years, but it is not a quality rating. Registered offices under this name. How many active company and branch office registrations share the name, with links to each. A larger network is not better or worse; it tells you where the company has licensed supervisors on the ground.

Contracts signed at your home

If you sign a pest control contract at your home, for example after a door-to-door visit, it is generally a home solicitation contract. Civil Code section 1689.6 gives you the right to cancel until midnight of the third business day after you sign, or the fifth business day if you are a senior citizen, by written notice to the address or email address in the agreement. Section 8514(g) confirms that pest control home solicitation contracts must comply with those rules. Before signing a long service agreement, read how it renews and how to cancel.

Mechanics lien protection

Before entering into a contract for registered work, the company must give you the board's "Notice to Owner" explaining California's mechanics lien law (section 8513). A company acting as prime contractor must, before accepting payment, give you an unconditional release of any lien claim by subcontractors entitled to one. That protects you from paying twice.

Complaints

The board investigates complaints about registered companies and licensees, including missed or unreported infestations, unlicensed activity, poor workmanship, failure to complete work, false advertising and fraud. Under section 8621 a complaint must be filed within two years of the act, or four years for fraud, gross negligence or misrepresentation. The board does not resolve payment disputes. File online through the SPCB complaint page and attach reports, agreements and receipts.

Updated 2026-10-16.

General information only, current as of the date above. The information on California Pest Check is not a recommendation or a guarantee of anyone's work. A license record shows registration status on the date shown, not workmanship, insurance coverage at the time of your job, or suitability for your project. Confirm license, insurance and permits directly before you hire. Rules and programs change; check the official sources linked in this guide.