STATE LICENSE
RequiredTexas Department of Agriculture — Structu…
The Texas Structural Pest Control Act (Occupations Code Chapter 1951) makes the Department of Agriculture 'the sole authority in this state for licensing persons engaged in the business of structural pest control.' A business license is required for each business location including branch offices, and no business may advertise or solicit before the license issues and before it holds an applicator certified in each category it intends to work.
Every location must designate a responsible certified applicator, and that person may not serve as the responsible certified applicator for any other business or location. Lose them to death, incapacity or resignation and you have 20 business days to request a temporary hardship in writing — until then, the business may not operate.
The insurance is the sharpest edge. The statute's floor is $200,000 bodily injury and property damage with a $300,000 aggregate, but the Department's 2023 rule change — fully enforced since January 1, 2024 — raised the operative minimum to $500,000 with a $1,000,000 aggregate, filed on TDA's own ALS-1101 form, with the care-custody-and-control exclusion deleted. No current insurance on file, no renewal.
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
This is the most preempted trade in Texas. The Department of Agriculture is the sole licensing authority (§ 1951.201), and § 1951.005 forbids cities and counties from adopting ordinances or rules on pesticide sale or use — leaving them only education, zoning of sale and storage, fire and building rules for storage and fumigation safety, disposal siting, hazardous-materials routing and sewer discharge. There is no local pest control license to obtain; the local layer is limited to ordinary business registration and any building or fire permits for storage.
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Texas county on file.
Each row names the issuing authority, cost, timeline, citation, and status behind the requirement — verified against the official source.
Published fees from the issuing authorities, as of September 2026. Local permit fees vary by project and jurisdiction — the basis is stated where a flat number does not exist.
Renewing 90 days or less late costs one and a half times the normal renewal fee; 91 days to one year late costs double. Paying the penalty does not let you operate until the license actually issues.
Chapter 1951 sets a $200,000/$300,000 floor, but TDA's 2023 rule — fully enforced from January 1, 2024 — requires $500,000 bodily injury and property damage with a $1,000,000 total aggregate. Budget to the rule, not the statute.
The business license is tied to the taxpayer identification number. Change the tax ID — including when a sole proprietor dies — and you need a whole new business license, plus fees to move licensed applicators and a fresh registration for every apprentice.
A practical sequence for a new pest control contractor in Texas. Actual agency processing times are noted in the ledger above.
Each item names the issuing authority, cycle, and citation.
Statutory consequences with their citations — not estimates, not “commonly cited” guesses.
Violating the chapter, violating a rule, or fraudulently obtaining a license is an offense, and each day a violation occurs is a separate offense.
The commissioner may seek injunctive relief and civil penalties through the attorney general in district court.
TDA may not issue or renew a business license until conforming insurance is on file, and a business whose fee or insurance arrives after expiration is simply expired — paying the late penalty does not restore the right to operate.
Inside city limits, the city office listed here issues the permit; the county office serves unincorporated areas. Every office links to its official page.
Every fact in this file was checked against these official sources on September 2026.
Pending verification: The exact number of continuing education units a certified applicator must complete each year — TDA states the annual December 31 deadline and the self-study cadence but does not publish the hour count on the program pages reviewed · Whether the business license fee differs for noncommercial political entities beyond the stated $0 noncommercial fee
General information, not legal advice. Always confirm requirements, deadlines, and forms with the issuing authority before filing or contracting.
Store licenses, permits, policies, and renewal dates in one place.