How to start a pest control business in Texas: licenses, insurance, termite rules and tax

Pricing and first accounts live in the national pest control startup guide, and the federal floor on applicator certification is in the pest control license guide. Texas differs in one big way: one agency, the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), runs a dedicated Structural Pest Control Service with its own business license, applicator and technician tiers, termite paperwork rules and notice rules. Treat this as a general overview rather than legal or tax counsel; every source was read in October 2026.

What counts as licensed pest control in Texas

The TDA licensing page says anyone who performs structural pest control for hire must be licensed. The activities it lists include identifying infestations, making inspection reports, giving recommendations, submitting estimates or bids, contracting, doing the prevention or elimination work, and advertising these services. Pest control at apartment buildings, day-care centers, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, warehouses, food-processing plants and schools is covered too. The business page adds that you may not advertise or solicit pest control business until your business license is issued, so do not publish your website or Business Profile first.

TDA lists seven license categories:

• Pest control (insects and pest animals in and around homes and businesses)
• Termite control (termites and other wood-destroying organisms, other than by fumigation)
• Lawn and ornamental
• Structural fumigation
• Commodity fumigation
• Weed control
• Wood preservation

TDA says each licensed category requires a certified applicator. A company that wants to sell general pest control, termite work and a lawn spray program is planning for three categories.

The business license, location by location

Section 1951.301 of the Texas Occupations Code requires a structural pest control business license for each place of business. The statute defines a branch office as a location, other than the primary office or an answering service, with at least one employee who can answer customer questions, schedule inspections or work, or perform pest control. Check where you stage technicians before you add a second town.

The business license fee is $300, as listed by TDA in October 2026, and the license is tied to the tax ID on the application, so a change of entity means a new application. Each business license holder must employ a certified commercial applicator at all times. TDA also requires the business to designate a responsible certified applicator, and that person cannot hold the role for any other business or location. If your only certified applicator is you, you are the responsible applicator for that one location, and a second location needs a second one.

Other housekeeping duties have short clocks. TDA says to register employees within 10 days of hire and to report terminations within 10 days on form SPC-003. An address change goes in within 10 days on SPC-001. Out-of-state companies must designate a resident agent for service of process. Licenses can be renewed until one year after expiration, but a lapse means you cannot operate until the license is renewed and issued.

Insurance and the number that does not match

Insurance proof goes in on TDA's form ALS-1101, and the department says no other form is accepted. Its business page states a minimum of $500,000 for bodily injury and property damage, with a $1,000,000 total aggregate. The page also says the care, custody and control exclusion must be removed from the policy to meet section 1951.312 of the Occupations Code.

The statute itself reads differently. Section 1951.312 sets the baseline at $200,000 for bodily injury and property damage with a $300,000 aggregate, and lets the department set different amounts by rule. The department's page notes a transition in insurance minimums adopted by rule in 2023. Use the department's $500,000 and $1,000,000 figures when you shop for coverage, and ask your agent for the endorsement language before you buy. Our guide to general liability insurance explains how aggregates and exclusions work.

Applicators, technicians and apprentices

Your crew works in three tiers. A certified commercial applicator can run a business license. A licensed technician works for a business license holder under that structure. An apprentice is registered while training and must pass the technician exam before the registration expires. TDA's technician page sets these rules:

• Register an apprentice within 10 days of starting training, and have the employer enter the training start date as the hire date.
• If an apprentice does not pass the technician exam before the registration expires, they re-register and repeat on-the-job and classroom training.
• A licensed technician must complete 40 hours of on-the-job training and 8 hours of classroom training before adding a category, enforced from January 1, 2024.
• Since May 19, 2025, Metro Institute administers TDA applicator exams at test sites across Texas.

TDA's fee table lists $64 for each exam category and $125 for apprentice registration or applicator licenses. That table is dated January 1, 2016 on the page, so confirm current fees with the department before you budget.

Termite work has its own paperwork

Texas writes termite jobs into rules (4 Texas Administrative Code sections 7.173 and 7.174). For post-construction wood-destroying insect treatments, a written estimate must go to the customer before treatment begins, and only a licensed technician or certified applicator in the termite category may prepare it. The disclosure document must include your license number, a diagram of what will be treated, the pesticide label, full warranty details, and statements in at least 8-point type. You keep copies of disclosure documents for two years.

For pre-construction treatments on structures other than single-family homes, you submit a notification through the department's system between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., at least 4 hours and no more than 24 hours before applying termiticide. If the job is cancelled, you send notice within 1 hour of learning of it. Separately, the rule requires two years of records for commercial pre-construction treatments (baits, baiting systems, wood-applied products and physical barriers are excluded), so keep your application records for that long.

Notice rules for apartments, schools and workplaces

Under 4 TAC 7.148, owners or managers of residential rental properties with five or more units must post a pest control sign in a common area, or give application information to affected units, at least 48 hours before an indoor treatment. The same 48-hour posting applies to hospitals, hotels, schools, warehouses and similar facilities. Owners rely on their pest control company to supply the information, so build the notice into your commercial service agreements. The rule allows an emergency waiver when the customer and certified applicator sign a statement of imminent health hazard, kept with your use records. Our guide on winning commercial pest control accounts covers how property managers buy.

Sales tax on pest control in Texas

The Comptroller's Publication 94-114 (August 2021) says structural pest control is taxable and that you must collect tax from customers even when pests are not found. Inspections, treatment, reports, estimates, and extended warranties are taxable. Work on timberland or for agricultural purposes, birds of prey, bee removal from a yard, live trapping and non-pesticidal barriers are not. If an invoice mixes taxable and non-taxable services and the taxable part is more than 5 percent of a lump sum, tax applies to the whole charge, so state the lines separately. You can give your chemical supplier a resale certificate on taxable work. Our guide on sales tax on home services by state shows how other states differ.

What to do first

1. Decide your categories, then find or become a certified commercial applicator for each.
2. Price insurance against the department's $500,000 and $1,000,000 figures and get ALS-1101 completed.
3. Apply for the business license and hold all advertising until it is issued.
4. Register every field employee as an apprentice within 10 days of hire.
5. Register for a sales tax permit with the Comptroller and set up separate invoice lines.
6. Read starting a service business in Texas for entity filing and workers' compensation, which Texas generally makes optional, and the Texas contractor license guide for other trades you may add.

Fees, insurance minimums and rules get revised by rule, so verify each point with the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Comptroller.

Frequently asked questions