Structural pest control licensing
Is your exterminator licensed in California?
California splits structural work into three branches: Branch 1 fumigation, Branch 2 general pest, Branch 3 termite and wood-destroying organisms. BED BUGS ARE BRANCH 2 — a company licensed only for Branch 3 termite work is not cleared for your job, and that mismatch is common. Second trap: cancelled licenses and registrations do not appear in search results at all, so an empty result is not proof of a typo — it can mean the license is gone. Call the Board on 916-561-8704 for cancelled records. The Board is also separate from the Department of Pesticide Regulation; searching DPR will not find structural licensees.
- Who regulates it
- SPCB
- Verification
- Online
- Check before paying
- The business license
The regulator
The credential to look for
Open the official California search →
Renting in California? Before you pay for treatment, check whether your landlord is legally responsible for the cost. California bed bug law →
What to verify, in order
The business license, not just the technician
Most states license the company and certify the individual separately. A certified technician working for an unlicensed business is still an unlicensed job.
The category or phase covers structural work
Licenses are issued by category. An applicator certified for turf and ornamental has no business in your bedroom.
Status is active, not lapsed
Some state databases exclude cancelled licenses from results entirely, so a revoked company returns the same empty result as a typo. If you get nothing, phone the agency before assuming you mistyped.
Complaint and enforcement history
Where a state publishes disciplinary actions they are usually on the board site rather than inside the license search.
Link last confirmed: . State license portals migrate often and licenses lapse daily — treat anything older than a few months as a starting point, not an answer.
Always confirm on the state's own site. This page points at the official database; it does not mirror or cache license records. Status changes daily and only the issuing agency is authoritative.