Who Pays for the Bed Bugs

Structural pest control licensing

Is your exterminator licensed in Florida?

Florida runs three separate pesticide regimes and it is easy to check the wrong one: Chapter 482 is structural pest control (your bed bug job), Chapter 487 is agricultural, Chapter 388 is mosquito and public health. Two physical checks you can make on the doorstep: service vehicles must be permanently marked on both sides with the business name as registered with FDACS, and moonlighting by employee ID cardholders is illegal — a technician taking your job privately is not covered by anyone's license or insurance. Licensed businesses must carry $250,000/$500,000 bodily injury and $250,000/$500,000 property damage cover. FDACS will also verify by phone on (850) 617-7997.

Who regulates it
FDACS
Verification
Online
Check before paying
The business license

The regulator

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bureau of Licensing and Enforcement

The credential to look for

Structural pest control business license under Chapter 482 — the number begins with the prefix JB. The business must also employ full-time a Florida-certified operator in charge, certified in the categories it actually works in

Open the official Florida search →

What to verify, in order

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

Check another state