Structural pest control licensing
Is your exterminator licensed in Ohio?
Ohio's category numbering is the thing to check, and it is unusually precise: ask which category your technician holds and look for 10a. A firm carrying only 10b termite or 12 wood-destroying insects is not certified for your bedroom, and those are the categories a termite company will typically have. A Commercial Applicator license is required of anyone who owns or operates a pesticide business, or who applies pesticides to another person's property without direct supervision. Note that even a wood-destroying insect INSPECTOR counts as a Commercial Applicator in Ohio, whether or not they apply anything. Old directory links to agri.ohio.gov/apps/odaprs/ are dead — the division moved to the path above. Verify by phone on (614) 728-6987 or email [email protected]; the online tool published on the division site is a recertification credit search rather than a full business register, so the phone is the reliable route.
- Who regulates it
- ODA
- Verification
- Online
- Check before paying
- The business license
The regulator
The credential to look for
Open the official Ohio search →
Renting in Ohio? Before you pay for treatment, check whether your landlord is legally responsible for the cost. Ohio 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.