Structural pest control in Alabama is regulated by the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, usually called ADAI, under Chapter 80-10-9 of the Alabama Administrative Code and the professional services law in Title 2 of the Code of Alabama 1975. A company works through a certified operator, and each kind of work has its own permit category. Any homeowner can ask a company for its ADAI credential and its permit category.
Key takeaways
- The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries regulates structural pest control, and its office is in Montgomery.
- A structural professional services license is tied to a certified operator who has passed the exam and filed an application.
- A certified operator may supervise a main office or a branch, while a branch supervisor may oversee only a branch and never a main office.
- Household pest control, wood-destroying organisms and fumigation each have their own permit category and their own exam.
- Exams generally need prior ADAI approval, and the candidate must be on the exam list with the approval letter in hand on the day.
- A homeowner can ask any company, on the phone and at any time, for its ADAI credential and its wood-destroying-organism permit category.
Which agency regulates pest control in Alabama?
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, usually called ADAI, regulates structural pest control from its office in Montgomery. The state sets the rules, not the county or the city.
Structural pest control in Alabama sits under a state agency. The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, usually shortened to ADAI, is the regulator for the trade, and its office is in Montgomery. A homeowner in West Blocton who wants to know whether a company is set up to work in Alabama is asking a state question, and the answer comes from the state's rules. This guide does not cite any county or city ordinance on pests, so the rules a homeowner needs to check are the state rules described here.
The regulation itself is written in Chapter 80-10-9 of the Alabama Administrative Code, which is titled Professional Services. The law that gives those rules their footing is the professional services law in Title 2 of the Code of Alabama 1975. A reader who wants the primary text can start with the chapter on the Alabama Administrative Code site. Alabama Extension also hosts a copy of the professional services rules and of the statute as PDF files. Those documents are the place to check exact wording, and this guide describes how the system is organized without quoting them line by line.
What is a certified operator?
A certified operator is the named person a license rests on. The statute treats the operator as qualified to supervise either a main office or a branch.
The license for structural professional services goes to a company, not to an individual technician. To receive it, the company has to have a certified operator, who is a person that has passed the required exam and filed an application with the fees. The operator is the name the license rests on, which is why the name matters when you check a company. A technician who attends a job works under that company's license, and the operator is the person the state holds responsible for the company's structure.
The statute draws a line between two roles. A certified operator is qualified to supervise a main office or a branch. A branch supervisor is qualified to oversee a branch only, and never a main office. For a homeowner this is a practical distinction. If the company you reach is working out of a branch, the person overseeing that branch is not the same thing as the person with authority over the main office. You can ask which role the person on the line holds, and the answer tells you what that person is permitted to supervise.
What permit categories exist?
Alabama issues separate permit categories for household pest control, wood-destroying organisms and fumigation. Each has its own permit information page and its own exam.
The permit system is split by the kind of work. Household pest control has its own category, which appears in the state's codes as HPC and HPB. Wood-destroying organisms, the category that covers termites and the other organisms named in the wood infestation rule, is WDC and WDO. Fumigation is FC and FB. Holding one category does not, by itself, cover the others, so a company that handles ants and roaches has not thereby shown the permit needed to report on wood. The category has to match the job in front of you.
Alabama Extension publishes a permit information page for each category through its commercial applicator pages. Those pages describe what each permit covers and how a person gets one. The categories matter most when a job touches a sale. A report about wood-destroying organisms falls under the WDO category, so the person writing that report needs that permit and not only a general pest permit. Ask for the category by its initials, and notice whether the person can name it without hesitation. A clear answer is what you are looking for.
How do exams and approval work?
Exams generally need prior ADAI approval, and the candidate has to be on the exam list with the approval letter on the day. The wood-destroying organisms certified operator exam has 100 questions, and the branch supervisor exam has 75.
Extension guidance on the permit process says that exams generally need prior approval from ADAI. The candidate has to be on the exam list, and the approval letter has to be present on the day of the test. These are steps for people entering the trade, and a homeowner does not need to know them to check a company. What a homeowner does need is the result, which is a current permit in the category that matches the work being done in the house.
The length of the exams is also stated in the permit guidance. The wood-destroying organisms certified operator exam has 100 questions, and the branch supervisor exam has 75. These numbers are useful mainly as a sign of how different the roles are. A branch supervisor is not a smaller version of the operator, and the exams are built around different responsibilities, just as the permits are. When a company says a person is qualified, the useful question is qualified for which role and in which category.
What should a homeowner actually check?
A homeowner can ask any company, at any time on the phone, for its ADAI credential and its wood-destroying-organism permit category. A clear answer is a good sign, and a vague one is worth noting.
The one check that works for a homeowner is simple. Ask the company for its ADAI credential, and ask for the permit category that matches the work. If the job touches wood, ask about the wood-destroying organisms category specifically. You can ask this on the phone before any visit, and a company should be able to answer without you needing to look anything up first. Asking is not difficult of you. The credential is the thing that connects the work in your house to the state's rules.
Phones here are answered 24/7, so the question can be asked when a problem appears and not only during office hours. Write down the name the person gives you and the category they name. A technician who attends should be able to tell you what the permit covers and what the job will include before anything is treated. If the answer is unclear, ask again, and ask whether the person on site holds the category for the work you need. A company that cannot say which category it works under has not answered the question you asked.
What is outside the scope of this guide?
This guide describes the regulatory structure only. It does not cover prices, license fees, renewal periods or any local ordinance.
Several things a homeowner might ask about are not covered here. License and exam fees change, and this guide prints none of them, because fees are not what a customer pays for a service. The renewal period for a company license is not set out here either, and neither are continuing-education rules or whether a separate state business registration applies. A reader who needs those details should ask the company, or check with the regulator in Montgomery directly.
Local rules are also outside this guide. No city or county ordinance on pests, rentals, nuisance or wildlife is cited here, so nothing on this page should be read as a local rule. For the work itself in West Blocton, the other guides on this site cover the crawl spaces, the rodents around farm buildings and the wood infestation report. The state framework described above is the part that applies to every company, wherever it is based.
How does the permit question connect to a termite report?
The wood-destroying organisms category covers the official wood infestation report. A homeowner who needs that report should confirm the permit before paying for the inspection.
The wood-destroying organisms category has its own permit because the official Alabama wood infestation report is a formal instrument. Under rule 80-10-9-.18, the report is the written record of visible active or previous infestation by wood-destroying organisms. Only a qualified inspector may inspect, and only a person certified and permitted in the wood-destroying organisms category may complete and issue the report. That is the basis for asking about the category, and it is more specific than asking for a general pest permit.
The same rule contemplates the report as a condition of sale financing or refinancing, which means the usual trigger is a lender and not a blanket requirement on every sale. A homeowner selling a house should check with the lender what it requires rather than assume a rule applies. Keep the permit information with the paperwork, and ask the person completing the report for the category they hold. The wood infestation report guide goes through what the report covers and what it leaves out.
Frequently asked questions
Who regulates pest control companies in Alabama?
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, usually called ADAI, regulates structural pest control. Its office is in Montgomery, and its work is governed by Chapter 80-10-9 of the Alabama Administrative Code and the professional services law in Title 2 of the Code of Alabama 1975. A homeowner can ask any company for its ADAI credential.
What is the difference between a certified operator and a branch supervisor?
A certified operator is qualified to supervise a main office or a branch. A branch supervisor is qualified to oversee a branch only and never a main office. The two roles have different exams, and asking which one the person holds tells you what that person is permitted to supervise.
What permit does a company need for wood-destroying organisms?
Wood-destroying organisms work falls under its own category, abbreviated WDC and WDO in the state's codes. That permit is separate from household pest control and from fumigation. The person who completes an official wood infestation report needs the wood-destroying organisms permit in particular.
Can I ask a company for its credential before booking a visit?
Yes. You can ask on the phone, before any visit, for the company's ADAI credential and its wood-destroying-organism permit category. A company should be able to answer the question without looking anything up. Write down the name and the category they give you.
Does this guide list license fees or renewal periods?
No. This guide prints no license or exam fees, and it does not state a renewal period. Those details are outside what the sources here can settle. Ask the company, or check directly with the regulator in Montgomery.
Does Alabama require a termite letter to sell a house?
This guide does not say that. The wood infestation rule describes the report as a condition of sale financing or refinancing, so the trigger is usually a lender. Ask the lender what it requires before you order an inspection for a sale.
Sources
This guide is general information for Bibb County homeowners, not a substitute for an on-site inspection. Prices are estimates. See our disclaimer.