Florida Pesticide Licensing

About 5 of every 50 questions on a Florida Core practice exam come from this topic.

Sources checked November 6, 2026

What to know

Florida's Pesticide Law, Part I of Chapter 487, is administered by FDACS, which may also designate restricted-use pesticides by rule. A licensed applicator must have reached the age of majority (18, or an emancipated minor) and holds one of three license types: private (restricted-use pesticides to produce agricultural commodities on the employer's land, or on another producer's land for traded services only), public (government employees) or commercial (everything else). Every applicator holds at least one primary category; private applicators hold only Category 1C, secondary Category 10 needs a primary category, a pilot who makes no pest decisions needs only Category 11, and restricted-use fumigants require a fumigation category. Applicants pass the core exam plus an exam for each classification; scores last 12 months, and a first cheating finding brings a one-year exam ban. Licenses renew every 4 years: by reexamination, or by 4 core CEUs plus the summed category CEUs, with half for a category added less than two years before expiration; a suspension of 6 months or more forces reexamination. One licensee may directly supervise up to 15 unlicensed applicators or mixer-loaders, without being on site but reachable, after training them. Restricted-use dealers need an annual license, and buyers need an applicator license or purchase authorization card. Chapter 482 licensees are exempt. A first violation is a second-degree misdemeanor; two suspensions in three years mean revocation.

Where it comes from

• §§ 487.011, 487.021, 487.042, F.S.
• §§ 487.0435, 487.044, 487.046, 487.049, F.S.
• §§ 487.047, 487.048, 487.1585, 487.161, F.S.
• § 487.175, F.S.
• Fla. Admin. Code R. 5E-9.017, 5E-9.019, 5E-9.021
• Fla. Admin. Code R. 5E-9.026, 5E-9.029
• Fla. Admin. Code R. 5E-9.034, 5E-9.037

Try a practice question