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Commercial Pesticide Applicator

Initial certification must be accomplished by examination.  

Applicants must pass the General examination and a category or subcategory examination to become certified (Commercial Applicator Certification Categories). Fees are $45 per examination.  The General examination is also $45, as are examination retakes. 

For the current pesticide commercial applicator examination schedule, go to the Pesticide Certification Exam Schedule.  The first paragraph on the exam schedule lists where study manuals may be obtained from Kansas State University.

Renewal of a current  certification category may be accomplished by examination or training (Commercial Applicator Recertification Information).  The examination for renewal is the same as above.  For the current schedule of recertification training go to Commercial Pesticide Applicator Recertification Programs and Training.

Reciprocal agreements between states allow Kansas residents to reciprocate to selected other states and non-residents to reciprocate to Kansas.  A Kansas resident cannot reciprocate to Kansas.  If you are out of state and have a current certification in your home state and we have a reciprocal agreement with your state, then you won’t need to take the examination for the associated categories but you will have to pay the certification fee for each category. 

Check the information sheets listed below to see if you qualify for reciprocation of your certification.  Call the Records Center at 785 296-5360 to request reciprocity.

The following list of commercial certified pesticide applicators is provided to facilitate identification of authorized purchasers of RUPs:

NOTE:  Do not confuse your Commercial Applicator Certification with a Pesticide Business License.  In some states, commercial certification is all that is needed to make commercial applications but that is not the case in Kansas.  For you to use your commercial certification to perform pesticide application work for compensation, you need to do one of the following:

  • Work as an employee of a business that is properly licensed to perform pesticide application work in the categories of your certification; or
  • Obtain your own Pesticide Business License (Pesticide Business) to perform pesticide application work.

If you're planning to make an application of a soil fumigant, please notify us at least a week in advance.  Use the Soil Fumigation Notification located in the Online Forms tab at the top of our web pages or click on Fumigation Notification Online.

Please check New window EPA's Endangered Species web site often.

Kansas Department of Agriculture