North Carolina Pesticide Licensing

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

Sources checked November 6, 2026

What to know

The North Carolina Pesticide Law of 1971 makes the North Carolina Pesticide Board the governing board for the state's pesticide programs; the Commissioner of Agriculture administers and enforces it. Anyone applying pesticides for pay on another's property needs an annual applicator license, which expires at the end of the calendar year and is not transferable. Growers treating only their own or rented crop land, structural pest control work under G.S. Chapter 106, Article 4C, unpaid general-use volunteers and a licensee's employees fall outside the applicator definition, but each business location needs a licensee who supervises everyone applying there. Applicators must be 18. Aerial contractors and pilots are both licensed, and a pilot without 125 hours and one year of experience is an apprentice. Every category requires the federal core competencies, the passing grade is 70, the two predator control categories are not created, and listed government workers are public operators. Certification lasts five years for ground and two for aerial, with yearly license renewal; ornamental and turf needs 10 one-hour credits per five years, earned in at least two years, with no carryover, or a comprehensive exam must be retaken. Private applicators must be 18, hold three-year certification, recertify with two hours of review plus two credits, and need private certification before a subclass; a 10-day emergency purchase permit is only for the never certified. Dealers need a license per location and paid advisers a consultant license. The Board may discipline licensees, bar reapplying for up to two years after revocation, and fine excluded growers only for willful violations.

Where it comes from

• N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 143-437, 143-438
• N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 143-452, 143-453
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-460(27), (29), (33)
• N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 143-448, 143-455
• N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 143-456, 143-469
• 02 NCAC 09L .0503, .0505, .0506, .0512, .0517
• 02 NCAC 09L .0519, .0522, .0524, .0531
• 02 NCAC 09L .1103, .1104, .1107, .1108, .1109

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