Hi All,
I took the site’s 12hr WDO course but that only gives me CE credits not a license to offer WDO inspections.
Does anyone here have a FL WDO license? I believe I would have to work under a pest control master license. Anyone you can recommend? Feel free to PM me. Thanks.
Joe
I shudder to think what is in that course. You cannot work under a licnese. You are supposed to be a full time employee. If you want to play the game DACS will eventually catch up to you. Yiou need to find a termite company and have them come out and do the inspections. And you client needs to pay them directly. Unless you are a general contractor, you are not allowed to subcontract out, although many do. There is also a company that found a way to skirt the issue, but I dont remember their name. Somehow you work under them and pay them $45 (I think)for each inspection you do.
You must be an employee of the pest control operator and hold an ID card under his/her license to do a WDO inspection in the state of Florida. The money collected from a WDO inspection must go to the pest control company and the vehicle used for the inspection must be properly lettered(unless owned personally by the Operator). The call for the inspection should go the pest control company also, this last one is a little fuzzy because people do not always have an office anymore.
Yep - “employee” is the operative word.
I have a problem with HI’s that carry a WDO ID card under another state license.
Then they pay the company a fee for each inspection they perform.
It’s called a “rented” license" & is illegal.
It goes on, I report it & then it stops… for a while. :mad:
I worked much too hard for my license.
The law is there for a reason.
It happens with many licenses, especially contractor’s licenses. The key is they MUST be an employee. You can not pay the pest control operator, he/she must pay you. Getting paid as a sub is not allowed.
Thanks all for the response and clarification. I have seen a Nachi HI conducting a WDO, so and sporting the WDO logo, that’s why I asked.
I have no issues leaving this to a pest control company.
You need to call whoever that is and tell him he is setting himself up for a huge fine and a potential law suit. I would also ask him where he got his information that led him to believe he can do wdo inspections. Someone is giving misleading information.
I have read the above. So can a home inspector pay a pest control company $100 to be put under their company as a WDO inspector?
NO, you must be an employee of the company.
I have had a conversation with my “pest attorney” and there is very specific items that must be in place for it to be legal. 1st you must be an employee of the Pest Control Business and supervised by the Pest Control Operator. You must be properly trained and hold an ID card. The Company must pay you as an employee. The call for the inspection must come from the Operators office. The operator must provide the tools, the vehicle must be properly marked and the money must go to the operator. You can read the laws and rules they are available.
These pest control companies are not following the rules and will be caught, it just takes one complaint.
Nice to see you came around on this one John. That’s quite the change since our last discussion in 2015 (Safety Harbor FABI conference) when you were convincing Home Inspectors they could perform WDO inspections independently with only an ID card.
I take it the signed business card form whoever it was you had it from went away?
LOL, you once again prove your foolishness.
"Two people contacted me recently asking about it so I thought I would share. You can become an employee of a Certified Operator, get an ID card, letter your vehicle and do them. It is a process like most everything else.
"
Fast forward 4 years…
"I have had a conversation with my “pest attorney” and there is very specific items that must be in place for it to be legal. 1st you must be an employee of the Pest Control Business and supervised by the Pest Control Operator. You must be properly trained and hold an ID card. The Company must pay you as an employee. The call for the inspection must come from the Operators office. The operator must provide the tools, the vehicle must be properly marked and the money must go to the operator. You can read the laws and rules they are available. "
This is what we were discussing at the FABI Conference, I had a copy of the statute and was reviewing it with a few inspectors when you interrupted and stated that all you needed was a ID card and you could perform WDO inspections with your Home Inspection.
Not only must the vehicle be properly marked, it must be owned and maintained (fuel/expenses) by the licensee or you are functioning as a “independent contractor” which is not allowed with an I.D. Card:
(13) “Independent contractor” means an entity separate from the licensee that:
(a) Receives moneys from a customer which are deposited in a bank account other than that of the licensee;
(b) Owns or supplies its own service vehicle, equipment, and pesticides;
(c) Maintains a business operation, office, or support staff independent of the licensee’s direct control;
(d) Pays its own operating expenses such as fuel, equipment, pesticides, and materials; or
(e) Pays its own workers’ compensation as an independent contractor.
(2)(a) An identification cardholder must be an employee of the licensee and work under the direction and supervision of the licensee’s certified operator in charge and shall not be an independent contractor. An identification cardholder shall operate only out of, and for customers assigned from, the licensee’s licensed business location. An identification cardholder shall not perform any pest control independently of and without the knowledge of the licensee and the licensee’s certified operator in charge and shall perform pest control only for the licensee’s customers.
Just curious- Whats the difference between the
'licensee" and the licensee’s “certified operator in charge”?
There is first & foremost the state Pest Control Business License that is required to have the mandatory insurance & a state licensed operator in charge & responsible for the operation (full time employee).
WDO inspectors (employees of the company) carry an “ID card” under the licensed company.
If you wanna pay for a card (independent operator) it is illegal, unlicensed activity.
Trust me on this one, I’ve owned the same pest control/termite/L&O firm since 1980 & have been a instructor for license re-certification.
So a "certified operator " is a professional licence whereas as a “state pest control licence” is more like a business or occupational license tax?
Correct sir.
To operate a firm it needs to be licensed.
Requirements include an operator “in charge” of the operations.
A know of a firm down here that got caught renting an operator’s license to conduct tent fumigations.
Then there was a compliant & the state found out the operator was a 70 yr old retired guy just getting his monthly check.
He was NOT an employee in charge.
Think of it kind of the same way you think of a licensed Contractor. A contractor can qualify a business that they do not own and yet be responsible for supervising other licensed trades within that business. The Contractor (licensee) becomes the qualifying Contractor (Certified Operator in charge) when they meet the following criteria:
(5) “Certified operator in charge” means a certified operator:
(a) Whose primary occupation is the pest control business;
(b) Who is employed full time by a licensee; and
(c) Whose principal duty is the personal supervision of the licensee’s operation in a category or categories of pest control in which the operator is certified.
It’s a bit rudimentary, but you get the point………
Interesting, I thought I mentioned most of that, especially where I stated, you must be an employee. I also told them that the law is available to read. You missed the part where is says you must be trained. I just had this conversation with my attorney the other day(as mentioned earlier) we discussed how many are not following the letter of the law.
Robert your obsession with everything I do or say is absolutely not healthy. You should get help as I am happily married and not interested. Besides aren’t you busy being “the wind mitigation man” whom doesn’t do wind mitigation, guess you got lonely over there.