New Hampshire pesticide license for lawn care: the supervisor sits an oral exam

To run a spraying business in New Hampshire, you answer questions out loud. After the written exam, the Division of Pesticide Control schedules an oral exam, and the person who passes it becomes the supervisor of the firm. The Division's information sheet says the panel is three people. The rule, Pes 304.02, says one or more, so ask who will be in the room. The rest of the crew sits only a written test.

The Division's commercial for hire information sheet describes the structure: a license is required to apply any pesticide on someone else's property, including over-the-counter homeowner products, whether or not the applicator is paid and whether the product is general use or restricted use. A license in one category does not let you spray under another.

Every firm needs a supervisor, and every crew needs an operator

Every firm, branch office or entity must have at least one supervisory level license holder, and that person has to supervise the people applying. Every crew applying pesticides needs at least one person with an operational level license. The supervisor registers the firm when the license is issued. An operational license can become invalid when the supervisor leaves the company, or when the operator does. Under the rules, the business is registered before its individual applicators are, and the company sends the Division a written notice within 30 days whenever a certified applicator joins or leaves.

For lawn work the categories are G1, Shade and Ornamental Pest Control (trees, shrubs and flowers), and G2, Turf Pest Control, from Pes 302.01. The Division's sheet says there are 21 categories in all, and a route that also treats mosquitoes or brush needs those categories separately.

Supervisors qualify by three years in the field, a degree or a seminar

The rule behind the supervisory level, Pes 303.01, lists several ways to qualify. The plainest is 3 years registered at the operational level, or working in the field under a supervisor. A degree in a field such as entomology or plant pathology, plus a growing season in the field, also qualifies, and so does a two-year agricultural school degree with one year or a growing season of experience.

There is a shorter road if you only use general-use products. The Division's general use supervisory sheet offers a Supervisory Registration Certificate for General Use in categories including G1 and G2, aimed at people who lack the three years. It takes at least 8 contact hours of category training and 8 hours of general instruction from a seminar the Division has approved, a resume form with certificates of attendance, then a written exam and an oral exam given by a panel of one or more people.

Five steps, with a 30-day clock after the last exam

1. Submit the resume form for the supervisory level, listing experience or training. The Division reviews it and answers in writing, and the acceptance letter carries the application forms.
2. Make an appointment for the written exam. The Division says written exams are given every week. Passing is 60 percent for operational applicants and 70 percent for supervisory ones, and a failed exam can be retaken after 15 days; three failures mean a 6-month wait and proof of training before you try again, per Pes 304.08.
3. Sit the oral exam for the supervisory level, which the Division schedules at its own office when panel members are free (Pes 304.02).
4. Send the certificate of insurance and the firm registration form, which also names the principal and any other supervisors. A company number is issued once everything is complete.
5. Finish within 30 days of your last passing exam, or the application is denied under Pes 302.04.

Operational candidates skip the resume. The Division's sheet describes a written exam for them, and the supervisor countersigns the application.

Insurance goes in before the license does

The rule, Pes 302.03, sets minimums for ground application of $50,000 per occurrence and $100,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $50,000 per occurrence for property damage. Aircraft limits are higher. The coverage has to include chemical liability, as pollution coverage if it is available, and at minimum products and completed operations plus damage or injury from applying pesticides. Proof is a signed declaration from the applicator plus an insurer's certificate that names the Division as certificate holder and promises notice of cancellation. Each registration application carries an attestation, signed by a supervisor of the firm, that the firm's coverage meets or exceeds that rule. A general liability policy that excludes pesticide application would not match what the rule describes. For the endorsement, see the pesticide applicator insurance guide; for naming the Division as holder, the certificate of insurance guide.

The state lists $15 an exam and a $60 license

Item	Amount
Commercial applicator exam	$15 per exam
Commercial applicator license	$60

The Division's licensing page read on 2026-10-01 lists those two figures under a note of a fee increase effective July 1, 2025, and the exam application form (revised July 1, 2025) repeats the $15 and calls it non-refundable. We found no separate firm registration fee on the pages we read. The exam form lists category exams plus separate retests on the core and the rules and regulations exams, and the pages we read do not say how many exams a first-time G1 and G2 candidate sits or whether the oral exam is billed, so ask before you budget.

Recertification takes 12 credits a category, every five years

The recertification package says commercial applicators recertify every 5 years, either by retaking the exams in the fifth year or by collecting continuing education credits over the period. The credit requirement is 12 credits multiplied by the number of categories you hold, so a G1 and G2 license needs 24. Certificates of attendance are accepted only with the renewal paperwork at the end of the year, and the Division prints your running total on the license. Seminars must be approved first. The licensing page says online courses count if a state pesticide program has approved them, and points to UNH Cooperative Extension's eLearning.

Most sources here are archived copies

The Division's licensing page loaded in the built-in browser; its PDFs and the rules did not load from here, so we read Internet Archive captures: the information sheets and firm form dated 2026-01-06, the recertification package dated 2025-11-19 and the Pes 300 rules dated 2025-02-20. The pages we read do not state whether fertilizer-only lawn work needs a license.