Alabama's Professional Services Law
Alabama's Professional Services Law (Code of Alabama § 2-28-4), as posted by the Department of Agriculture and Industries, says that before any person engages in professional work or services as the chapter defines them, which include structural pest control work, or solicits that work through advertising or in any other manner, the person must apply for and obtain an annual permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. § 2-28-11 makes doing so without the required permit a misdemeanor.
A note for each company in Montgomery
When you call a company, ask: "Do you hold the annual permit Alabama's Professional Services Law requires for structural pest control work, and what is its number?" Whatever each company tells you about that permit, write it down next to the company's full name, the date and the name of the person you spoke with, and keep it clipped to that company's written estimate.
Ask, too, for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation.
When a problem is worth a call
Not every insect in the house calls for a company. A lone beetle that wandered in through an open door is a different matter from a line of ants returning to the same counter each morning, or droppings turning up in a kitchen drawer. Signs that may be worth a professional look:
- the same insect showing up in the same spot over several days;
- droppings, gnaw marks or shredded paper in cupboards, closets or the attic;
- small piles of what looks like sawdust, or discarded wings on a window sill;
- wood that feels soft or sounds hollow, or thin mud lines running up a wall or pier;
- anything you cannot identify and would rather not guess about.
When you are unsure, a close photo with a familiar object beside it for scale can help a company tell you on the phone whether a visit makes sense.
Getting ready for the first call
A company can give a more useful answer when you can describe what you have seen. Before calling, jot down which rooms are involved, roughly when the trouble started, whether you notice it at night or during the day, and anything you have already tried, including store-bought products. Mention pets, an aquarium, a vegetable bed or anyone at home you want kept in mind, so the plan can account for them from the start.
On that first call, ask whether the visit is an inspection only or whether the technician may treat the same day, and whether the inspection itself carries a charge.
Questions a technician may ask you
A careful technician may arrive with as many questions as you have. You may be asked where you first noticed the problem, whether there have been leaks or plumbing repairs lately, how food and trash are stored, and whether firewood, mulch or stored boxes sit against the house. Straight answers can shape the plan. If you are asked nothing at all, ask the technician how they reached their conclusion.
Common approaches, in plain terms
Pest work can take several forms, and one proposal may combine them:
- Exclusion: closing the gaps, cracks and openings a pest uses to get inside.
- Baiting: placing bait where the pest will find it, a method used for some ants, roaches and termites.
- Trapping and monitoring: setting devices that catch or record activity, so a later visit has something to measure against.
- Targeted application: applying a product to specific cracks, voids or outdoor areas named in the plan.
- Housekeeping advice: pointing out food sources, clutter or damp spots that may be drawing the pest.
Ask which of these the company proposes for your house, why, and what it expects to change after the first visit. Ask for the name of every product and what each label says about when people and pets can go back into a treated area.
Wood-destroying insects
Termites and other insects that feed on wood are a different kind of job. A company may offer an inspection report, a treatment or both. Before agreeing to that work, ask:
- what the inspection took in, and what it could not reach, such as finished walls or a closed-off space under the floor;
- which treatment method is proposed, and how it answers what was found;
- if termites turn up again during the term, whether the agreement pays only for another treatment or for fixing new damage as well, and what it leaves out;
- what you are expected to do on your side to keep the agreement in force;
- how often the company comes back to inspect, and whether those trips are billed separately.
Keep every inspection report in one place. If you later sell the house, a buyer or lender may ask about past termite work.
How a one-time job and a recurring plan are priced
A one-time job may be quoted as a flat figure for a defined treatment, sometimes with a follow-up trip included. A recurring plan may be billed by the visit, by the month or by the year. Neither suits every house. When you set two offers side by side, look for:
- a plain list of what the technician does on each trip, indoors and out;
- whether a call you make between scheduled trips is included or billed;
- the length of the term, the renewal date and the steps for stopping the plan;
- what the company does if the same pest is back before the term ends.
Get the price, the schedule and the cancellation terms on paper before the first treatment.
Your part between visits
Treatment can work alongside what happens in the house day to day. Keep food sealed, take the kitchen trash out, have drips under sinks repaired, and keep stored things up off the floor where you can. If you see new activity, write down the date and the spot and tell the company, and ask before using any product of your own, so the company knows everything that has been applied.
Closing out the job
When the work is finished, ask the technician for a written service report: what was found, what was applied and where, the product names, and when the company plans to return, if at all. File it with the estimate, the permit answer, the coverage papers and the receipt. If the same trouble comes back, that folder gives the next technician somewhere to start.