This is a concept website · Enquire about this domain

pestcontrolnorthlakes.net.au

The first year · Month 1

At the front door

Questions to ask before you hire a pest technician in Queensland

Start with the licence: in Queensland anyone who does pest control for a fee must be licensed, and a licensed technician carries a photo card that says what they are licensed to do. Then ask whether the job needs a pesticide at all, what will be used, and what you need to do during and after.

General information, not legal advice. The questions come from Queensland Health’s fact sheet on choosing pest management services, listed at the foot of this page with the other sources.

Why the questions matter

Pest technicians use pesticides that can be hazardous to people and to pets, Queensland Health’s fact sheet says. To make sure the work is done safely and competently, it requires anyone who carries out pest control for a fee to be licensed. To be licensed, a technician must hold qualifications that match the kind of pest control they want to do.

So a licence is not one thing. Two people can both be licensed and still be allowed to do different work. The questions below are a way of finding out, politely and in order, whether the person at your door is allowed to do the job you have in mind.

The clipboard

Seven questions, in the order they come up

  1. May I see your licence card?

    This is the fact sheet’s first piece of advice: ask to see the pest management licence. A technician with a current Queensland licence carries a photo identity card. It shows their name, their licence number, the date the licence was issued and the date it expires, and the type of activity they are licensed to carry out.

  2. Does the licence cover this job?

    A pest management licence names the activities its holder may carry out, which Queensland Health also calls authorisations. The fact sheet says Queensland can issue three different licences, two of them for pest control: one excluding timber pests and one including timber pests. If the job involves timber pests, that is the distinction to look for.

  3. Is this termite work? Then, a QBCC licence too

    If you want termite advice, a report on a termite management system or an infestation, or a termite management system installed in a new building, the fact sheet says to check that the technician also holds a licence from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC). That licence is needed on top of the pest management licence.

    The QBCC also keeps public registers on its lists and registers page.

  4. Do we need a pesticide at all?

    Sometimes a pesticide treatment is not necessary, the fact sheet says. A thorough first inspection helps the technician decide whether a pesticide is the best choice and, if it is, where to put it so it works best and is least hazardous to you, your family and the environment.

    The same sheet adds that some pests are useful and help keep others down. Its example is spiders, some of which eat their own body weight in insects every day.

  5. What will you use?

    The fact sheet calls it a legal requirement for a technician to give you pest control advice, and that advice states, among other things, the name and the active constituent of each pesticide used. Queensland’s regulation sets out a notice before the work and another after it. With the product’s name you can read its label for yourself; the label guide shows what each part of it means.

  6. What do we need to do, during and after?

    The fact sheet asks you to check the safety precautions you need to take during the treatment and after it. Victoria’s Better Health Channel makes a related suggestion: raise concerns such as pregnancy, young children or allergies with the pest control operator before the work starts, so there is a chance to talk through the options.

  7. Is a trainee doing the work?

    Queensland Health says the pest management business operator is responsible for making sure a trainee is properly supervised, and penalties apply if a trainee is not. The business must also give its technicians equipment suited to the task, personal protective equipment included.

What the card shows

The five things a Queensland pest management licence card shows A drawn identity card with a blank photo square and five labelled lines: name, licence number, date of issue, date of expiry, and the activities the holder is licensed for. PEST MANAGEMENT LICENCE 1 Name 2 Licence number 3 Date of issue 4 Date of expiry 5 Activities licensed
A drawing of the card’s contents, not a copy of a real card. The five items are the ones Queensland Health’s fact sheet lists.

Read the fifth line against the job you have in mind: a card that says pest control excluding timber pests does not cover timber pests.

Checking a licence yourself

To check whether someone is a licensed pest management technician in Queensland, the fact sheet gives Queensland Health’s Health Protection Branch on (07) 3328 9310, or the email address printed on the sheet.

Some places carry extra rules. A school, a childcare centre, an aged care home or a hospital is a sensitive place under Queensland’s regulation, and a technician needs a plan before starting there. The guide to schools, childcare and aged care explains that plan.