By Kevin Sukovich, Owner, Webenex Services Pest Control · Updated October 2026
Before you sign with any pest control company, there is one thing you can check yourself, without a sales call: whether it holds a Florida license. After that, what matters most is what the company is willing to put in writing.
I own a pest control company here in Clermont, so I won't pretend to be neutral. Here is the scorecard I'd use if I were hiring for my own building, and I'd ask you to apply it to us first. You can check most of it in writing or in a short conversation before you sign anything, and the license in a public record. The same questions work whether you run a restaurant, a warehouse, a medical office or an HOA.
In this guide
The seven questions to ask before signing anything
Bring these to every company you talk to, including us. A provider who does this work every day should answer each one quickly and without hedging.
What is your Florida pest control license number?
Any company should hand it over without hesitation.
Who is your certified operator in charge?
You should know that person's name.
Can you send proof of insurance?
Ask for the certificate itself, not a verbal "we're covered."
What commercial properties like mine do you service right now?
You want specifics about your industry, not a general claim.
What does the written plan cover, and what is quoted separately?
If it isn't in writing, assume it isn't included.
How do you document each visit?
A business may need a record to show someone else.
What happens if pests come back between scheduled visits?
The answer tells you more than the sales pitch does.
The rest of this guide explains what a good answer looks like.
License and insurance first: verify any Florida provider
Start with licensing. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), each pest control business location in Florida must be licensed by FDACS, carry required insurance, and employ a full-time certified operator in charge. Operators must be over 18 and pass written FDACS exams.
To check a company, use the Pest Control Database Search in the FDACS AES Licensing Portal at aeslicensing.fdacs.gov.
One practical warning: the older search site, aessearch.fdacs.gov, now marks its information as historical only and points to a new website for anything after March 28, 2025. If an old bookmark or a search result lands you there, you may be looking at outdated records.
While you're in the portal, check three things
- ✓The license matches the name on your proposal. If the business name on the quote and the name on the license don't line up, ask why before you go any further.
- ✓The right location holds the license. Licensing applies to each business location, so a company with more than one office should be able to tell you which licensed location will service your property.
- ✓The certification fits the work. The FDACS page lists four operator certification categories: General Household Pest and Rodent Control; Termite and Other Wood-Destroying Organisms Control; Lawn and Ornamental Pest Control; and Fumigation. If your plan includes termite work, for example, ask whether the company holds that category.
For insurance, ask for a certificate and read the dates on it. Check which coverages it lists, such as general liability and workers' compensation, and compare them with what your lease, franchise agreement or property manager asks of vendors. If you need to be named on the certificate, as certificate holder or additional insured, say so up front so it doesn't hold up your start date.
Check us first
Our Florida pest control license number is JB309802. Look it up the same way you'd look up anyone else.
Just remember that a state license is what Florida requires before a company can operate. I treat it as the floor, not a quality rating: it won't tell you how well any company will do the work, and that includes us.
Commercial experience versus residential experience
The FDACS licensing page lists four operator certification categories, and none is labeled "commercial." A license alone won't tell you whether a company has ever worked a commercial kitchen, a loading dock or a multi-tenant office building. You have to ask.
Commercial accounts raise practical questions a homeowner may never have to think about:
- →Scheduling. Ask how service will fit around your open hours, deliveries, patients, guests or tenants, and whether early-morning or after-hours visits are possible.
- →Documentation. Ask what records you will get after each visit, since a business may need them for an inspector, an auditor, a corporate office or a property owner.
- →Scale and access. Ask how the company will inspect areas like roof lines, drop ceilings, dumpster pads, storage racks and walls shared with neighboring tenants.
- →Stakes. For a restaurant, a pest problem can lead to a closure. Florida restaurant pest control: health inspection requirements has the current closure counts. Ask whether the company has worked properties that face inspections like yours.
Two more questions that reveal real commercial experience:
"Who will actually come to my property, and will it usually be the same technician?"
"Can you show me a sample service report with the client's name removed?"
Here is our answer to question four from the list above, so you can see what a specific one looks like. We service commercial buildings from 200 to 72,000 square feet. The industries we serve include restaurants and food service, hotels and hospitality, medical and healthcare facilities, and property managers and HOAs, along with warehouses, offices, retail and builders.
Ask every provider for the same, then ask for examples within your own industry.
If you aren't sure whether what you're seeing at your business is a one-off or the start of something bigger, 7 signs your business has a pest problem covers the warning signs worth acting on.
What the service plan must include in writing
Get the scope in writing so a sales conversation can't be remembered two different ways. A solid written plan should spell out:
Which pests are covered, by name or group. For example, every one of our commercial plans covers eight pest groups: spiders, wasps and stinging insects, ants, cockroaches, rodents, flies, stored product pests, and fleas and ticks.
What is excluded or quoted separately. At Webenex, termites (including WDO reports and Sentricon colony elimination), bed bugs and mosquitoes are separate services with separate quotes. If a plan seems to cover "everything," ask whether it really does, and get the answer in writing.
How often service happens, and when. Frequency, visit windows and whether after-hours service is available should all be stated.
How the company decides what to treat. Our commercial work follows an integrated pest management (IPM) approach: find the source, treat only where needed, prevent the pests from returning, and document visits. Any provider should be able to explain its method in plain language.
What each visit report includes. You should know what you'll receive after each visit and how it reaches you. If a health inspector, auditor or property owner may ask to see your pest control records, find out what they expect and confirm the provider's reports cover it.
What happens between visits. Ask whether callbacks cost extra. Free re-services are included with our service plans.
What happens if a problem doesn't go away. Under our published terms, if an issue persists after two consecutive re-treatments, we refund your last full service payment. Ask every provider what its equivalent commitment is.
Term, renewal and cancellation. How long the agreement runs, whether it renews on its own, how much notice you must give to cancel, and whether you can leave if service falls short. Watch for automatic renewals with long notice windows, and ask for a defined way out before you sign.
You should expect every provider to put its terms in writing at this level of detail. If you'd like to see ours applied to your building, we inspect for free and give you a quote before any work starts.
Pricing transparency: what a real quote looks like
I don't give price ranges here, because a commercial quote should come from someone who has walked your property. What you can judge is how a quote is put together. A real quote:
- ✓Arrives in writing before work starts. A price you can't point to later is not a quote.
- ✓Comes after an inspection. A quote should reflect your actual building, its layout and the pressures on it, not just a square footage read over the phone. Our inspections are free, and we provide a quote before any work begins.
- ✓Separates the parts. The recurring plan, any one-time initial service, and anything quoted separately should each be listed on its own line.
- ✓Matches the written plan. The pests, frequency and re-service terms on the quote should line up with the service plan. If they don't, ask which document wins.
- ✓Explains what drives the price. Ask how your building's size, pest pressure and visit frequency affect the number, and what would change it later, such as adding a building, adding a pest group or changing visit frequency. You should know those triggers before you sign.
To compare providers fairly, get two or three quotes for the same scope: the same pests, the same visit frequency and the same re-service terms. Lay them side by side and ask each company to explain any line that doesn't match the others.
Good questions to ask about any quote
- Is there a separate charge for the first service?
- Does the price change at renewal?
- Is anything billed if I call between scheduled visits?
- How soon can you inspect, and how soon can service start?
Reviews and reputation: what to inspect beyond star count
Star ratings are a starting point, not a verdict. When you read a provider's reviews, look for:
- →Recency. Recent reviews show how a company performs today.
- →Commercial clients. Look for reviews from businesses, property managers or HOAs, not only homeowners. Then ask the company for a reference in your industry.
- →The low ratings. Read the one- and two-star reviews first. What went wrong, and did the company respond in a way that fixed it?
- →Specifics. Reviews that name a technician, describe a follow-up visit or mention a problem that stayed solved are more useful than "great service."
- →Consistency. If the picture on one review platform looks very different from another, find out why.
4.9 ★
567 Google reviews
As an example, our Google Business Profile showed 4.9 stars from 567 reviews as of Oct. 11, 2026. Apply the same list to ours: start with the one- and two-star reviews.
Red flags: no license number, no written plan, one-size pricing, no follow-up
Watch for these warning signs before you sign:
No license number, or a reluctant one. If a company won't give you its number, or it doesn't match the business on your proposal, stop there. See the verification steps above.
No written plan. If the scope lives only in a conversation, you have nothing to point to when expectations differ.
One-size pricing. A price set before anyone has looked at your property suggests nobody plans to look closely after you sign, either.
No follow-up. No visit reports, no callback process and no answer to "what if they come back?" means you'll be the one tracking whether the work happened.
Pressure to sign today. A confident provider will give you time to check its license and read its reviews.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a commercial pest control company?
Ask for the company's Florida license number, the name of its certified operator in charge, and proof of insurance. Then ask what properties like yours it services now, what the written plan covers and excludes, how visits are documented, and what happens if pests return between visits.
Do pest control companies need a license in Florida?
Yes. According to FDACS, each pest control business location in Florida must be licensed by FDACS, carry required insurance, and employ a full-time, Florida-certified operator in charge of its pest control operations.
How do I verify a pest control license in Florida?
Use the Pest Control Database Search in the FDACS AES Licensing Portal at aeslicensing.fdacs.gov. Avoid the older aessearch.fdacs.gov site, which the state marks as historical only. Confirm that the license matches the business name on your proposal and the location that will service your property.
What is included in a commercial pest control contract?
It depends on the provider, so read the written plan closely. A complete one names the pests covered, lists anything quoted separately, sets the visit frequency, explains how visits are documented, and spells out callbacks, guarantees, renewal and cancellation. As one example, every one of our commercial plans covers eight pest groups, while termites, bed bugs and mosquitoes are separate services with separate quotes.
Verify first, then decide
Use this scorecard on every provider you're considering, and use it on us first. Our Florida license number is JB309802; look it up in the FDACS portal at aeslicensing.fdacs.gov. Our office is at 295 Hwy 50, Suite 3, in Clermont.
Check our license, read our reviews, then get a free inspection.