It’s that time of the year to start preparing for license and certificate renewal season for pesticide applicators with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). Applicators should have received their renewal notice in the mail (and if not, then please contact DPR at LicenseMail@cdpr.ca.gov).
To renew your DPR license you need to obtain the required minimum number of continuing education (CE) hours in your two-year renewal period before you renew (20 total hours for QAL and QAC, and 4 of those 20 must be “Laws and Regulations” hours, PCA’s need 40 hours, with 4 of those 40 being Laws and Regs, see link for more details).
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ce_hours.pdf
In the past you needed to verify that you obtained those hours. Most often you received a piece of paper handed out after the CE course is over, or the verification certificate was emailed to you. Then you would fill out your DPR renewal paperwork you receive in the mail, verify your information on the DPR form, submit the proper course information for your record renewal summary, submit your renewal fees, sign the forms, and you should receive a renewed license in the mail.
Starting in 2025 DPR is now tracking the number of CE hours you have obtained in CE classes. The new procedures are detailed in a yellow flyer that is in your license renewal packet, and the same info can be found on this webpage here:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CADPR/bulletins/3e7ef2d
Behind the scenes here’s a little of what is happening; one month before you attend a CE workshop, course sponsors (such as myself) submit paperwork to DPR verifying that the course is covering pest management topics, then we submit a detailed workshop agenda, and we explain how many hours of pest control we are covering in our CE seminar. DPR will approve the course for a certain number of CE hours, including “laws” and “other” hours. Then you know this part, at the day of the event you sign in with your DPR license or certificate number and you learn about pests and pesticides. After you leave you receive your verification of attendance paper or by email. After the course is complete, behind the scenes again, us course sponsors then submit a spreadsheet to DPR where we have entered your license number from the registration sheet and the number of hours you attended in our CE course. DPR then adds your CE information to their license database.
Now this is the part where it gets easier for your license renewal, since DPR now has the CE hours that we course sponsors submitted, you can go online and track your hours to ensure you have your total of 20 hours (QAC/QAL) or 40 hours (PCA), including 4 hours of laws.
To verify your hours in DPR’s system, go to the webpage “Lists of DPR Licenses” at this link below (or on the yellow sheet in the DPR package, scan the QR code with your smart phone, and it will send you to the same page):
https://apps.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/currlic.cfm
Here’s a screen shot near the top of the webpage:
Now, scroll down to where it says “Valid License List - Reports”
Click on the dropdown button for either “Individual” or “Business” licenses (I added blue arrows here)
It will then give you a drop-down alphabetical list. Pick the first letter of your last name or the first letter of your businesses name (if you run a pest control business). You will then get a new page with all of the current licenses for that last name (or business name) with that letter. Your license, like a roofer or contractor’s license, is a public record, this page is part of DPR’s public record. Here is the top of the page for the last names that begin with A for individuals.
Scroll down to find your name in the list. On the right hand columns you will see how many CE hours you have obtained in the past 2 years for Laws, Aerial, Other and then the Total hours.
Here is what two random people’s hours report look like (I changed the names)
The first applicator “Angie Doe” (not her real name 😊 ) has 7 hours as of this writing, she needs at least 2 more “laws” hours and 11 “other” hours to renew her QAL. Don’t worry, she will attend a few DPR approved CE courses before the year ends. The second applicator “Jose Doe” is ready to go, he has at least 4 “laws” hours and has 21 total hours. Since he has 5 extra “laws” hours (9-4 = 5) those 5 extra laws hours can also count towards the total hours, so the 4 required laws hours + 5 extra laws + 12 other hours = 21 total hours. Jose can turn in his renewal form for his QAC, he has at least 4 laws hours and more than 20 total hours. His extra hours will not carry over to his next renewal cycle, he’ll start with zero CE hours in January 2026, since his license expires at the end of 2025.
Now, on page 2 of the renewal package DPR mailed us, there is the “Continuing Education Record Renewal Summary” form, since Jose has 21 total hours for his QAC and meets the requirements, he writes on that sheet that he has verified his hours on the DPR website (and we verified he has 21 total hours with 4 hours laws, too!).
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ce_summary_lic-141.pdf
Jose can fill out the rest of the paperwork, verify his info, turn in his renewal fee, sign the forms, and mail off the papers. Once our other applicator Angie Doe takes a few more classes, she can verify her hours online and then renew. It can take up to a few weeks (~15 days) for a course sponsor to turn in their spreadsheet to DPR. If Angie can’t wait that long for the course sponsor and website to update, she can also use the hours she has verified online and submit her Continuing Education Record Renewal Summary after she attended the additional CE workshops. She’ll need at least 2 hours of laws and 11 hours of other hours, for a total of 20 (she already has 2 “laws” and 5 “other” hours that we verified online).
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ce_summary_lic-141.pdf
If there is a discrepancy in your CE hours, and what is listed online at DPR’s website contact DPR at the email address at the bottom of this blog. For example, maybe you attended courses, which should have given you all the hours you need, but your hours are still falling short, contact DPR.
For more detailed and official information about license renewals, read this page (scroll down for the renewals section)
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/apply-for-a-license/
Follow all directions in DPR’s materials and website and refer to DPR’s content for current information. If there are any discrepancies between this webpage and in DPR’s content, refer to DPR’s content. For any additional information about your specific situation please contact DPR at the email below. Thanks for reading.
DPR’s license email: LicenseMail@cdpr.ca.gov