2020 Georgia Code
Title 43 - Professions and Businesses
Chapter 45 - Persons Engaged in Structural Pest Control
§ 43-45-24. Engaging in Pest Control Business Without a License; Engaging in Field Work or Soliciting Accounts Without Registering or Obtaining Certification

1. Any person, firm, corporation, association, or any other organization or combination thereof who shall engage in, solicit, supervise, advertise, represent himself to be in, hold himself out as being in, or purport to be, a manager, owner, operator-owner, operator or agent (other than a registered employee), or agent in household pest control, control of wood-destroying organisms, fumigation, or related work, without having first secured a license issued for that purpose by the commission, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for the first offense. For the second or any subsequent offense, any person violating this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in Code Section 17-10-4. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense.
2. Any certified operator, registered employee, or employee or agent of a licensee who shall engage in field work or solicit accounts covered by this chapter and the rules and regulations promulgated hereto, without having first registered or obtained certification under this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ga. L. 1955, p. 564, § 9; Ga. L. 1957, p. 299, § 5; Ga. L. 1960, p. 813, § 5; Ga. L. 1976, p. 308, §§ 7, 8; Ga. L. 1977, p. 701, § 9; Ga. L. 2002, p. 856, § 3.)

- False or fraudulent advertising, § 10-1-420 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

"Professional service" for purposes of malpractice action.

- Based upon the statutory definition of professional service, a pest control company's control and treatment of wood destroying organisms is a profession for purposes of filing a professional malpractice action. Colston v. Fred's Pest Control, Inc., 210 Ga. App. 362, 436 S.E.2d 23 (1993); Fender v. Adams Exterminators, Inc., 218 Ga. App. 62, 460 S.E.2d 528 (1995).

Application of the expert affidavit requirement to pest control services was clearly foreshadowed by Gillis v. Goodgame, 262 Ga. 117, 414 S.E.2d 197 (1992); thus, it was not unfair to dismiss an action for failure to file an affidavit, even though the complaint was filed before a decision that specifically applied the requirement to exterminators. Fender v. Adams Exterminators, Inc., 218 Ga. App. 62, 460 S.E.2d 528 (1995).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Revocation of license prohibits performance of preexisting contracts.

- Once a pest control license has been revoked, one is prohibited from performing any type of structural pest control work, whether or not done pursuant to a contract entered into prior to the revocation of the license. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-53.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Right to enjoin business competitor from unlicensed or otherwise illegal acts or practices, 90 A.L.R.2d 7.

Single or isolated transactions as falling within provisions of commercial or occupational licensing requirements, 93 A.L.R.2d 90.

Recovery back of money paid to unlicensed person required by law to have occupational or business license or permit to make contract, 74 A.L.R.3d 637.