Free CA Branch 3 Exam Flashcards

Live in the soil and need ground moisture, so they build visible mud (shelter) tubes to bridge from soil to the wood they feed on. Finding active mud tubes is the clearest field evidence of this species, unlike termites that never touch soil.

Do not need soil contact; they nest in dry, sound wood such as framing, attics, decks, and furniture. They push hard fecal pellets with six flattened sides out through small openings, so pellets piling up below a hole are the field evidence, not mud tubes.

Need wood with high moisture content, usually decayed wood kept wet by soil contact or a water leak, and are most common in cool, humid coastal areas. Finding them signals a moisture or decay problem, so correcting the moisture source matters as much as controlling the termites.

Decay fungus is not an insect; it needs excess wood moisture to grow and produces softening, discoloration, or cuboidal cracking rather than tunnels, pellets, or frass. Because it is moisture-driven, correcting the moisture source is central to any fix, not just chemical treatment.

Beetles such as anobiid, lyctid, and bostrichid species leave round exit holes and powdery frass in seasoned wood, rather than mud tubes or six-sided pellets. Confusing beetle exit holes with termite damage can lead to the wrong treatment recommendation.

They tunnel into wood to nest, not to eat it, so expect smooth galleries and coarse, sawdust-like debris rather than mud tubes or fecal pellets. Under 16 CCR Section 1990(c), a Branch 3 licensee who finds them during a WDO inspection must report it and recommend control; a Branch 2 or Branch 3 company may do the control work.

A monitoring device only indicates possible termite presence or absence; it contains no pesticide, provides no control, and never eliminates the need for a Branch 3 inspection before treatment. A bait station, by contrast, contains pesticide, and its use is legally treated as a control service agreement.

This is flagged as a conducive condition on an inspection report even when no active infestation is found, because direct soil contact gives moisture and organisms a path into structural wood. Correcting it is a preventive recommendation, separate from treating any existing infestation.

Title 16 CCR Section 1990(b)(3) defines excessive cellulose debris as any cellulose debris large enough to be raked, or larger. It is reported as a condition likely to lead to infestation even when no pests are present, and stumps or wood embedded in footings in earth contact must also be reported.

Under 16 CCR Section 1990(b)(1), a faulty grade level exists when the top of any foundation is even with or below the adjacent earth, with the existing earth level treated as grade. It is reported as a conducive condition even when no pest is currently present.

Every WDO report must print one of two boldface statements (Business and Professions Code Section 8516(b)(8)): either the exterior roof surface was not inspected, so a licensed roofing contractor should be contacted about watertightness, or it was inspected to determine whether wood-destroying pests or organisms are present.

Furnished interiors, hollow walls, stall showers over finished ceilings, and similar spaces the inspector cannot safely open are never just marked 'inaccessible' in general terms. The report must specifically name each such area and explain why inspecting it was not practical.

Any wooden deck, stairway, or landing attached to or touching the structure must be addressed in the report, and any part of it not visually inspected must be specifically designated as inaccessible rather than silently left out.

Title 16 CCR Section 1990(f): Section 1 lists visible evidence of active infestation or infection, or conditions that resulted from it. Section 2 lists conditions likely to lead to infestation with no visible evidence of it. Areas the inspector could not reach become further-inspection items, which are neither Section 1 nor Section 2.

Branch 3 controls wood-destroying pests or organisms with insecticides or structural repairs and corrections, but excludes fumigation with poisonous or lethal gases, which is Branch 1 (Business and Professions Code Section 8560). A Branch 3 inspector can still identify and recommend fumigation; a Branch 1 company must perform it.

After a complete inspection, the report must recommend removing or covering all accessible pellets and frass of wood-destroying pests (16 CCR Section 1991(a)(8)). After a limited inspection, that recommendation covers only the inspected areas.

Title 16 CCR Section 1990(b)(2) lists inaccessible subareas, and areas with less than 12 inches of clear space between the bottom of the floor joists and unimproved ground, as conditions likely to lead to infestation or infection. They are reported even when no pests are found.

Business and Professions Code Section 8516 and 16 CCR Section 1993 recognize complete, limited, supplemental, and reinspection reports. Complete and limited reports are the two kinds of original report. Supplemental and reinspection reports must clearly identify the original report they follow.

A complete report covers all visible and accessible portions of a structure; a limited report covers only part of it. A limited report must diagram and specify the area inspected, recommend further inspection of the entire structure, and name the person or agency requesting the limited report (16 CCR Section 1993(c)).

Under Business and Professions Code Section 8516(b), the property address must be filed with the Board no later than 10 business days after the inspection starts, and the written report must reach the requester and owner within 10 business days from the start. Failing to file the address can bring discipline and a fine of up to $2,500.

A registered company must retain inspection reports, field notes, and activity forms for three years, and must produce copies to the Board within 2 business days of a demand. A guarantee lasting longer than three years extends that retention through the guarantee period plus one more year.

A reinspection re-checks only items listed on an earlier report, must be labeled 'Reinspection' and reference the original report by date, and cannot cost more than the original inspection fee. It must be completed within 10 business days of being requested, and after four months a new inspection is treated as original, not a reinspection.

Under a control service agreement, the agreement, original inspection report, and completion report must be kept for three years after the agreement is canceled. A full inspection and filed report are also required at least once every three years unless the consumer cancels within that time (Business and Professions Code Section 8516(h)).

Business and Professions Code Section 8516(b)(13) requires a boldface notice: reports from different registered companies should list the same findings, such as termite infestation or fungus damage, but recommendations to correct them may vary, and the consumer has the right to seek a second opinion.

Before treatment, the client must receive written notice naming the pest being controlled, the pesticide and its active ingredient, and the state-mandated caution language, including instructions to contact a physician or poison control center if flu-like symptoms appear within 24 hours of application (Business and Professions Code Section 8538(a)).

A Branch 1 fumigation notice must reach the owner, agent, and tenant at least 48 hours before application unless fumigation follows inspection within less than 48 hours. A Branch 2 or Branch 3 treatment notice has no fixed advance window; it only has to be provided no later than just prior to application.

Notice goes to the owner or owner's agent and any tenant by first-class mail, by email if an email address was provided, by posting in a conspicuous place on the property, or by personal delivery. For a commercial or industrial building, a posted notice is also required unless the owner or agent objects (Business and Professions Code Section 8538(b)).

If a client has signed a contract for periodic pest control, the required pesticide notice only has to be given again at the initial treatment, not before every scheduled visit, unless the pesticide being used is changed.

If evidence shows wood-destroying pests extend into inaccessible areas, 16 CCR Section 1991(a)(8) requires recommending one of three paths: enclose the structure for an all-encompassing fumigation, use another all-encompassing treatment, or treat locally by exposing the area, removing infested wood, or another method that kills the infestation.

Before applying pesticide, the licensee locates gas lines, water lines and shutoffs, drainage lines, and electrical power sources in the treatment area. The purpose is to prevent property damage or personal injury from an accidental utility strike during application.

Before contracting for work, a registered company must give the owner the Board's 'Notice to Owner' (Business and Professions Code Section 8513). It explains that the pest control company, or an unpaid subcontractor, laborer, or supplier, can enforce a claim against the property, even if the owner has paid the company in full.

Covered infestations must be corrected within six months of discovery unless both parties agree otherwise in writing. A separate written report can be skipped only if the problem was already reported, is covered, costs nothing extra, is fixed within 45 days of discovery, and needs no fumigation (Business and Professions Code Section 8516(h)).

Manufacturer label directions are legally binding limits on how, where, and in what amount a pesticide may be applied. Equipment, personal protective equipment, and application rates used during a Branch 3 treatment must all follow what the specific product label requires.

Signal words reflect a product's acute-toxicity category, not its brand: DANGER marks the most hazardous category, WARNING a moderate hazard, and CAUTION the lowest categories. The signal word helps set how much protective handling the product requires.

If evidence shows an infestation reaches an inaccessible area but the company recommends local (spot) treatment instead of an all-encompassing method, the report must state in writing that local treatment is not intended to address the entire structure, so the client understands the method's limits.

Chemical measures place pesticide where termites or fungi are, such as soil termiticide barriers, foams or dusts in galleries, borate wood treatments, and termite bait stations, whose bait contains pesticide. Nonchemical measures include heat, electrocution, and removing or replacing infested wood. Baiting is not a nonchemical method.

California pesticide-handler rules (3 CCR Section 6738) require employers to inspect and clean PPE daily, following the label or manufacturer's instructions, or detergent and hot water if none are given. Potentially contaminated PPE must be kept and washed separately from other laundry.

Every container holding a pesticide, including in storage or on a truck, must carry a proper label. A vehicle carrying pesticides needs a suitable storage space, and it must never be left unlocked or unattended while it holds pesticide (16 CCR Section 1983).

Title 16 CCR Section 1991(a)(9) requires treating the infested area under the structure when subterranean termite tubes are connected to the ground or an active infestation is found in the ground. Accessible tubes must also be removed, apart from the bait-station exception.

If an above-ground bait station needs the termites' tubes to work, the tubes may stay in place while the stations are in use but must be removed when treatment ends (16 CCR Section 1991(a)(9)). When a termite baiting contract ends, bait toxicant must be removed from the property (16 CCR Section 1983(j)).

A structural member that wood-destroying pests have weakened to the point it no longer serves its intended purpose must be replaced or reinforced (16 CCR Section 1991(a)(5)). Unlike the fungus rule, this requirement has no moisture-content condition.

A member structurally weakened by decay fungus may be removed, or it may stay in place with an adjacent reinforcing member installed instead, but only if both members are below 20% moisture content and the excess-moisture source causing the fungus has been corrected.

If fungus has only discolored or lightly affected the wood surface without weakening its structural function, the member may be chemically treated and left in place, as long as the moisture problem is corrected and the inspector expects it to keep performing its job.

Title 16 CCR Section 1991(a)(8) requires a recommendation to exterminate every reported wood-destroying pest. It also says this extermination is not 'repair' under Business and Professions Code Section 8516(b)(12), the reinspection disclosure tied to repair estimates. Pest elimination and damage repair stay separate recommendations.

Earth-to-wood contact is corrected by breaking the contact, for example by removing soil from the wood, cutting the member back and supporting it on concrete, or using pressure-treated lumber where wood must meet earth. Pesticide alone does not remove the conducive condition.

Installing a vapor barrier over exposed subarea soil is a standard corrective measure for excessive moisture, since covering the soil reduces the humidity that supports fungus and dampwood termite activity under a structure.

Adding or improving ventilation in a crawlspace or subarea is used to correct persistent excess moisture, working alongside or instead of a vapor barrier to keep humidity low enough to discourage decay fungus and dampwood termites.

When moisture, infestation, or infection results from faulty grade levels, earth-fill planters, or loose stucco, the report must recommend correcting the condition (16 CCR Section 1991(a)(3)). Any method that controls an infestation arising from these conditions is considered adequate.

Repairing, replacing, or reinforcing wood members damaged by wood-destroying organisms must conform to the California Building Code (Title 24 CCR) and any applicable local building code, not just to pest-control industry practice.

All excessive cellulose debris in earth contact must be removed from the subarea. Shavings or other cellulose too small to rake, and stored goods not in earth contact, are excluded, and stumps or wood embedded in footings in earth contact are treated if removal is impractical (16 CCR Section 1991(a)(2)).