‹ Licensing · Version 1.1

Urth licensing: the map and three study plans

Files: PDF · weekly study calendar (CSV) · text

Prepared 23 September 2026 by the Urth lane (dispatch URTH-20260923-004L1) for Alan to react to. Nothing here has been filed, paid, booked or bought, and none of it is accepted yet. Not legal advice.

How to read the facts. Each fact carries one of three marks:

• Confirmed: read on an official page and quoted, either today or in the 21 and 22 September passes.
• To confirm: from a vendor page, a search summary or an older document; check before paying or booking.
• Unknown: nothing reliable found.

1. This week: the county business tax receipt

The Miami-Dade County business tax receipt expires on Wednesday 30 September 2026, one week from today. Receipts run from 1 October to 30 September. The Tax Collector's reminder, titled "Renew Local Business Tax Receipts and Complete TConsent Attestation by September 30", confirms this.

• What we know about Urth's receipt. Urth filed an application in 2024; the file names are in Urth Landscaping, then Corporate. Whether it was paid and renewed for 2025–26 has not been checked.
• How to renew. Online through BTExpress on the Tax Collector's site (mdctaxcollector.gov), or in person. The site blocks automated reading, so the lane could not see Urth's account or the fee. Alan checks and pays. The lane does not log in.
• If it is late: 10% is added in October, and more each month after that up to 25% (to confirm; this matches section 205.053 of the Florida Statutes). Operating with no receipt at all can also bring a separate penalty.
• Fertilizer. Urth's 2024 affidavit says the company does not apply fertilizer. Keep that wording until someone at Urth holds the state fertilizer certificate. After that, the county wants proof of the Green Industries training "to obtain/renew" the receipt (confirmed, county fertilizer page).
• Why it matters beyond the fee. County vendor registration uploads this receipt. The county's Local Preference and the Small Business Enterprise certification both need it held for at least one year, so every year it lapses delays both.

2. The map

Every licence, registration and certificate a Miami-Dade and Broward landscaping company needs or benefits from, grouped by who holds it. "Alan today" answers one question: could Alan hold it now, or at least sit the exam?

2a. The company

2b. Alan personally

2c. Hardscape, irrigation and trees: where licences start

• Pavers, patios, walkways. The state does not license paver installation (secondary source). The Miami-Dade category list has no paver category. It does have Masonry and Decorative Fence, Concrete Finishing, and Unit Masonry, Marble and Exterior Veneer (the last one has an exam), and Tennis Courts. In 2023 the state stopped counties and cities from licensing some trades the state does not license (House Bill 735). Secondary sources say this includes driveways and decorative stone, but the exact scope and dates are to confirm. Working answer: simple paver work is subcontracted or done without a trade licence. Structural walls and concrete forming are subcontracted to licensed firms.
• Irrigation. Miami-Dade requires the Master Lawn Sprinkler certificate. Broward has its own irrigation certificate, and whether Broward honours Miami-Dade's is unknown. The state irrigation specialty licence may cover both counties, to confirm. Until then, irrigation is subcontracted, and old controllers found on site visits become leads for those subcontractors.
• Trees. Broward's tree-trimmer licence ended on 1 July 2025 (secondary source). No Miami-Dade tree-trimmer licence was found. City tree permits (Miami, Pompano Beach and others) may ask for an arborist's report.

3. Company study plan

Who and how long. Alan, or an office helper later: about 2 hours a week for 16 weeks, starting 28 September 2026.

What it is. None of these items has an exam. The company still has to learn each rule, then decide or file. Every "decide or file" line is Alan's action; the lane files nothing.

4. Alan's personal study plan

Pace. Slow and steady: about 5 hours a week, and 7 hours in the general contractor blocks. Each block ends with a full practice test. Booking any exam is Alan's decision.

Studying as if. Where Alan cannot sit an exam today (the general contractor exam, the Lawn and Ornamental operator exam), Alan studies to the same standard, with timed practice tests, so that the knowledge is his whatever the state decides.

Block A: fertilizer (weeks 1–2)

• Week 1. The Green Industries online course, about 6 hours. It is on the University of Florida Green Industries site (gibmp.ifas.ufl.edu). Take its test.
• Week 2. Read the Miami-Dade Chapter 18-C rules:
  • no nitrogen or phosphorus from 15 May to 31 October;
  • at most 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet a year;
  • at least 65% slow-release nitrogen;
  • phosphorus only with a soil test;
  • no fertilizer within 20 feet of water.

Then compare Broward's rules (a 1 June–30 September ban is reported; to confirm). Make 20 flashcards. Section 482.1562 of the Florida Statutes.

Block B: bed spraying (weeks 3–8)

The 21 September kit already holds this block. Study one module or two each week, then take the weekly quiz in NotebookLM.

The Green Industries manual is listed by the state for this exam and is still missing from the corpus; download it in week 1.

Block C: general contractor, Business and Finance (weeks 9–20)

Official book list, valid January–December 2026 (confirmed). Only these may enter the room:

• Florida Statutes chapter 455 (2025). A bound PDF is allowed.
• Builder's Guide to Accounting (2001).
• Contractors Manual (2021, with the 2025 Circular E). The 2025 edition is used from 1 February 2026.
• American Institute of Architects documents A201 (2017), A401 (2017) and A701 (2018).

Exam rules (confirmed).

• Books must be bound. Highlighting and underlining are allowed.
• No handwritten notes and no movable tabs. The permanent tabs sold by prep companies are the usual answer.
• Nobody may mark the books during the exam.

The skill being tested is finding answers in the books fast, so practise with the physical books and a timer.

Block D: Lawn and Ornamental operator, as if (weeks 21–28)

Read in this order:

1. Lawn and Ornamental Pest Management (University of Florida).
2. The Identification Guide to Common Florida Lawn and Ornamental Weeds.
3. Applying Pesticides Correctly (review).
4. Chapter 482 of the Florida Statutes and rule 5E-14.

This block also prepares Alan to judge the operator Urth hires.

Block E: arborist (weeks 29–37)

• Book: the Arborists' Certification Study Guide, 4th edition.
• Course: the Florida chapter's virtual prep course runs twice a year, in October and April, for 9 weeks, twice a week (price by phone; to confirm). The Miami Dade College course 0098 at Kendall is not open for enrolment now.
• Order: one guide domain per week, a 25-question quiz each week, and a 200-question mock in week 37.
• Check first: whether Alan's Earthy years meet the experience rule.

Blocks F and G: general contractor, Contract Administration and Project Management (weeks 38–53)

Official book list, valid January–December 2026 (confirmed). Allowed in the room:

• American Institute of Architects A201, A401 and A701.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules, 29 CFR Part 1926 (1 July 2025 edition).
• Contractors Manual (2021; the 2025 edition from 1 July 2026).
• Principles and Practices of Commercial Construction, 11th edition (2024).
• Energy Efficient Building Construction in Florida (2024).
• Truss safety guide BCSI (2020; the 2025 edition from 1 July 2026).
• Florida Building Code 2023: Building, Accessibility, Residential, Existing Building, Energy Conservation.

Suggested study books, not allowed in the room:

• Builder's Guide to Accounting.
• Walker's Building Estimator's Reference Book, 32nd edition.
• Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures, 17th edition.
• Placing Reinforcing Bars, 10th edition.
• Gypsum Association GA-216 (2018).

Contract Administration (weeks 38–45):

Project Management (weeks 46–53):

The one timing point. The state rules say candidates must pass every part within four years of the first attempt (to confirm on the state page). Studying costs nothing against that clock; only sitting the exam starts it. Keep "study as if" separate from "sit", and start the clock only when the experience question is settled.

5. Applicators and crew study plan

There is no crew today. This plan is a template: it counts crew weeks from the hire date, and the simulation can drop it into any start date. About 3 hours a week of paid study time is assumed. The simulation should cost it.

The limits of personal certificates (confirmed by statute). The bed-spraying and fertilizer certificates are personal. Each worker who sprays beds or spreads fertilizer needs their own, and no holder may supervise uncertified people. Only the pest control business licence, run by the certified operator, lets crew work on identification cards. This is the reason for the hire in section 7.

6. Study tools

The rule for every tool: the official books and pages are the source of truth. An AI tool can explain, quiz and read aloud, but a Florida rule is only believed when it can be found in an official book.

NotebookLM: one notebook per exam

On the free tier, NotebookLM works only from the sources loaded into it and cites them. Reported free limits are 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook and 3 audio overviews a day; these are to confirm, because the official page redirected. It also makes flashcards, quizzes, mind maps and audio overviews that can be played in the truck between jobs.

Prompts to paste into NotebookLM. Swap in the notebook's own topic.

1. "Using only these sources, write 20 multiple-choice questions on [module], four options each, one correct. Put the answer and the page it comes from after all 20."
2. "List every number in [chapter] that could be an exam question: limits, dates, fees, distances, percentages. Show each with its sentence and source."
3. "Where do these sources disagree with each other, or look out of date? List each case."
4. "Explain [topic] to a landscaping business owner in plain words, then give three trick questions an examiner might ask."
5. "Make a 10-minute audio overview of [module] for listening while driving, focused on what is most likely to be tested."
6. After a practice test: "I got these wrong: [list]. For each, show the source passage and one new question on the same point."

Practice formats.

• Built-in flashcards and quizzes, once per module.
• Audio overviews for driving time.
• A mind map per book, to learn the layout of an open-book exam.
• The weak-spot loop from the 21 September kit.

Gemini: explanations and a study coach

Gemini is good at plain-word explanations and at drilling. It has no grounded knowledge of the current Florida rules, so every rule it states needs checking. Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month (confirmed) and is not needed to start.

• Make a Gem called "Urth exam coach" with these instructions: "I am studying for [exam]. Quiz me one question at a time from the topic I name. Wait for my answer, then tell me whether it is right and why, citing which official book I should open. Never state a Florida rule without saying it must be checked in the official source. Keep a running list of my misses and re-ask them at the end."
• Guided Learning mode. For concepts: ratios, depreciation, critical path, calibration maths.
• The exam maths. "Give me 10 calibration problems (gallons per acre, ounces per 1,000 square feet) and check my working." The same for job costing and percentage-complete billing.
• Not for: looking up Florida fees, dates or rules.

Flashcards

• Anki. Free on desktop and Android; $24.99 once on iPhone (confirmed). Import the kit's CSV of 53 cards and every NotebookLM card set. 15 minutes a day.
• Quizlet. An alternative if phone-first matters more (about $36 a year; to confirm).

Prep courses and books worth paying for (prices only; nothing bought)

7. The certified operator hire

Why one hire matters

Only one pesticide licence belongs to the company: the pest control business licence from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The department issues it only when the business has a certified operator in charge who holds the Lawn and Ornamental category. The law ties that person to one business: the operator in charge "shall have her or his primary occupation with the licensee and shall be a full-time employee of the licensee" (section 482.152, Florida Statutes; confirmed on the official page on 22 September).

Alan cannot earn this certificate by study alone. The exam is open only to someone with three years as a service employee of a licensed pest control company (one year of it in Florida), or a degree in entomology, botany, agronomy or horticulture plus one year (section 482.132; confirmed 22 September). So the company licence depends on hiring one person, which fits Alan's rule "license the company, not personnel who come and go" as closely as the law allows: one qualifying person instead of a certificate for every sprayer. Once the business licence exists, crew members spray lawns under the operator with a $10 identification card and five days of field training each, not a certificate each.

If that person leaves, the company must tell the department at once and may run under a temporary operator for up to 30 days (rule 5E-14.142). Plan a second person on the path (a crew member working towards the three years, or Alan's own clock if Alan ever works under a licensee) so the licence is not a single point of failure.

What to ask the headhunters for

Send this as the search brief (Alan sends it; nothing has been sent):

• Title: Certified Pest Control Operator in charge, Lawn and Ornamental, for a new Miami-Dade and Broward landscape company. Full-time, on payroll (not a contractor, not shared with another company).
• Must hold today: an active Florida certified operator certificate in the Lawn and Ornamental category, current on continuing education, with no disciplinary history. The candidate gives the certificate number; Urth checks it on the department's public licence lookup before any interview.
• Must be willing to: be named as the operator in charge on Urth's pest control business licence, resign as operator in charge of any other licensee first, and work full time for Urth as the primary occupation.
• Should have: the Limited Urban Commercial Fertilizer certificate (or be willing to get it in a week), Green Industries training, three or more years running turf and ornamental routes in South Florida, experience training identification-card employees, record-keeping for restricted-use products, calibration of power sprayers.
• Useful extras: International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist; Spanish and English; a clean driving record (commercial auto insurance); experience leading a two- to four-person crew (the "foreman who already has it" option).
• Two shapes to present: (a) a working foreman who holds the certificate and runs a crew; (b) a dedicated spray-route lead. Alan named (a) as possible ("a foreman who already has it"); the lane suggests (a) for the early years because one person covers both roles.
• Pay: ask the headhunter for the current Miami range for both shapes and for the fee structure (percentage of first-year salary, guarantee period). Urth pays crew by the day; ask whether candidates accept a day rate plus a licence stipend, or need a salary.

Interview questions

Licence and history

1. What is your certificate number, category and expiry, and how many continuing education units do you have for this renewal year?
2. Are you the operator in charge for any licensee today? What would you need to do to leave that role?
3. Have you ever received a warning, fine or stop order from the department? Tell me what happened.

Technical (answers Alan can check against the manuals)

1. Walk me through calibrating a 100-gallon skid sprayer for a turf herbicide at a label rate per 1,000 square feet.
2. A St. Augustine lawn in Kendall is yellowing in patches in August. What do you look for before you spray anything?
3. Chinch bugs versus drought stress: how do you tell them apart on site?
4. Which Miami-Dade fertilizer rules change what you do between 15 May and 31 October? What about near a canal?
5. What records do you keep for each application, and for how long? What changes for a restricted-use product?
6. A customer's dog was on the lawn ten minutes after treatment. What do you do?
7. What personal protective equipment do you require for each crew member, and how do you check it daily?

Running a crew and a licence

1. How do you train a new identification-card employee in their first five days?
2. How would you set up spray routes so they sit next to our mowing routes?
3. What would you change first in a company that has never held a pest control licence?
4. If you left, how much notice would you give, and would you help us bring in a temporary operator?

Fit

1. Why a small new company instead of a large lawn-care firm?
2. How do you feel about being paid by the day, with deliverables tracked, like the rest of the crew?

8. Open questions for Alan

1. The county business tax receipt. Is the 2025–26 receipt paid, and will you renew it by Wednesday 30 September?
2. Order of Alan's blocks. Fertilizer, then bed spraying, then Business and Finance is proposed. Would you rather start the general contractor work first?
3. Weekly hours. Is 5 hours a week (7 in general contractor blocks) right for "slow and steady"?
4. The operator hire. A working foreman who holds the certificate, or a dedicated spray lead? And when: before the first spring season (the spraying season) or later?
5. Irrigation in-house or subcontracted. This decides whether the Master Lawn Sprinkler or the state irrigation licence is ever sat for real.
6. Arborist eligibility. Do your Earthy years count as the three years of tree work? One call or email to the International Society of Arboriculture settles it.
7. Six phone calls that would close most "to confirm" facts (none made by the lane):
   • Miami-Dade Tax Collector: the receipt fee and category.
   • Broward Tax Collector: whether work-only visits need a Broward receipt.
   • Miami-Dade Construction Trades Qualifying Board: current fees, and a paver category.
   • Broward Central Examining Board: irrigation, and whether it honours Miami-Dade certificates.
   • State Department of Agriculture pest control licensing: exam question counts, operator continuing education hours.
   • The Florida chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture: prep course price.

9. Sources

• Fetched today (23 Sep), official, in sources/official/ with fingerprints in MANIFEST.sha256:
  • The state construction Candidate Information Booklet (const_cib.pdf).
  • The 2026 general, building and residential contractor reference list.
  • The 2026 Business and Finance reference list.
  • The 2025 general contractor reference list (for comparison).
  • The state reference-list index page.
  • The Miami-Dade Construction Trades Qualifying Board category list.
  • The county personal certification application with its fees.
• Research notes (23 Sep), in sources/research/: three read-only web passes, each fact marked confirmed or to confirm, with its address:
  • general contractor (cgc.md);
  • Miami-Dade and Broward (counties.md);
  • applicators, arborist, industry credentials and study tools (applicators-tools.md).
• Earlier packages, not changed:
  • 21 September licensing package: official statute and rule texts, the bed-spraying study kit, the corpus.
  • 22 September licence map, its JSON and the 23-fact confirmation pass (growth/C3-licensing/).
• Alan's notes (context/ios-notes-urth-20260922.md): LICENCING, and Government Procurement (priorities, hauling permit, Small Business Enterprise, dealer's licence).