FAQs

If you know you paid your inspector for a WDI (termite) inspection, or it was included in their services, please reach out to them for a copy of your report. If you did not purchase a wood destroying insect inspection from us, we cannot give you the report or any information about it. This is state law, not our policy. If you contact us we can let you know who did the inspection so you may contact them for another inspection.

You don’t. Our inspectors collect payment from their customers. It is highly unlikely they need to be paid at closing. If the invoice you received is not marked paid that is likely a mistake. You can verify this by calling or emailing the inspector listed on the WDI inspection report you likely have with the invoice.

Not on the home inspector license alone. Wood destroying insect inspections in Texas are regulated by the Texas Department of Agriculture through its Structural Pest Control Service, not by TREC. Per TDA’s official instructions for the T-5 report, a WDI report “can only be completed by a certified applicator or technician licensed in the termite control category.” Many Texas inspectors hold both licenses, which lets them deliver the termite report themselves instead of subcontracting it out. See how to get a Texas WDI license for the whole path, start to finish.

No. A termite technician or certified applicator license in Texas is not a standalone credential. It is held under a licensed structural pest control business. That is what a sponsoring company like WDI Science provides. We hold the business license (TPCL #0925450), carry the insurance, handle TDA communications, and your technician license sits under it. You keep running your own inspection business independently.

Getting licensed through WDI Science runs in five stages, and we handle the TDA paperwork at every one of them:

1. Sign up with WDI Science. We submit your apprentice paperwork to TDA and your license sits under our business license.
2. Watch 20 hours of training video, self-paced, covering insect identification, Texas law, treatment, and reporting. TDA-approved study books are shipped to you.
3. Complete 40 hours of on-the-job training alongside a certified applicator at real inspections.
4. Complete 8 hours of test prep in a focused Zoom class built around the two exams.
5. Take the General and Category exams. Pass both and your license is issued.

See Get Licensed for full details.

About six months is typical. Apprentices have up to 12 months before needing to resubmit their apprentice application, so there is room in the schedule.

What surprises most people is that the timeline is driven by scheduling, not study time. The 20 hours of video are self-paced and can be finished in a couple of weeks. The 40 hours of on-the-job training depend on a certified applicator having inspections for you to attend and on your availability to attend them, which moves with the real estate market. TDA’s processing backlog affects both apprentice registration on the front end and license issuance on the back end. Apprentices who treat the on-the-job hours as the bottleneck and book them aggressively finish fastest.

The exam comes in two parts, 50 questions each:

• General, 50 questions on general structural pest control laws and regulations. Not termite-specific; these are the rules that apply to anyone licensed under the Structural Pest Control Service.
• Category, 50 questions on wood destroying insect identification, plus the laws, treatment methods, chemical use, diagramming, and reporting requirements specific to the termite control category.

The reporting portion of the Category exam tracks closely to the T-5 form itself, which is why our 8 hours of test prep are built around the form rather than around textbook material.

A one-time fee of $899, then $25 per report as a Technician. There are no monthly fees. The one-time fee covers the training videos, TDA-approved study books, on-the-job training, test prep class, and all TDA paperwork. Insurance coverage, reporting software, and continuing education are included. See Get Licensed.

A one-time fee of $200, then the same per-report schedule, $25 per report regardless of license type, and no monthly fees. Transfers are usually complete in about three business days. You do not repeat any training. See Currently Licensed.

Report fees vary depending on the license type and role in the company. The per-report fee is $25, the same for Technicians and Certified Applicators. There are no monthly fees.

No. Just a flat fee per report.