Before a pest control company treats a Texas home for subterranean termites, it owes you a specific set of documents. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) calls them termite treatment disclosure documents, and the rule that defines them is precise: a diagram of your house, the label of the product, the details of any warranty, the concentration or number of bait stations, and the signature of someone licensed in the termite category. A bid scribbled on a card does not meet it.
This guide walks through that paperwork in the order you will see it: the estimate, the disclosure package, the treatment day, and what stays with the house afterward. It is based on Chapter 7 of Title 4 of the Texas Administrative Code and on TDA’s own consumer pages, all read on October 5, 2026.
The short answer
Under 4 Tex. Admin. Code § 7.174, every written estimate for a termite or related wood-destroying insect treatment must come with disclosure documents. A verbal estimate is allowed to give you a general range, but a written estimate is required before treatment starts. And only a licensed technician or certified applicator in the termite category may prepare the written estimate and the disclosure documents.
TDA summarizes the same requirement on its Termite FAQs page: the documents are due at the time a bid is submitted and before treating, and the agency adds that a proposal is never to be given on the back of a business card.
What the disclosure package must contain
The rule lists the minimum contents. In plain terms, you should be able to find each of these in what the company hands you:
- Who is proposing the work: business name, address, phone number, TPCL business license number, and the date the written estimate was submitted.
- Which property: the address or physical location of the structure.
- A diagram of the structure showing perimeter measurements as accurately as practical, areas of active or previous termite activity, the areas to be treated, known wood-destroying insect activity, conducive conditions, and construction details relevant to the proposal.
- The pesticide label for any product recommended. If a physical barrier is proposed instead, its measurement and an installation diagram.
- The complete warranty details, if a warranty is offered.
- The concentration of termiticide to be used, or the minimum number of bait stations to be installed.
- Signed approval by a certified applicator or licensed technician in the termite category employed by the company.
- Standard definitions and statements in at least 8-point type, a consumer information sheet, and TDA’s jurisdiction statement (“Licensed and regulated by: Texas Department of Agriculture…”).
The jurisdiction statement is not optional decoration. Section 7.145 requires it, along with the business name and license number, on the face of every written contract, warranty and termite disclosure document a regulated business issues.
The diagram is the part worth reading twice
Most of the comparison work happens on the diagram. TDA’s Termite/Fumigation Applications page notes that the diagram must show areas of activity and conducive conditions, which is why a proper inspection has to come before the proposal.
When two bids look similar on price, the diagrams usually explain the difference. Questions to ask while holding them side by side:
- Do both diagrams mark the same areas of activity? If one company found activity in the garage and the other did not mention the garage, ask why.
- Is the whole perimeter shaded for treatment, or only parts of it?
- Are conducive conditions marked, such as soil above the slab line, wood touching soil, or a leaking hose bib? The company has to note them; correcting them is usually up to you.
- On a slab home, are plumbing penetrations, expansion joints and stress cracks addressed?
Our overview of termite control in Texas explains the treatment methods themselves; this article is about the paper trail that should accompany them.
Partial, spot, bait or barrier: the definitions you will see
For subterranean termite treatments after construction, § 7.174 requires the documents to print standard definitions. They matter because they tell you how much of the house a proposal really covers.
| Term in the documents | What the rule says it means |
|---|---|
| Partial treatment | More involved than a spot treatment; for example, some or all of the perimeter, bath traps, expansion joints, stress cracks, portions of framing, walls and bait locations. |
| Spot treatment | A limited, defined area of less than ten linear or square feet, intended to protect a specific spot. Adjacent susceptible areas are often left untreated. |
| Baiting system | Interior and/or perimeter monitoring or baiting stations, with routine inspection intervals, placed as the product label prescribes. |
| Physical barrier | Its square footage must be recorded and an installation diagram provided. |
The rule also describes how treatment applies by construction type: on pier-and-beam homes, the outer perimeter including porches, patios and the attached garage, plus soil-to-structure contacts in the crawl space; on slab homes, the perimeter and all known slab penetrations, expansion joints and stress cracks. Drywood termite treatments carry their own definitions, distinguishing full treatment by tarpaulin fumigation or sealing from spot treatment.
On treatment day
The treatment has to follow the disclosure. Under 4 Tex. Admin. Code § 7.172, all post-construction treatments must strictly adhere to the procedures in the disclosure documents. If unexpected circumstances force a change, the applicator must give you a written addendum to the contract or disclosure documents at the end of the treatment. If the work changed and no addendum appears, ask for one.
Two more details from the same rule:
- Products must be registered with the EPA and the department, and applied at the label’s rates and methods.
- When the job is finished, the company must leave a durable sticker, at least one inch by two inches, on the wall next to the water heater, the electric breaker box, or beneath the kitchen sink. It names the business, the applicator and license number, the product used and the treatment date. Leave it in place; it is the record the next inspector will look for.
Re-treatments and existing customers
If you already have a contract and the company returns to re-treat, the paperwork shrinks but does not disappear. Section 7.174(c) requires, before the re-treatment, the label of the pesticide, a diagram or updated diagram showing the areas to be treated, and the consumer information sheet.
TDA’s FAQ adds a limit worth knowing: annual re-treatment of a structure is prohibited unless there is clear evidence of re-infestation or disruption of the treated barrier. The agency also notes that termites can still be found in walls for six to eight weeks after a proper treatment, so activity soon after the job is not, by itself, proof that it failed.
The WDI report is a different document
Homeowners often confuse the treatment disclosure with the wood-destroying insect (WDI) inspection report used when a house is sold. Under § 7.176, inspection reports issued in connection with a real estate transaction must be on the form TDA prescribes, without alterations. TDA identifies the official form as SPCS/T5 and tells companies not to issue it when the purpose of a visit is only to prepare a treatment disclosure or check whether a warranty re-treatment is needed.
So if you are selling or buying, you are looking for the official WDI report. If you are deciding on a treatment, you are looking for the disclosure package. They answer different questions.
Keep the paperwork
The company has to keep copies of the disclosure documents for two years, under both § 7.172 and § 7.174. Keep your own copies at least as long as any warranty runs, together with the label. TDA’s FAQ points out that if you have a health-related question about a product used in your home, the label is what you would take to your doctor.
If something goes wrong
Start with the company. If that does not resolve it, TDA’s Structural Pest Control Service accepts complaints where it has authority, and an inspector from your area will contact you. According to the Termite FAQs page, the typical response time is about three weeks, and the agency advises against repairing damage or re-treating before its investigator has looked, because visible evidence helps the investigation.
Be realistic about what the agency can do. TDA states that it cannot compel a company to pay damages and cannot settle contractual disputes, although it can communicate settlement offers between the parties. That is one more reason to read the warranty section of the disclosure before signing rather than after.
For a broader view of prevention and conducive conditions, the EPA’s consumer guide to termites covers how to recognize activity and what the treatment options involve, and our page on integrated pest management for Texas homes explains how inspection and prevention fit around a treatment.
Questions homeowners ask
Can a company start treating on a verbal quote?
No. A verbal estimate can give you a general range, but § 7.174 requires a written estimate, with the disclosure documents, before a treatment begins.
Does a spot treatment protect the whole house?
Not by definition. The rule describes a spot treatment as covering a defined area of less than ten linear or square feet, and notes that adjacent susceptible areas are often left untreated.
Who has to sign the disclosure?
A certified applicator or a licensed technician in the termite category employed by the company making the proposal.
I live in Waco. Is anything different there?
The rules are statewide. What changes locally is the construction you are likely to have, slab or pier-and-beam, which changes what the diagram should cover. Our termite page for Waco homeowners looks at that side of it.
Sources read on October 5, 2026: Texas Administrative Code, Title 4, Chapter 7, §§ 7.145, 7.172, 7.174 and 7.176 (text as published by the Legal Information Institute, last amended effective January 16, 2023); Texas Department of Agriculture, Termite/Fumigation Applications and Termite FAQs pages; U.S. EPA, Termites: How to Identify and Control Them. Rules can change; confirm current requirements with the Texas Department of Agriculture. General information, not legal advice.
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