.3. How to Get Certified

A Quick Summary of the Steps to Becoming EcoWise Certified

Please see the EcoWise Certified IPM Handbook for more details:

Step 1: Determine Eligibility

To be eligible for certification your business must be:

1. Licensed for Branch 2 work by the Structural Pest Control Board

2. Registered with the County Agricultural Commissioner in the counties in which your business intends to offer certified IPM services and in good standing with each Agricultural Commissioner

3. Willing to adhere to the “EcoWise Certified IPM Guiding Principles”

4. Willing and able to certify at least one employee as an EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner in the company or branch office seeking certification; an EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner must implement or directly supervise the Certified IPM service

NOTE: Businesses with multiple offices must employ at least one EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner at each branch office seeking certification.

5. Willing to provide IPM services following the EcoWise Certified Standards for IPM Certification in Structural Pest Management

6. Willing to maintain separate records pertaining to certification and the EcoWise Certified IPM service and hold those records for at least 3 years

7. Willing to permit on-site visits to your place of business to review records of EcoWise Certified services

8. Willing to permit a field audit of your EcoWise Certified IPM service at one or more agreed-upon customer sites and permit interviews with customers

If you are eligible, proceed:

Step 2: Complete an Orientation Session

Company representatives complete an online EcoWise Certified Orientation. The complete orientation consists of three parts: Part A. IPM and EcoWise Standards, Part B. EcoWise Practitioner Certification and Part C. EcoWise Company or Branch Certification. These modules are online at www.birc.org.

At minimum, the following must complete the Orientation:

a. Either the business owner or branch manager must complete A, B, and C and

b. The field representative(s) and/or operator(s) wishing to become EcoWise Certified Practitioners must complete Part A and Part B.

Step 3: Fill out the Business Application

You can obtain a copy of the business application at the link below or you can find it in the EcoWise Certified Handbook.

Pdf Link: EcoWise Certified Business Application

Attach the following to the application:

a. IPM Protocol for one pest your company manages (use “EcoWise IPM Protocol Form”). If you wish to make it easier to write the IPM Protocol, you can modify the existing EcoWise IPM Protocol for ants to fit the needs of your company. The blank protocol and the protocol for ants are in the EcoWise Certified Handbook or can be obtained at the links below:

pdf Link: Blank IPM Protocol

pdf Link: IPM Protocol for Ants

b. Signed copy of the “EcoWise Certified IPM Guiding Principles”. This form is in the EcoWise Certified Handbook or can be obtained at the link below:

pdf Link: Guiding Principles

c. A list of IPM equipment, devices, products, and pesticides in the company’s “IPM Toolbox” The IPM Toolbox is explained in Appendix A of the EcoWise Certified IPM Standards. The IPM Toolbox form is in the EcoWise Certified Handbook or can be obtained at the link below:

pdf Link: Blank Toolbox Form

Step 4: Send in the Business Application for Review:

Email (or mail) to:

William Quarles, Program Manager
birc@igc.org
EcoWise Certified, c/o BIRC
P.O. Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707

Phone: 510-524-2567; FAX: 510-524-1758

Step 5: Have an EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner on Staff

Each business applying to become EcoWise Certified must have at least 1 staff member that is an EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner. The IPM Practitioner must be associated with an EcoWise Certified business, and:

1. Be licensed at the level of Field Rep or Operator in Branch 2 for at least 1 year.

2. Be willing to adhere to the “EcoWise Certified IPM Guiding Principles”

3. Be willing to provide IPM service following the EcoWise Certified Standards for IPM Certification in Structural Pest Management

4. Complete an Online EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner Orientation. Both Part A and Part B will be needed. These modules are online at www.birc.org.

5. Fill out an application and mail it in. An application can be found in Parts A and Parts B of the online course at www.birc.org. It can also be found at the link below:

pdf Link: IPM Practitioner Application

6. Demonstrate IPM knowledge in one of the following ways:

• Pass a written exam. The written exam for EcoWise Certified IPM Practitioner is given in Part B of this online course. Part B can be found here.

• Complete Purdue University’s “Intermediate Level Industrial and Urban IPM” correspondence course, or similar approved course

• Hold certification as a Board Certified Entomologist (BCE) or an Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) from the Entomological Society of America

• Hold a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, or Doctoral degree in pest management, applied entomology, urban entomology, or similar approved course of study from an accredited college or university

Step 6: Document 10 IPM Service Visits for 3 Different Customer Sites following the EcoWise Certified Standards

The service visits must be from the 2 years preceding and/or the year following the date of application. Service visits must follow the EcoWise Certified Standards and be recorded on an “EcoWise Certified IPM Site Plan and Treatment Record Form”. You can find these in the EcoWise Certified IPM Handbook.

NOTE: Green Shield certification will be accepted in lieu of this documentation.

Step 7: Schedule an Office Visit and Field Evaluation for your Business
Within 1 year of your application, contact the Program Manager to schedule an office visit and field evaluation for your business; the documents listed below must be submitted during the office visit. The EcoWise Certified IPM Handbook has blank templates of some of these forms if you want to use them. If your company already has similar forms, they can be used as long as the same information is covered.

Examples of the forms the company will be using for the EcoWise Certified IPM Service including:

1) IPM service inspection form(s), 2) An IPM site plan form, and 3) A treatment record form

The Quality Control form that details how you will ensure the quality of your Certified service.

Samples of advertising or marketing materials you plan to use in conjunction with your EcoWise Certified service (if any)

Examples of fact sheets, door hangers and other customer education materials (if any)

NOTE: If you are Green Shield certified, you may forego the office visit and field evaluation, but you must submit the above mentioned documents (except documentation on the 10 IPM service visits), and a copy of your Green Shield certification.

Step 8: Become Fully EcoWise Certified

The Program Manager will review all documents submitted and make the final determination on your certification. If there are deficiencies in either your application or your evaluations, the Program Manager will work with you to try to rectify them.

The overall EcoWise Certification Process is summarized in the Schematic Below:

Pdf Link: Schematic of the EcoWise Certification Process

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