Matching service only. Under Florida Chapter 482 we are not a certified operator. We do not spray, bait, tent, or inspect.
A refinance is still a real estate transaction. Florida Statutes section 482.226 does not say “sale only.” When a licensed pest control company inspects a structure for wood-destroying organisms for a real estate transaction, and either a fee is charged or a written report is requested, the licensee must provide a wood-destroying organism inspection report on the department’s form. Who orders it — borrower, lender, or title shop — is a contract question. What the report must contain is a statute question. Orlando West Pest Care is a matching service. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. We do not spray, bait, inspect, or tent.
This is for owners and lenders touching houses in Ocoee, Winter Garden, Horizon West, Hamlin, Waterleigh, Windermere, Oakland, Stoneybrook West, Clermont, and Minneola. If you need the licensed report, start at termite and WDO. Name Ocoee. The licensee who already drives Ocoee is the one who looks. We still only match. Who usually requests a WDO when a house is listed is a different page: selling a west Orlando house and what 482.226 actually requires.
What section 482.226 actually triggers on a refinance
Section 482.226(1) is a conditional. When an inspection for wood-destroying organisms is made by a licensee for purposes of a real estate transaction and either a fee is charged for the inspection or a written report is requested by the customer, a wood-destroying organism inspection report shall be provided by the licensee or its representative qualified under Chapter 482. The inspection shall be made in accordance with good industry practice and standards as established by rule and must include inspection for all wood-destroying organisms. Findings go to the person who requested the inspection. The report must be on a form prescribed by the department. The licensee keeps a copy for not less than three years. See Fla. Stat. 482.226.
The statute does not say every refinance file in Orange County must include a WDO as a matter of pest-control law. Lenders often want a current report. Practice is not 482.226. The form is.
Subsection (2)(a) is the list the report must include: the licensee’s name; the date; the address; visible accessible areas not inspected and why; inaccessible areas; visible evidence of previous treatments or infestations; any wood-destroying organisms present and visible damage; and a statement that an inspection notice was affixed, plus its location. If treatment is provided at the inspection, subsection (2)(b) requires the report to name each organism treated, the pesticide, and the conditions and terms. That is the licensee’s work, not a matching-site add-on.
Subsection (2)(c) is the sentence borrowers underline. An inspection report does not constitute a guarantee of the absence of wood-destroying organisms or damage unless the report specifically states the extent of such a guarantee. A “clear” WDO on a refinance is a licensed snapshot of what was visible and accessible that day, not a lifetime certificate and not a transfer of last year’s sale report. Subsection (2)(d) requires a statement that neither the inspector nor the licensee has any financial interest in the property, or is associated in the transaction other than for inspection purposes. Treatment is a separate licensed job.
The attic notice, who may inspect, and financial responsibility
When a real-estate WDO is provided under subsection (1), the licensee shall post notice immediately adjacent to attic or crawl access, or another readily accessible area. The notice must be at least 3 inches by 5 inches, last at least three years, and show the licensee’s name, address, and date. It is a violation of Chapter 482 for anyone other than the property owner to remove it. If the licensee also performs control, subsection (5) requires a separate treatment notice stating the pesticide and the organism. Inspection and treatment are not the same product.
Subsection (3)(b): a person may not perform the inspections or treatments unless she or he has an identification card issued under section 482.091(9). FDACS licenses the industry. Each structural pest-control location must be licensed, carry required insurance, and employ full-time a Florida-certified operator in the categories in which it operates, including termite and other wood-destroying organisms control. See FDACS Pest Control Licensing and Certification. A general home inspector is a different license. A matching service is neither.
Subsection (6): any licensee that performs WDO inspections under subsection (1) must carry errors and omissions insurance or a bond of no less than $500,000 in the aggregate and $250,000 per occurrence, or show net worth of no less than $500,000 substantiated by a CPA review or certified audit. That is why a refinance WDO is not a weekend side job and not something we perform. Florida Statutes section 482.191 makes it unlawful to solicit, practice, perform, or advertise in pest control except as Chapter 482 provides. See Fla. Stat. 482.191.
An older Ocoee house in a wet year is context, not a diagnosis
Ocoee stock is mixed: 1990s additions, older bungalows, and newer infill. FDACS says termites cause more damage to structures in Florida than fires, floods, and storms combined, and that identification comes before treatment because treatments vary. Subterranean termites live and invade from underground and travel in mud tubes. Drywood termites are a different page. See FDACS, Termites.
The Florida Climate Center publishes NOAA / NCEI 1991–2020 normals for Orlando International Airport: 51.45 inches of rain a year, and 6.37 inches in September. Annual mean is 73.0°F. See the Florida Climate Center Orlando 1991–2020 normals. A September refinance is still a wet-season file. Rain does not convert a flashlight photo into a 482.226 form, and it does not tell the lender who should order it.
On the quote form, say refinance — not sale — plus Ocoee or the nearest named street, whether the lender asked for a current WDO, and any prior attic notice you already see. Nearby: termite and WDO, Ocoee, WDO when selling, and get a quote.
What you can do before a licensed look
FDACS’s homeowner half is moisture and clutter, not a form you fill in yourself: gutters off the wall, sprinklers off the stucco, mulch pulled back, wood off the soil. Leave the old attic notice in place unless you are the owner taking it down. Say refinance and the funding date on the matching form. We still only match. We do not inspect, tent, or write the report.
Related matching notes
- Matching service page
- Service area
- Get a quote
- Selling a house: WDO
- What a WDO inspection is
- New-construction termite gaps
Sources
- Fla. Stat. 482.226 (2024), Wood-destroying organism inspection report; notice of inspection or treatment; financial responsibility: flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/0482.226
- FDACS, Pest Control Licensing and Certification: fdacs.gov/Business-Services/Pest-Control/Licensing-and-Certification
- FDACS, Termites: fdacs.gov/.../Termites
- Florida Climate Center / NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals, Orlando International Airport (annual 51.45 inches; September 6.37 inches): climatecenter.fsu.edu/.../orlando
FAQs
Does Florida law require a WDO to refinance an Ocoee house?
Section 482.226 requires a licensed report when a licensee inspects for a real estate transaction and either charges a fee or is asked for a written report. It does not, by itself, order every borrower to buy one. Lenders often still want the form. Who pays is a contract question.
Is a refinance WDO the same as the report from when I bought?
No. The report is a snapshot of what was visible and accessible that day. Subsection (2)(c) says it is not a guarantee of absence unless it specifically states the extent of a guarantee. Last year’s sale report does not travel because you are not selling this time.
Can my home inspector write the refinance WDO?
No. A person may not perform those inspections without the identification card issued under section 482.091(9). The report comes from a Chapter 482 licensee on the department’s form. The licensee also has to meet the financial-responsibility line in subsection (6).
Who should request the WDO on an Ocoee refinance?
Whoever the lender or the parties put on the request. The statute sends findings to the person who requested the inspection. For the sale-side version of that question, see selling a west Orlando house.
Do you perform the WDO for an Ocoee refinance?
No. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. That operator inspects and, when the job is a real estate WDO, issues the department-prescribed report. We do not inspect, spray, or tent. Use get a quote and name Ocoee and refinance.