The Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 (as amended 1997), requires anyone who uses Pesticides (approved for use in Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry) in the course of business or employment to have received adequate instruction and guidance in the safe, efficient and humane use of such pesticides and to be competent in the duties to be undertaken.

This requirement applies to all such use of pesticides and application methods irrespective of whether a Certificate of Competence is required.

This is a legally required qualification by the Chemical Regulatory Directorate for anyone applying pesticides on a commercial basis. It is divided into 2 units; PA1 is the foundation unit covering legislation through the Approved Code of Practice for Plant Protection Products. This is assessed by a computer-based multiple choice test (GOLA/Evolve). Units PA2-13 are specific to the applicator being used, e.g. a boom sprayer, a hand held sprayer.

PA1 - Foundation Module

PA2 - Boom Sprayer

PA3 - Broadcast Sprayer with Air Assistance

PA4 - Granule Applicator

PA6 - Hand Held Applicators

Pesticide Qualification Factsheet

Grandfather Rights

From 26^th November 2015 you will not be able to spray pesticides in the UK without the correct licence in place.  There is currently a “grandfather rights” scheme that operates and this will become obsolete from November 2015 and therefore anyone born before 31^st December 1964 will need to ensure that they comply with the European Legislation if they wish to continue to apply pesticides to their owned or rented land.

City and Guilds has developed a special qualification to enable “grandfather rights” operators to continue applying pesticides on the land which you either rent or own and enabling you to stay within the law.  This qualification is entitled “Safe Use of Pesticides replacing Grandfather Rights”

The qualification is made up of a series of questions which you will have to answer correctly along with a practical test on the piece of equipment you wish to use to apply your pesticides, e.g. knapsack sprayer (051 + 052) or boom sprayer (051 + 053).   It is anticipated that the assessment will take between 3 and 3.5 hours. Approximate cost £100 051+052 and £130 051+053

There is no pre-requisite for training to be undertaken prior to you carrying out your assessment, however we would recommend that some appropriate training is undertaken with a recognised pesticide trainer to ensure that you have some up to date knowledge and enable you to pass the assessment.  The training is undertaken in a group environment and will last for one day, see list of training providers listed on our website under 'training'. 

Grandfather Rights