Appointing a commercial pest control company is not like buying stationery. The wrong choice does not just fail to control pests, it hands you audit non-conformances, exposes you to legal and reputational risk, and can cost a retail listing. For a food manufacturer, your pest contractor effectively becomes part of your food safety system, and your auditors will treat them that way. So the appointment deserves real scrutiny. Here are the twelve questions that separate a professional partner from a liability.
Key takeaways
- Non-negotiables first: current PCO registration under Act 36 of 1947, SANS 10133 application practice, and proper insurance. If any of these is missing, stop there.
- For food premises, food-safety literacy and audit-ready documentation matter as much as the ability to kill a pest, ask whether they understand your scheme and how they hand you evidence.
- The final tell is philosophy: a true IPM provider will talk about exclusion, monitoring and trending; a "spray-and-pray" provider will talk about how often they will spray.
The 12 questions
1. Are your operators registered PCOs under Act 36 of 1947?
The technicians applying pesticides must be registered pest control operators with the Department of Agriculture under Act 36 of 1947. Ask for the certificates, check they are current, and confirm the named operator is who will actually service your site. Any hesitation here is disqualifying.
2. Do you apply products to SANS 10133?
SANS 10133 is the South African standard for the safe and correct application of pesticides. A provider working to it applies products the way regulators and auditors expect, the right product, the right way, properly recorded. It is a reliable marker of a professional operation.
3. Do you understand my food safety scheme?
For a certified food site this is decisive. A provider needs to understand what HACCP, FSSC 22000 or BRCGS actually require of a pest programme, trend analysis, root-cause corrective actions, hazard-analysis integration. A company that has never sat in a food safety audit will not deliver what one demands. This is precisely where a provider owned by food safety specialists has an unmatched advantage.
4. How will you hand me audit-ready documentation?
Ask to see the actual output. Do they provide a risk assessment, a numbered station map, trended activity, a chemical register with L-numbers, SDSs and corrective actions, and can they produce it fast when an auditor asks? A modern provider offers a digital portal (like our myASConline one-click audit pack) rather than a lever-arch file that is perpetually "being updated".
5. Do you work to an IPM strategy or a spray schedule?
Listen to how they describe the work. An IPM provider leads with exclusion, sanitation and monitoring, using targeted treatment only when justified. A "spray-and-pray" provider leads with how often they will spray. Only the former survives a modern food safety audit.
6. Can you provide relevant references?
Ask for references from comparable sites, ideally food manufacturers under the same scheme as you. A confident, competent provider will readily connect you with clients who have been through audits with them.
7. Are you adequately insured?
A commercial pest contractor works with regulated chemicals on your premises. Confirm they carry appropriate public liability and professional indemnity cover, and ask to see proof. Chemical work without proper insurance is a risk you should not absorb.
8. Are you a member of an industry body such as SAPCA?
Membership of the South African Pest Control Association (SAPCA) or an equivalent professional body signals commitment to industry standards and a code of conduct. It is not a legal requirement, but it is a positive indicator of professionalism worth asking about.
9. What are your response times for callouts?
A rodent sighting on a Friday afternoon cannot wait until the next scheduled visit. Establish guaranteed callout response times and get them written into the service level agreement, not just promised verbally.
10. How do you handle trending and corrective actions?
Ask them to explain how they trend pest activity and how they close out a finding. A strong provider talks fluently about zone-level trends, action thresholds and root-cause fixes, proofing and sanitation, not just another bait block. A weak provider talks only about killing the pest in front of them.
11. Who actually does the work, and how are they trained?
Confirm that the qualified operator you are quoted is the person servicing your site, and ask about ongoing training. Continuity matters: a technician who knows your building's history spots a developing problem that a rotating cast never will.
12. What is genuinely included, and what is extra?
Get the scope in writing: covered pests, service frequencies, number of stations, documentation, callouts and reporting. Compare like with like. The cheapest quote is often the one that quietly excludes the trending, documentation and callout responsiveness that keep you compliant, and that gap surfaces at the worst possible moment, during an audit. Our pest control contracts put every one of those items in writing as standard.
Why a food-safety-owned provider is different
Most of these twelve questions probe one underlying thing: does this company understand that, on a food site, pest control is a food safety system, not a spraying service? ASC Pest Control exists precisely at that intersection. As part of the ASC Food Safety Consultants group, we are the only pest control company in South Africa owned by accredited food safety specialists, the same people who audit these programmes for a living. We build the file the way an auditor reads it because we are the auditors. Whether you operate in Gauteng or the Eastern Cape, that is the difference between a contractor you manage and a partner who protects you.
Frequently asked questions
What registration must a commercial pest control company have?
Its technicians must be registered pest control operators (PCOs) with the Department of Agriculture under Act 36 of 1947. Ask for current certificates and confirm the named operator will service your site.
What is SANS 10133 and why does it matter?
SANS 10133 is the South African standard for applying pesticides, safe, correct use, method and record-keeping. A provider working to it applies products the way auditors and regulators expect, a strong signal of professionalism.
What is the difference between IPM and spray-and-pray?
IPM prioritises exclusion, sanitation and monitoring with targeted, label-approved treatment only when justified; spray-and-pray is routine blanket application. Every food safety scheme expects IPM, and only IPM survives a modern audit.
