Landscaping insurance in Georgia

What Georgia requires of a landscaping business

In Georgia, the state reads your policy wording. There's no statewide license for planting, mowing or hardscape, so most of the paperwork lands on the spray tank. If you apply weed or insect control to customers' lawns, the Georgia Department of Agriculture wants proof that your insurance responds to chemical damage before it licenses the business.

That timing catches growing companies. Many Georgia lawn businesses start with mowing and edging, then add fertilizer and weed control rounds to fill out the route. The day that first pre-emergent goes down for a paying customer, the company needs the license, a certified applicator and a policy that meets the state's wording.

No state landscape license, so cities set the rules

We found no Georgia landscape contractor license. Your city or county issues the local business license you work under, and many local governments run their own tree ordinances and watering rules. Confirm with your city or county whether a job needs a permit before your crew starts.

The Pesticide Contractor's License and its insurance floor

Any person or company that wants to be in the business of applying pesticides needs a Pesticide Contractor's License from the Department of Agriculture. Except for crop-only agricultural applicators, the state grants it only on satisfactory proof of financial responsibility.

For ground contractors, the minimums are:

• Bodily injury: $25,000 per occurrence
• Property damage: $10,000 per occurrence, with a $25,000 aggregate
• Deductible: no more than $500 per occurrence

Instead of a policy, a contractor can post a $20,000 surety bond, or a $20,000 certificate of deposit that the Commissioner holds for the license period plus 90 days. Either one carries the same $500 maximum deductible. Proof goes in on forms the Commissioner supplies.

The wording rule is the part owners miss. The policy must cover legal damages arising from the use of chemicals, and pollution exclusions are allowed only where they don't conflict with O.C.G.A. 2-7-103. The required coverage doesn't have to reach crops, plants or land your crew is working on. Confirm the current requirement with the Georgia Department of Agriculture's pesticide program.

Keep the filing current all year, since the state issues the license only on proof of financial responsibility. If you switch carriers mid-season, ask how the new proof reaches the department before the old policy ends. Pay attention to the deductible too: a policy with a $1,000 deductible doesn't meet the $500 ceiling.

The person spraying needs a commercial applicator certification too. Lawn and shrub work falls under Category 24, Ornamental and Turf Pest Control, which takes 10 hours of training to recertify.

Irrigation: a business license and a low-voltage license

We found no Georgia irrigation contractor license. UGA Extension, in a circular revised December 1, 2022, says a business license and a low-voltage electrician's license are all that's needed to meet Georgia's requirements for an irrigation business. Confirm the current low-voltage license class with the State Construction Industry Licensing Board before you wire controllers, and ask the local building official which license a tie-in to the water supply needs.

Georgia workers' comp and your seasonal crews

Comp becomes mandatory in Georgia at three regular employees. Regular part-time workers count, such as someone who only works weekends, and so do regular seasonal hires. A spring crew that includes H-2B workers usually pushes a small company past three.

If your company is a corporation or an LLC, officers and members are part of that count. As many as five officers or members may step out of coverage personally with Form WC-10, which goes to your carrier, yet they still count toward the three. Sole proprietors and partners are treated as employers, and they can choose coverage by telling their carrier in writing.

There's no state fund here. Comp comes from private carriers, and companies that can't find a market go to the Georgia assigned risk plan, which NCCI administers. Questions about who counts go to the State Board of Workers' Compensation.

Georgia uses NCCI class codes. Mowing, edging and upkeep usually belong in 9102, lawn maintenance, while new installs belong in 0042. NCCI's own inspections found that most 0042 corrections moved employers to 9102, so a maintenance company coded as installs may be paying the wrong rate. Federal H-2B rules also require you to follow state employment law for those workers, so they belong on your comp payroll. How comp works for landscaping crews

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Georgia risks that shape your premium

Georgia's biggest exposures come from water and chemicals.

Watering only from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Since June 2, 2010, the Georgia Water Stewardship Act has limited outdoor landscape watering to 4 p.m. through 10 a.m. for customers of EPD-permitted water systems. New plants, seed and turf can be watered at any hour during installation and for 30 days after, and irrigation installation, maintenance and calibration can happen any time. Drip lines, soaker hoses, hydroseeding and hand watering are also exempt.

Example scenario: a maintenance crew resets an HOA's controllers during a spring start-up and leaves two zones running at midday. The water system issues a warning, and the board asks who pays for the wasted water and the browned-out beds that follow.

Those windows create disputes. A controller set to run at noon, or a new install that dies on day 40 after the exemption ends, can turn into a fight over who pays. A dead planting is usually a warranty cost, not a liability claim, so spell out the watering plan in your contract.

Drift and chemical damage

Because the state ties your license to chemical-damage coverage, drift onto a neighbor's ornamentals or a sick pet after a lawn treatment is exactly the claim the rule anticipates. Pesticides are generally treated as pollutants under standard liability forms, which is why an unendorsed policy can leave these claims uncovered.

Irrigation jobs that touch the water line

A sprinkler crew with a low-voltage license can wire and set a controller. The connection to the water supply is a different question, so check with the local building official before your crew makes it. If the connection needs a license you don't hold, bring in a licensed sub and collect a certificate of insurance from them, because a failed tie-in that floods a basement turns into a liability claim fast.

Where we insure Georgia landscapers

What a Georgia landscaping policy costs

We don't quote a Georgia price on this page, because the number depends on what your crews do all season. A mowing company in Macon with no spray work and a design-build firm in Atlanta with three crews and a sod cutter sit in different rating classes.

Your price depends on your payroll and class codes, your revenue, the services you offer (especially chemical work), your trucks and trailers, your claims history and the limits you choose.

In Georgia, the chemical line on your application matters most. A company that sprays for hire needs coverage that meets the pesticide contractor rule, and some carriers that write general landscapers step back as spray revenue grows. Comp coding (9102 or 0042) is the other big lever. See published ranges in our guide to landscaping insurance costs.

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Licensed to quote in Georgia

Landscaper Insurance Group is a brand of The Allen Thomas Group, licensed in Georgia (License #201776, NPN 7642818).

Georgia owners get a licensed agent who looks over the details and calls before anything is quoted.