Do You Need an Arborist License in Illinois?

Last updated: August 25, 2026

Illinois issues no arborist license, so cutting and removing trees needs no state credential. The moment you treat a tree for hire, the Department of Agriculture takes over — and Illinois asks for more than a form. A commercial applicator license costs $300 and runs three years, it takes two exams with separate pass marks, it requires a certificate of liability insurance with the limits written down, and every facility location you operate needs its own licensed applicator.

What Illinois Actually Requires

• No arborist license — Illinois issues none, and ISA certification is voluntary.
• A commercial applicator or operator license from the Department of Agriculture if you apply pesticides for hire. Illinois issues four license types: private, dealer, commercial, and commercial not-for-hire.
• The right category from 17 available — Ornamental Pest Control covers trees and shrubs; Forest Pest Control covers forests and forest nurseries; Turf covers turf areas and sod farms.
• Two exams, two pass marks: the 100-question General Standards exam passed with 70 or more, and a 50-question Category exam passed with 35 or more correct.
• ★ A certificate of liability insurance carrying at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per occurrence bodily injury liability, plus $50,000 per occurrence property damage liability.
• ★ At least one licensed applicator at each facility location — a second yard needs a second licensed person.
• $300 for a three-year license.
• No background check for tree work, and none attached to the applicator license in the published requirements.

What It Costs

Item	Cost	Notes
State arborist license	Does not exist	Cutting and removal need no Illinois credential
Commercial applicator license	$300	Runs three years — about $100 a year
General Standards exam	Included	100 questions, 70 or more to pass
Category exam	Included	50 questions, 35 or more correct; Ornamental covers trees and shrubs
Liability insurance	$50,000 / $100,000 / $50,000	Per person and per occurrence bodily injury, plus per occurrence property damage. A certificate is required
Second location	Another licensed applicator	Each facility location must have at least one
Illinois LLC	$150	Articles of organization. The fee was cut from $500 in December 2017 — older guides still show the old figure

Three Years, Two Exams, and Insurance Limits Written Into the License

Illinois is a state where the arborist question has a short answer and the useful answer is next to it. There is no arborist license. Cut, prune, climb, remove, grind — the state asks nothing. Then the moment a pesticide is involved for hire, you are in a licensing scheme with real numbers in it.

Start with the term, because it changes the economics. A commercial applicator license is $300 for three years. Set against the annual states — Georgia renewing every year, Colorado at $350 a year, Virginia expiring every 31 March — Illinois works out at roughly $100 a year, and more importantly it is three years between renewal deadlines you can miss. For a small operator, fewer compliance dates is worth as much as the money.

The exams are two separate hurdles with two separate standards, and the second one is easy to underestimate. The General Standards exam is 100 questions needing 70 or more. The Category exam is 50 questions needing 35 or more correct — which is 70% expressed as a raw count rather than a percentage, so there is no rounding in your favor. For tree work the category is Ornamental Pest Control, explicitly covering trees and shrubs; if your work runs into woodland rather than landscape trees, Forest Pest Control is the separate category, and each category you work in is another exam.

The insurance requirement is the part worth planning around, because Illinois publishes the limits. A commercial applicator must provide a certificate of liability insurance with a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, plus $50,000 per occurrence for property damage. Those are modest limits by the standard of tree work — a single dropped limb through a roof can exceed $50,000 in property damage on its own — so treat the state minimum as the floor for licensure rather than the right amount of cover for a business that puts sections of timber over houses.

And there is a structural rule that catches growing companies: each facility location must have at least one licensed applicator. Opening a second yard is not an administrative change — it is a second licensed person. Plan the second location around who will hold that license, not the other way round.

One practical note on money that has nothing to do with trees. The Illinois LLC filing fee is $150, reduced from $500 in December 2017. Several guides — including older state publications still in circulation — continue to show $500. If you have budgeted the higher number, you have budgeted $350 too much.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Decide whether you will apply pesticides for hire. If not, Illinois asks nothing of a tree service.
2. Pick your category — Ornamental Pest Control for trees and shrubs, Forest Pest Control for woodland work. Each is its own exam.
3. Sit the General Standards exam and score 70 or more out of 100.
4. Sit the Category exam and get 35 or more of 50 correct.
5. Arrange the certificate of liability insurance at $50,000 per person / $100,000 per occurrence bodily injury and $50,000 per occurrence property damage — and consider carrying more than the floor.
6. Pay the $300 license fee and diary the three-year expiry.
7. If you run more than one yard, license an applicator at each facility location.
8. Register the business entity — $150, not the $500 older guides still quote.

Staying Licensed

The Illinois commercial applicator license runs three years, which is generous but easy to forget precisely because it comes round so rarely — diary it the day it is issued. Renewal turns on keeping the certificate of liability insurance current at the stated minimums, so a change of carrier means new paperwork to the Department rather than a private arrangement. Two things trigger a fresh requirement rather than a renewal: adding a category means another 50-question exam at 35 correct, and opening another facility location means another licensed applicator, because each location must have at least one. If you operate as a commercial not-for-hire applicator rather than for hire, confirm which license type your work actually falls under before renewing on autopilot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Illinois require an arborist license?

No. Illinois issues no arborist license and has no arborist board. Pruning, cutting and removing trees needs no state credential of its own, and ISA certification is voluntary. What is licensed is pesticide application, through the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

What license do I need to treat trees in Illinois?

A commercial applicator or operator license from the Department of Agriculture if you apply pesticides for hire. Illinois issues four license types — private, dealer, commercial, and commercial not-for-hire — across 17 categories. The ones relevant to tree work are Ornamental Pest Control, which covers trees and shrubs, and Forest Pest Control.

How much is an Illinois commercial applicator license and how long does it last?

$300, and it runs three years — so the cost per year is lower than most annual states even though the headline number looks high. Each facility location must have at least one licensed applicator, so a second yard means a second licensed person rather than a copy of the same license.

Does Illinois require insurance for pesticide application?

Yes, with stated numbers. Commercial applicators must provide a certificate of liability insurance carrying a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury liability, plus $50,000 per occurrence for property damage liability. It is part of licensure rather than a commercial choice.

Tree work sits alongside our full guide to starting a landscaping business in Illinois, and the wider guide to starting a business in Illinois. Or see how every state handles tree work in our arborist license requirements by state guide.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
Illinois Department of Agriculture — certification and licensing	The four license types, the $300 three-year commercial applicator fee, the 100-question General Standards exam at 70 or more and the 50-question category exam at 35 or more, the certificate of liability insurance minimums, and the requirement that each facility location have a licensed applicator
Illinois Department of Agriculture — commercial applicator training and testing	Training and testing routes for the commercial applicator and operator licenses
Illinois Public Act 100-0571	The legislation that reduced the LLC articles of organization fee to $150, effective December 2017