Field OperationsField Operations GlossaryPart 4 of 7
The Rules Glossary
35 terms from the Field Operations book's The Rules part, each defined in a line and linked to the chapter that explains it.
- Additional insured: a client named on a contractor's liability policy by endorsement; a certificate saying so confers nothing without the endorsement (Bonds and Certificates of Insurance).
- Application record: the record of one regulated product applied at a visit: product, registration number, amount, area, target and applicator (Regulated Materials).
- Audit trail: who changed what, when, from where, with before and after values (Audit Trails; field records are in Audit Trails & Records).
- Business day: the unit the cooling-off deadline counts in; under the federal rule, any calendar day except Sunday and federal holidays, so Saturday counts; states vary (Consumer Protection).
- Certificate of insurance (COI): a form (usually ACORD 25) showing a contractor's coverage to a client, issued for information only and reissued when policies renew (Bonds and Certificates of Insurance).
- Certified applicator: a person certified to use or supervise restricted use pesticides (Regulated Materials).
- Chemical item: an item of kind
chemicalin the shared catalog, with its registration and label attributes held inchemical_items(Regulated Materials). - Consumer report, prescreening: credit-bureau information about a person, usable only for a permissible purpose (marketing isn't one); prescreening is the exception where a bureau returns consumers matching a firm offer's criteria (Door-to-Door Sales).
- Contractor bond: a surety bond guaranteeing a contractor's compliance (a license bond) or one contract's completion and payment (performance and payment bonds) (Bonds and Certificates of Insurance).
- Cooling-Off Rule: the FTC rule giving buyers three business days to cancel many sales made at home; its repair exclusion covers only the buyer's personal property (Consumer Protection).
- Data broker: a business that sells personal information about consumers it has no direct relationship with, such as a homeowner or new-mover list vendor; some states require registration (Consumer Protection).
- Do Not Knock registry: a local list of addresses that may not be solicited, applied as a suppression list with a source and an expiry (Door-to-Door Sales).
- EPA registration number: the number identifying a registered pesticide product (Regulated Materials).
- FDCPA: the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, implemented by Regulation F, which governs third-party debt collectors such as a collection agency (Consumer Protection).
- FIFRA: the federal law governing pesticide registration and use (Regulated Materials).
- Hash chaining: linking each audit entry to the previous one's hash so tampering shows (Make It Tamper-Evident).
- Label: a pesticide's label, which is legally binding on how it may be used (Regulated Materials).
- Legal hold: suspending deletion of records relevant to a dispute or investigation (Producing Records).
- License renewal window: the period before a license expires when it still allows work but raises alerts until renewed (Licenses & Permits).
- License: a business, branch or person credential from a jurisdiction, with dates (
valid_during), a number and a verification source (Licenses & Permits). - Negative option, automatic renewal: terms under which a contract continues unless the customer acts (The Law of Automatic Renewal).
- Qualifier, master of record: the individual whose license a business license rests on; if they leave, the business license is at risk (Licenses & Permits).
- Responsible certified applicator: the certified person each Texas structural pest control license must designate, who can't serve any other licensee or location (Licenses & Permits).
- Restricted use pesticide (RUP): a product only certified applicators may apply or supervise (Regulated Materials).
- Retention schedule: how long each type of record is kept, and why (Retention Schedules by Record Type; field minimums are in Audit Trails & Records).
- ROSCA: the federal Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, which requires disclosure, consent and simple cancellation for negative-option sales online (The Law of Automatic Renewal; the field note is in Consumer Protection).
- Safety data sheet (SDS): the hazard document for a chemical product, readily accessible to employees during each shift; for employees who travel between sites it may stay at the primary workplace if they can obtain it immediately (Regulated Materials).
- Section 608: the EPA rules for refrigerants (CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs and their substitutes) and the technicians who handle them (Regulated Materials).
- Sensitivity registry: a state list of people to notify before applications near them, such as Pennsylvania's Pesticide Hypersensitivity Registry (Regulated Materials).
- Skill requirement: the skills a kind of work or a sales activity needs in a jurisdiction, with dates and the rule relied on (Licenses & Permits).
- Skill: what the scheduler matches, often resting on a license so it can't outlast it (Licenses & Permits).
- Solicitor permit: a municipal permit to sell door to door (Licenses & Permits).
- Supervision: a dated relationship under which an uncertified person works under a licensed one, with a presence rule (Licenses & Permits).
- TCPA: the federal law on automated and marketing calls and texts; calls placed with an artificial or AI-generated voice need prior express consent, and prior express written consent when the call is marketing (Calls, Texts & Email; AI voices are in Artificial and AI Voices).
- Typed actor: the audit record's who, typed as a user, a trigger rule, a scheduled job, an import, an AI agent or support staff acting for a user (Audit Trails; field use in Audit Trails & Records).