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TREE CONSULTANTS AND TREE CONTRACTORS

Choosing and Appointing a Tree Consultant or Tree Contractor

It is not an approved list, nor is it a guarantee of quality or service. It is your responsibility to check before you appoint somebody.

Tree work is hard, skilled work and potentially very dangerous. It should only be done by people who have been trained to do it. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) requires anyone working with chainsaws on or in trees to be competent to do so. They should have received appropriate training and obtained a relevant certificate of competence or national competence award.

Somebody paid to work with chainsaws on or in trees who has not been trained to do so is breaking the law.

If contractors are not properly trained, or they do not follow industry guidelines, then their insurance will almost certainly be invalid.

Tree surgery also needs to be done by people who understand what they’re doing and why - tree contractors should know their trees well, and for each species know how to recognise a typical sound healthy tree so that they will recognise an unsound one, and know how different species respond to their environment and to pruning. Last but not least, perhaps the most important requirement for good tree surgery is a feel for the shape and the beauty of the tree.

What information is used to produce this list?

• Tree consultants.
• Tree contractors.
• Timber merchants.
  

NPTC Certificates

• For felling only, units CS 30 (Maintain the Chain Saw), and CS 31 (Fell Small Trees) are enough for trees up to 8 - 15" diameter; CS 30 and CS 32 (Fell Medium Sized Trees) for trees 15 - 30" diameter; CS 30 and CS 33 (Fell Large Trees) for trees over 30" diameter. For each of these, “A” after the unit means conifers, and “B” means broadleaves.

• For felling trees in sections (dismantling), from small spaces where there is not room to fell a whole tree in one go, you should only employ a contractor with staff who have passed unit CS 41 (Carry out Dismantling Operations).

• For pruning (tree surgery), you should only employ a contractor with staff who have passed unit CS 40 (Carry out Pruning Operations).

Before they can take unit CS 40 or CS 41, tree contractors must have been trained to climb and rescue people from trees, and to climb and use a chainsaw in trees. These are covered by unit CS 38 (Climb Trees and Perform Aerial Tree Rescue), and CS 39 (Operate the Chainsaw from a Rope and Harness). Again, contractors have to pass CS 30, CS 31 or CS 37 before they can do CS 38 or CS 39, so that somebody who has CS 40 or CS 41 will also have passed CS 30, CS 31 or CS 37, CS 38, and CS 39.

Summary of NPTC chainsaw units

current unit number	(equivalent or approximately equivalent to old unit number)		units which must be passed before this one can be taken
CS 30	CS 10	maintain the chain saw	-
CS 31a	part of CS 11	fell small trees (conifer)	CS 30
CS 31b	part of CS 11	fell small trees (broadleaf)	CS 30
CS 32 a	part of CS 12	fell medium trees (conifer)	CS 31
CS 32 b	part of CS 12	fell medium trees (broadleaf)	CS 31
CS 33 a	part of CS 13	fell large trees (conifer)	CS 32
CS 33 b	part of CS 13	fell large trees (broadleaf)	CS 32
CS 34	part of CS 14	clear individual windblown trees	CS 32
CS 35	part of CS 14	clear multiple windblown trees	CS 32
CS 36	CS 16, parts of CS 11, 12, 13	cross-cut and stack produce	CS 30
CS 37	part of CS 12, CS 13, CS 21	breakdown medium sized broad-leafed crowns	CS 36
CS 38	SCOTVEC 88157	climb trees and perform aerial rescue	-
CS 39	CS 22	operate the chainsaw from a rope and harness	CS 38, either CS 31 or CS 37
CS 40	AA 8	carry out pruning operations	CS 38, CS 39
CS 41	AA 9	carry out dismantling operations	CS 38, CS 39
CS42		Carry out stump protection using stump protection fluids
CS43		Felling utility poles
CS44		Felling standing stems
CS45		Arboricultural ground worker
CS46		Re-pollarding at a max height of 5m
CS47		Use of chainsaw from a Mobile Elevated Work Platform	CS30,31, use of a MEWP
CS48		Use of powered pole pruners
		Techniques for dealing damaged trees

Training and professional bodies