These are the questions worth asking before you book, with straight answers.
Is there an arborist licence in New South Wales?
No. There is no general arborist licence in NSW. Anyone who tells you they are a “licensed arborist” is using the wrong word, either carelessly or deliberately.
What arborists hold instead are qualifications under the Australian Qualifications Framework, and separately, tickets and accreditations for specific activities such as chainsaw operation, elevated work platforms, traffic control and work near powerlines. There are also professional memberships, such as Arboriculture Australia and the Institute of Australian Consulting Arboriculturists, which have their own entry requirements.
So when you are checking credentials, do not ask “are you licensed”. Ask what qualification the person has, at what level, and ask to see it. A competent operator will not be offended by the question.
What qualifications should a Sydney arborist hold?
It depends on what you need done.
For physical tree work such as climbing, pruning, rigging and removal, AQF Level 3, the Certificate III in Arboriculture, is the industry benchmark. AQF Level 4 is a supervisory qualification.
For written assessments and reports, AQF Level 5, the Diploma, is what councils generally want. Many Sydney councils require reports for development applications to be signed by an arborist at that level, and some also require Consultant Member status with Arboriculture Australia or the Institute of Australian Consulting Arboriculturists.
The two roles are genuinely different. An arborist who removes trees well is not automatically qualified to diagnose tree health and write a report a council will accept, and the reverse is also true. If your job involves both, check that both are covered.
What is the difference between an arborist and a tree lopper?
“Tree lopper” is not a qualification, and lopping is a specific practice rather than a general term for tree work. Lopping means cutting a tree back to stubs without regard to branch structure. It is what causes the ugly, dense regrowth you see on badly cut street trees, and that regrowth is weakly attached, which makes the tree more hazardous over time rather than less.
Pruning done properly is defined in AS 4373-2007, the Australian Standard for pruning of amenity trees, which sets out named pruning types including deadwooding, crown thinning, crown lifting, selective pruning and reduction pruning. Councils frequently condition their approvals on pruning being carried out to that standard.
Many people search for “tree lopping” because that is the phrase they grew up with, and there is nothing wrong with using it in conversation. What matters is what actually gets done to the tree.
What insurance should a tree company carry?
Ask about three things and ask to see the certificates rather than taking a verbal answer.
Public liability. This covers damage to your property and to third parties. Tree work regularly happens directly above roofs, fences, pools, cars and neighbouring buildings, so this is the one that matters most to you.
Workers compensation. If someone is injured on your property and the business does not hold cover, that can become your problem.
Professional indemnity. Relevant where you are commissioning a report or written advice rather than physical work.
Certificates of currency have expiry dates. A certificate from two years ago tells you nothing. Ask for a current one, and check that the named insured matches the business you are actually contracting with, not a related entity or a subcontractor.
Do I need council approval before I book the work?
In most of Sydney, yes, for anything beyond minor pruning. Removing or heavily pruning a protected tree on private property generally needs written approval from your council first, under Chapter 2 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021 and your council’s development control plan.
Exemptions do exist and some are useful, but they are set council by council and they usually do not apply on heritage land or where threatened ecological communities are involved.
This is worth resolving before you book, not after. A quote is not an approval, and an operator who tells you approval is not needed without having checked your council’s current controls is not doing you a favour. Responsibility for unapproved removal generally sits with the property owner.
Who is responsible if the tree is on the boundary or on my neighbour’s land?
The owner of the land on which the trunk sits is the person who can authorise work on the tree, and who applies to council. That holds even where the canopy or roots extend well into your property.
If a neighbour’s tree is affecting you, the first step is a conversation. Where that does not resolve it, the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 provides a formal pathway in NSW, and an arborist’s report is usually part of making a case under it.
What you should not do is arrange for work on a tree whose trunk sits on someone else’s land without their written agreement. Some council exemptions specifically require the consent of the owner of the land the trunk sits on before the exemption applies.
What should a tree removal quote include?
A quote you can compare should state, in writing:
- Which trees, identified clearly enough that there is no ambiguity, ideally with a site plan or photographs
- Exactly what work is included for each tree: removal, pruning to a specified standard, stump treatment
- Whether the stump is being ground, removed, or left, and to what depth if ground
- What happens to the timber, branches and chip: removed, left stacked, or mulch left on site
- Site protection measures, and reinstatement of any lawn or paving damage
- Access arrangements, including whether a crane, elevated work platform or traffic control is needed
- Who is responsible for the council application and whether that is included in the price
- Whether the price is fixed or subject to change once work starts
- Payment terms
A verbal figure over the fence is not a quote. Get it in writing before you commit.
Why do quotes for the same tree vary so much?
Because tree removal cost is driven by risk and access far more than by tree size.
The same tree is a straightforward job if there is truck access, a clear drop zone and nothing beneath it. The same tree becomes a difficult job if it stands between a house and a boundary fence with a pool underneath, requiring every section to be rigged and lowered rather than dropped. Slope, overhead wires, neighbour access, and whether the timber has to be carried out by hand all change the work substantially.
A wide spread of quotes on a tricky job usually means the operators have priced different methods, and sometimes that the cheapest has not priced the method the site actually requires. It is worth asking each of them to explain how they intend to take the tree down. The answers are informative.
What should I ask about the crew and equipment?
Ask who will actually be on site, whether they are employees or subcontractors, and what qualifications and tickets they hold. Ask whether a qualified arborist will be present for the duration or only at the quote.
On equipment, ask how the tree will be dismantled and whether the gear suits the site. Climbing spikes should not be used on a tree that is being retained, because they damage the bark. If a crane or elevated work platform is proposed, ask whether it is operated in-house or subcontracted, and whether that cost is inside the quote.
Ask about site protection: ground protection over lawns and root zones, and how materials will be stored so they are not stockpiled over the root zone of a tree you are keeping. Root zone compaction is a common cause of decline in trees that survived the work itself.
What about trees touching powerlines?
Treat this as a separate category and do not let anyone talk you into a casual approach.
There is usually a limited exemption allowing removal of branches close to the electrical service line running to your building. Ku-ring-gai’s controls, for example, exempt branch removal within half a metre of the service line to a property, for branches only and not trunks.
Work near the network conductors, the lines running along the street, is different. It requires specific clearances and, for some work, accreditation with the network operator, which in Sydney is Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy depending on the area. Ask directly whether the operator holds that accreditation, and if they do not, ask who will do that part of the work.
If a tree is in contact with a line right now, that is a matter for the network operator or emergency services, not a quote request.
What happens to the timber, mulch and stump?
Clarify this at the quote stage, because assumptions differ and it changes the price.
Common arrangements are full removal of all material, chipping on site with the mulch left for the owner to use, or timber cut to firewood lengths and stacked. Mulch left on site is genuinely useful around garden beds, though fresh chip from a diseased tree should not be spread near susceptible plants.
Stumps are their own decision. Grinding removes the stump to below ground level and leaves a mix of grindings and soil that can be backfilled and planted over. Leaving the stump is cheaper but it will decay, can host pests, and gets in the way of anything you want to build or plant there later. If you intend to replant in the same spot, say so, because it affects how deep the grinding needs to go.
Should the same company write the report and do the work?
There is a genuine tension here worth naming.
Using one business for both is convenient and usually cheaper. The assessment, the application and the work all sit with one point of contact, and nothing gets lost between parties.
The counter-argument is independence. A report recommending removal, written by a business that will be paid to do the removal, has an obvious interest in that conclusion. Councils are aware of this and some weigh it. In contested situations, a neighbour dispute, an insurance matter, or a development where a council arborist has already formed a view, a report from a consultant who is not doing the works carries more weight.
A reasonable middle path: use one business for the assessment and the work where the situation is straightforward and uncontested, and commission an independent consulting report where the decision is likely to be argued. If you are using one business for both, the report should still recommend retention where retention is the right answer. A report that only ever recommends removal tells you something.
How long does council approval take?
Councils publish their own assessment timeframes and they differ considerably, so check your council’s website rather than relying on a general figure. What is more useful to know is what makes an application slow.
Incomplete applications are the main cause of delay. A missing site plan, unclear photographs, no proof of authority to act for the owner, or a report that does not address what the council asks for will all result in a request for more information, and the clock effectively restarts.
Complexity adds time. Heritage land, biodiversity or riparian overlays, large stands of vegetation and development-related applications generally take longer than a single tree on a standard residential lot, and some of those cases require a development application rather than a tree permit, which is a different and longer process.
Plan the tree work around the approval rather than the other way around. Booking a crew before the approval is in hand is how people end up either paying to reschedule or being tempted to start without it.
What if the tree is protected but genuinely dangerous right now?
If there is an immediate danger to people, for example a tree or large limb resting on a house or across a road, or a tree in contact with powerlines, that is an emergency. Call emergency services, and for anything involving powerlines, the network operator. Do not wait for a council process and do not approach it yourself.
Short of immediate danger, most Sydney councils have an exemption for trees that are dead, dying, or posing an imminent risk to life or property. In practice the exemption usually requires council to be notified and satisfied first, and councils commonly want an arborist’s report, and sometimes testing, where the tree is significant.
That notification step is the part people skip, and it is the part that matters. If a tree comes down and council later disagrees that it was hazardous, the burden of demonstrating otherwise sits with the property owner. Photographs taken before the work, and a written assessment, are what protect you.
What are the warning signs of an operator to avoid?
- No business name or contact details on the vehicle
- Unwilling to provide a written quote, or asks for a large cash deposit up front
- Cannot produce current insurance certificates
- Tells you council approval is not required without having checked your council’s controls
- Describes themselves as “licensed”, which suggests they do not know the regulatory position
- Door-knocks after a storm with a price that expires today
- No answer on how the tree will be dismantled
- Proposes lopping a tree you intend to keep
- Uses climbing spikes on a retained tree
Storm season brings out itinerant operators in Sydney, and the pressure to accept a fast offer is highest exactly when a tree has just failed. Unless there is an immediate danger, in which case call emergency services, there is almost always time to get a written quote from an established local business.
Sydney Tree Company can assess the tree and quote in writing
Sydney Tree Company provides tree removal, tree pruning, palm pruning, tree health inspection and evaluation, stump grinding and removal, arborist advice and assistance with council tree preservation paperwork across the Sydney metropolitan area and regional Sydney.
Call 0431 732 265 to arrange a free quote and an on-site assessment.