The Arboricultural Association, and How to Choose a Tree Consultant

The Arboricultural Association sets the professional benchmark for UK arboriculture. Here is what it is, what its accreditations mean, and how to pick a consultant.

Written by John McNamara, arboricultural consultant, McNamara Tree Consultancy

The Arboricultural Association, often shortened to the arb association, is the UK's professional body for arboriculture: the care and management of trees. Founded in the 1960s, it publishes industry guidance, runs training and conferences, accredits contractors and consultants, and maintains public directories that many councils and specifiers use when they need tree expertise they can trust.

If you have been searching for the association itself, its official website is trees.org.uk. This article is about what the organisation means for you as a client, and how to use that knowledge when choosing who works on or advises about your trees.

What the Arboricultural Association actually does

The association's work falls into three broad areas. It sets standards, publishing guidance notes that shape how professional tree work and tree surveying are carried out across the UK. It accredits, running schemes for tree work contractors and registered consultants that involve genuine vetting rather than a paid badge. And it educates, through qualifications, seminars and one of Europe's largest arboriculture conferences.

For clients, the practical value is simple: association guidance is the benchmark professional work is measured against, and its schemes are a useful signal when you are comparing unfamiliar firms.

Membership versus accreditation

Worth understanding: individual membership of the association mainly signals professional engagement with the industry, while the formal schemes (Approved Contractor for tree surgery firms, Registered Consultant for advisers) involve assessment of working practices. Neither is a legal requirement to practise, and excellent professionals exist inside and outside every scheme, but knowing the difference helps you read a firm's claims accurately.

Choosing an arboricultural consultant: a practical checklist

Whether or not a consultant carries association branding, the same questions sort the field quickly. (If you are unsure what the role involves, start with what an arboricultural consultant does.)

• Qualifications: recognised arboricultural training at a meaningful level, stated plainly.
• Report samples: a professional will happily show an anonymised example of an arboricultural report.
• Independence: ask whether the firm also sells tree works. If it does, every recommendation carries a conflict of interest.
• Relevant experience: planning work needs someone who deals with planning authorities; risk work needs a recognised method such as the VALID Tree Risk-Benefit Strategy we use for tree risk assessments.
• Insurance: professional indemnity cover appropriate to consultancy work, confirmed on request.

Where McNamara Tree Consultancy stands

McNamara Tree Consultancy is led by independent arboricultural consultant John McNamara, based in Northern Ireland and working across Ireland and the UK. We carry out no tree works, follow the recognised standards for BS 5837 tree surveys and risk assessment, and are always happy to talk through qualifications, methods and sample reports before you commit to anything.

If you are choosing a consultant for a project, get in touch with the site details and judge the answers for yourself.