Absolute Tree Care and Gardens is the only ARB Approved Contractor with a Chester address. The ARB Approved Contractor scheme is run by the Arboricultural Association and is the recognised mark of professional standing for tree surgery firms in the UK. Of the firms approved within a fifteen mile radius of Chester, only three appear in the official directory, and Absolute is the single firm with a Chester base. For homeowners and managing agents in and around the city, this matters.
What ARB Approved Contractor status means
ARB Approved Contractor status is not a paid-for badge. The scheme is administered by the Arboricultural Association, the leading professional body for arboriculture in the UK, and approval is only awarded after a successful independent audit. Membership has to be renewed and re-audited regularly, so firms cannot trade off historic approval. The status confirms that the contractor meets the Association’s standards across workmanship, safety, customer care, paperwork and business practice. The scheme exists so that people commissioning tree work can identify a firm whose standards have been checked rather than self-declared. There are several thousand tree surgery businesses operating in England and Wales. The number that hold ARB Approved Contractor status is a small fraction of that figure.
What the independent audit covers
The audit is wide-ranging. An ARB assessor visits the contractor in person and looks at recent jobs, paperwork, equipment, training records and insurance. Operational practice is reviewed against industry standards including BS3998, the British Standard for tree work. Climbing kit, chainsaws and rigging equipment are inspected and the maintenance and inspection records for that equipment are checked. Staff training and qualifications are reviewed, and the company’s approach to risk assessment and method statements is examined on real recent jobs. Customer-facing material such as quotes, written agreements and complaint handling is also looked at. The audit covers the way the business is actually run, not just how it presents itself. A firm has to pass this audit to gain approval and pass it again to keep it.
Why it matters to homeowners
Tree work is high-risk and largely unregulated. Anyone can describe themselves as a tree surgeon. The barrier to entry in terms of training and equipment is, in practice, low. The consequences of poor work are often serious: damaged property, damaged trees, injuries, refusals of council consent on protected trees, and arguments with insurance after the fact. Choosing an ARB Approved Contractor is the most straightforward way for a homeowner to verify that the firm they are inviting onto their property has been independently checked against recognised standards. It is also the standard expected by Cheshire West and Chester Council when work is proposed on protected trees, in conservation areas, or on trees affected by Tree Preservation Orders.
The Chester picture
A search of the official ARB directory for Chester (CH2 3BU) with a fifteen mile radius returns three approved firms. The other two are based outside Chester. Absolute Tree Care and Gardens is the only ARB Approved Contractor with a Chester address. For homeowners in Hoole, Boughton, Handbridge, Curzon Park, Christleton, Upton, Vicars Cross, Mickle Trafford, Saltney and the wider city, that means there is one local firm whose work has been independently audited against the Association’s standards. The current directory listing can be checked directly on the Arboricultural Association website: ARB Approved Contractor Directory for CH2 3BU.
Talk to Daniel Gilfoyle
Daniel Gilfoyle runs Absolute Tree Care and Gardens from 4 Pickering Street, Hoole, Chester. For a free no-obligation quote on tree work, hedge work, planting or landscaping anywhere in Chester and the surrounding area, call Daniel direct on 07872 394 540 or the office on 01244 314 065, or email info@absolutetreecareandgardens.co.uk. A site visit costs nothing and gives us both the chance to talk through the work properly.
