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Home > Local Search > Arborist - nsw > Five Dock - 2046
Updated: February 24th 2020
Getting an arborist Five Dock or as they are more commonly known, tree lopper, to remove or prune your tree and NOT charge an arm and a leg can be a bit of a challenge.
Some in the industry pose as professionals or experts to cash in on the exploding industry. Others are not qualified or insured and some charge 300%+ more than others for the same task!
Not to worry, we have you covered.
We tackle such thing of where to start looking, what questions to ask, when is the best time of year to get a better price, how do you find high quality, but affordable local tree services and much much more.
Let’s get started.
What we cover:
What do arborists Five Dock cost?
Fake Arborists working in Five Dock
Stay smart, how to save money on Five Dock arborists cost?
3 Questions you must ask your arborist
Canada Bay Council regulations for Five Dock
It’s the million dollar question and the answer is… Well it depends!
Firstly, you don’t want to hire by an hourly rate. Doing this mean you take all the risk. If the job was meant to take 2 days but ends up taking 3, you will pay more.
Hire an arborist Five Dock at a fixed price for the entire job. This means that no matter how long it takes, you pay the same.
This won’t be an issue as arborists generally only quote by the job anyway and don’t give an hourly rate. Why? Because every tree job is different.
Take a tree removal for example. Variables that affect price are the tree size, shape, spread number of branches are always different, but it doesn’t end there.
Hint: We have also put together a complete guide to arborist costs. In it you will find accurate prices for the cost of arborist work
Other things that affect price are the access to the tree, any obstacles (overhanding a house, carport, shed etc.)
We solve the critical problem of getting your trees lopped on the cheap!
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Yes, you read that right. There are a tonne of fly by night companies and unskilled labourers trying to cash in on the tree service industry.
The problem is they have no idea what they are doing and often leave trees hacked apart, property damaged get themselves badly insured or in some cases killed.
Most people don’t know that more people die removing and pruning trees each year than mining and construction combined!
It’s a dangerous industry, so you need to make sure you are getting the right credentials before they start.
Not getting a qualified arborist to prune or remove your tree can leave you wide open to litigation. If they were to injure themselves on your property and they don’t have the correct insurance, then you can be liable.
Below we outline 3 Questions you must ask arborist before you hire. Read them carefully.
Australian standards state that all Certified tree arborist are trained to carry out their work to the high quality and safety as outline in the below Australia standards.
An arborist holding a Certificate II or Certificate III in arboriculture will have training in all of the below standards, so you can rest assured that they will carry out the task in a safe and efficient manner.
AS 4373:2007 – Pruning of amenity trees
AS 4970-2009 – Protection of trees on development sites
AS 4970-2009- AMDT 1 Protection of trees on development sites
AS 2303:2015 Tree Stock for landscape use
AS 2727 – 1997 – Chainsaws Guide to safe working practices
TRC2005A - Fell Small Trees
AS 2726.1 – 2004 Chainsaws – Safety requirements – Chainsaws for general use
AS 2726.2 – 2004 Chainsaws – Safety requirements – Chainsaws for tree service
AS 2550.10 – 1994 Cranes – Safe use – Elevating work platforms
AS 1418.10 (Int) – 2004 Cranes, hoists and winches – Elevating work platforms
AS/NZS 1891. 1: 2007 Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices – Harnesses and ancillary equipment
AS/NZS 1891:1997 Occupational protective helmets
AS/NZS 1270:2002 Acoustics – Hearing protectors
AS/NZS 1337:1992 Eye protectors for industrial applications
AS/NZS 2210. 1:1994 Occupational protective footwear – Guide to selection, care and use
AS/NZS 4453.3: 1997 Protective clothing for users of hand-held chainsaws – Protective legwear
AS/NZS 4602:1999 High visibility safety garments
All local tree services you are matched with and send a quote for your tree job, as are certified professionals in arboriculture Operations. They are all more than capable of carrying out any tree related task.
The list below encompasses all qualifications that can be held by tree surgeons working in conjunction with Go Tree Quotes, however the list may vary contractor to contractor.
We have highlighted the minimum certification held by all tree surgeons who will be quoting your tree job.
Certificate I – Horticulture (Arboriculture), WH&S, First Aid
Certificate II – Horticulture (Arboriculture)
Certificate III – Horticulture (Arboriculture)
Diploma Level V – Horticulture (Arboriculture)
Qualified Tree Risk Assessment
Level I – Chainsaw Operation/Woodchipper Operation
Level II – Chainsaw Operation/Woodchipper Operation
Chainsaw Operators Ticket
Construction White Card
ACDC Licence Chemical Application
Traffic Control & Placement of Road Signs
Elevated Work Platform Ticket
Elevated Work Platform Rescue
Electrical Awareness
First Aid Resuscitation
Aerial Rescue
Bobcat Ticket
Loader/Excavator
HR/MR Truck License
Wood Chipper Operation
When you do an internet search on yellow pages, Google or Truelocal. A lot of people in this fast paced society just go with the first 3 companies they come across.
Rookie error!
Why? Because they reason they are the first companies you came across is they are paying a premium for you to see them first.
As mentioned above the tree service industry is highly unregulated you could land yourself in hot water fast by hiring the wrong ‘expert”. This is what you need to ask for.
As they are not doing things by the book, they convince customers it’s fine to remove a tree when you actually need approval (fines are $10,000). They do damage to property, hack trees or even worse can injure themselves on your property.
You must ask for the following to protect yourself.
Arboriculture is what arborist study to work in the field. Please make sure you ask each contractor that turns up for their certificate. They won’t mind giving it to you as they also don’t like the industry cowboys and won’t prove they are legitimate and trustworthy.
You can easily check this out yourself. Just get their company name or ABN and do a search here https://abr.business.gov.au/
It will show you when they registered the business and you can also see if there has been any name changes, insolvency notices or anything else dodgy.
We recommend never hiring anyone with less than 3 years industry experience. The last thing you want is a rookies practicing on your tree.
This is one way to go about selecting a company. The only thing they miss is price.
Go online and check the company reviews from different sources. Some reviews can be faked, but you can’t fake 40+ 5 star reviews. That is a real business with real reviews.
It is important though to read the comments. Some customers can be fickle in they will give a 1 star review for a business who forgot to phone them back.
It’s a little harsh when you consider this is their livelihood. People forget things, especially these days where there is so much distraction and so many things to do.
Most of the time customers don’t leave reviews (unless they had a bad experience). So the fact that any company has positive reviews let alone 20 + reviews is a miracle in itself.
If you had a good experience, do them a favour and leave an online review.
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A level 5 arborist has further studies in arboriculture and has gained a Diploma. Most working arborist who perform tree trimming and removal are level 3 arborist. A level 5 arborist has continued studies to be able to do arborist reports. They are trained in identifying pests and diseases, fungus and acute safety issues. If you need an arborist report you will need to contract a Level 5 arborist to do the report in Sydney.
Arborist don’t really charge by the hour but by the job. This is actually good news for you as they take on all the risk. If they charged by the hour, it’s quite easy for the job to take longer than expected. If you were paying by the hour it would cost you more.
Tree removal and trimming jobs are quote after a tree has been inspected and the price includes all works from start to finish.
If your tree is protected by your local Tree Preservation Order (TPO), then your local Council might ask you to get a report from an independent arborist. The arborist will make up a detailed report on the health, safety and their recommendation for the tree moving forward.
I would not go out and get an arborist report unless prompted to do so by the council first. So make your tree removal application to council. If they knock it back or ask for a report, then contract an arborist to do so.
Just because you get an arborist report, does not mean you will like the arborist’s findings. Arborist do not recommend the removal of all trees they inspect. So if your desired result is to have the tree removed, but the tree is healthy, then you might be wasting your time by getting a report.
That being said you are not a trained professional and there will be things an arborist can see that you cannot. These could all lean in your favour for a removal recommendation.
This will depend on what you are wanting from the arborist. If you need a report, then they will need to come out and inspect the tree, take photos and begin formulating a plan for their report. At this point though, you would have committed to paying for the report. If you need your tree removed and your tree does not need a report, a level 3 arborist will come out to inspect the tree before giving a firm price.
Yes. Tree doctor and tree surgeon are both used to describe arborists. Tree surgeon is used quite a lot in the UK where tree doctor is more American. In Australia we tend to use the correct term which is arborist.
The cost of an arborist varies depending on the task. Arborist normally perform tree trimming, tree removal, arborist reports, tree inspections and a host of other jobs.
Arborist do not charge by the hour but rather by the job. The average tree removal by arborist in Melbourne is $1,100. The real range for tree removal is $350 and $4,500. It all depends on the size of the tree being removed.
You will need to get quotes from local arborist to know exactly what your tree removal or trim will cost you as there is no standard price.
An arborist report will cost on average about $450 for a single tree. If you multiple trees that need reporting on you will the price will increase about $50 - $100 per tree. Arborist reports for DA approval are also more involved and will cost a little more.
Can I use a level 3 arborist?
This will depend on the council. If they do not specifically stipulate they a level 5 arborist is required, you can go with a level 3. These days most council are asking for level 5 arborists for all of their reports.
No. A council will only ask for an arborist report for a second opinion. They council arborist will have his own idea on what needs to be done and the recommendation of an independent arborist will go a long way to away their decision, but the final say is with council.
When you get an arborist report, you don’t have to submit it to council. You can actually get another opinion from another arborist. You will need to pay for a second report, but they could see some things that the first arborist did not. In theory, you can get as many reports from different arborist as you like and just submit the one that has a recommendation for removal.
There is no hard and fast rule on this, but I would say that council would like to see the recommendation from an arborist report that is no more than 12 months old. The condition of a tree can change from month to month, so anything over a year old will not be as valid as a fresh report. If you are submitting to council for approval, then I recommend you do it asap.
Author: Ben McInerney is a qualified arborist with over 15 years industry experience. He uses his in-depth knowledge of the tree service industry to give readers to most accurate information on tree service costs and helps to educate about the benefits of using a certified arborist for tree trimming and removal work.
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