It's hard to know who is the best arborist company to work with when there are so many in the game. Because TreeZone provided arborist services in Auckland for almost 30 years, we have some tips for you on what to look for.
1. Insurance
A reliable arborist company will have at least $1,000,000 insurance cover. That might sound like a lot, but imagine a tree accidentally falls on a power line, taking out power for the rest of your street. Or onto your neighbour's driveway, damaging both their cars. Or, a branch swings in the wind and crashes through the house, smashing two rooms and all their contents.
2. Health & Safety Policies
Your arborist must be able to demonstrate compliance with Health and Safety Legislation including a site plan for every job. Look for the SiteSafe logo on their website. Although the arborist is primarily responsible for their compliance, as a property owner in New Zealand, you can still hold some legal and health and safety liability if a contractor works dangerously on your land. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA), if you engage a contractor on residential property you have a basic duty of care to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that the work area is safe - and that they do not actively create or ignore glaring safety hazards.
3. NZ Arboricultural Association Membership
Most professional arborists are members of NZ ARB under the International Society of Arboriculture, and will have this logo on their website.
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4. Modern, well maintained equipment
Check their social media to see what tools their arborists are actually using - not just the shiny photos on the website. If the tree you need work on is tall they will most likely need to use ropes and pulleys and abseiling gear. All climbing gear should also be in excellent condition - if you see frayed ropes or rusty, cracked gear you can tell them to stop work at any time. As the property owner you have liability under the Health and Safety laws and are within your rights to ask them to cease work at any stage.
5. Friendly staff and a professional quote
Your initial contact with an arborist company should tell you a lot about them. Are they prompt, friendly and helpful? Does the quote clearly lay out the cost of the project and how they will perform the work? If in doubt, get another quote to compare - in fact we suggest you get a minimum of three arborist companies to quote any major tree work.