Our Services
Areas We Service
QTRA and TRAQ qualified assessment of dangerous, declining and structurally compromised trees
A tree may look healthy while containing significant structural defects. Conversely, a tree with a cavity, lean, deadwood or declining canopy does not necessarily present an unacceptable risk. Our assessments examine the available arboricultural evidence to determine the condition, identify significant defects, assess risk and provide proportionate recommendations.
A Tree Health and Safety Assessment is a professional arboricultural assessment of a tree's health, structural condition and potential risk. The tree is assessed as a whole rather than judged by a single visible defect. This can include canopy condition, trunk and branch structure, root-zone observations, previous failures, site conditions and potential targets.
The objective is to determine whether management is required and what response is proportionate to the condition identified. Recommendations may include retention, monitoring, pruning, further investigation or removal where supported by the arboricultural evidence.
Immediate hazard, active tree failure or fallen tree? This page covers planned risk assessment, not urgent response. See Emergency Tree Removal Liverpool.
Assess, identify defects, evaluate risk, investigate where required, recommend management.
Canopy condition, trunk and branch structure, root-zone observations, previous failures, site conditions and potential targets.
Decay, cavities, cracking, weak unions, previous failures, root damage and abnormal movement, and their significance to the overall structure.
Recognised methodology considers what could fail, the likelihood of failure, what could be affected and the potential consequences.
A proportionate response, from retention and monitoring through to pruning, further investigation or removal where justified.
A professional assessment may be appropriate where you have noticed cracks, splits or cavities, visible decay or hollowing, large dead or failing branches, significant canopy dieback or decline, fungal fruiting bodies, unusual or increasing lean, root damage or disturbance, soil movement around the root plate, previous branch or stem failures, storm damage, or construction activity close to the tree.
Assessment may also be appropriate where a large tree is close to a dwelling, driveway, footpath, school, commercial area or other frequently occupied space and there is concern about its condition, or where Council or an insurer has requested arboricultural evidence.
Health assessment may consider canopy density, foliage condition, deadwood, dieback, growth patterns, wounds, pest or disease symptoms, fungal activity and environmental stress. Structural assessment considers the trunk, major stems, branches and visible root zone for significant defects such as decay, cavities, cracking, weak unions, previous failures, root damage and abnormal movement.
Poor health does not automatically mean a tree is structurally unsafe. Likewise, the presence of a structural defect does not automatically mean the tree requires removal. Its significance depends on the type, location and extent of the defect and its relationship to the tree's overall structure.
Our AQF Level 5 Consulting Arborists hold recognised tree risk assessment qualifications, including QTRA and TRAQ. Liverpool's Tree Management Technical Guidelines recognise established methodologies including QTRA, TRAQ and VALID as the basis for tree risk assessment reports, and Liverpool's Tree Policy identifies the Quantified Tree Risk Assessment method as Council's preferred methodology for managing risk associated with trees on public land.
Tree risk is not determined by defects alone. Assessment may consider the tree or part of the tree that could fail, the likelihood of failure, people, property or infrastructure that could be affected, the potential consequences of failure, site occupancy and use, and whether risk can reasonably be reduced through management.
People, dwellings, neighbouring properties, vehicles, driveways, footpaths, play areas, entrances and other frequently occupied areas.
Retention without immediate intervention, monitoring or reassessment, deadwood removal, selective pruning, reduction or weight management where appropriate, management of the surrounding target area, further diagnostic investigation, root investigation, or removal where justified by the findings.
The objective is not to automatically justify removal. It is to establish the significance of the condition identified and recommend a proportionate response. Where a tree can reasonably be retained through proportionate management, that option should be considered.
Visual assessment can identify many tree defects, but it cannot always establish the extent of internal decay, remaining sound wood or below-ground root conditions. Where additional evidence is required, further diagnostic investigation may be appropriate.
Resistograph testing for internal decay. Where internal decay or structural integrity requires further investigation, Resistograph testing may be used where appropriate. A Resistograph records drilling resistance through the wood and can help identify variations associated with internal decay, cavities and remaining sound wood. This provides additional objective information where visual assessment alone cannot adequately establish internal wood condition, often the difference between a defensible retention recommendation and an unsupported one.
Root investigation. Where the concern involves below-ground roots or root-zone conditions, further investigation may be appropriate.
Depending on the purpose and scope of the assessment, an AQF Level 5 Tree Health and Safety Report may include tree identification and relevant dimensions, health and structural condition, significant defects and photographic evidence, relevant targets and risk considerations, further investigation where required, management recommendations, and arboricultural reasoning supporting the conclusions.
Liverpool City Council's Tree Policy states Council will only accept a Tree Report prepared by a suitably qualified Consultant Arborist, defined as holding an AQF Level 5, Diploma of Horticulture (Arboriculture). The report provides a documented professional assessment to assist with informed tree-management decisions.
A Tree Health and Safety Assessment can provide professional arboricultural evidence where tree health, structural condition or risk is relevant to proposed management or removal. Where removal is being considered, an Arborist Report for Tree Removal can document the relevant health, structural and risk evidence and the arboricultural reasoning supporting the recommendation.
An Arborist Report does not itself authorise tree removal. Liverpool City Council's requirements, exemptions and the appropriate approval pathway still need to be considered.
Professional assessment across the whole Liverpool Local Government Area.
Liverpool CBD, Warwick Farm, Casula, Chipping Norton, Moorebank, Hammondville, Holsworthy, Wattle Grove, Voyager Point and Pleasure Point.
View areaAshcroft, Busby, Cartwright, Green Valley, Heckenberg, Hinchinbrook, Lurnea, Miller, Sadleir, Cecil Hills and Mount Pritchard.
View areaAustral, Edmondson Park, Leppington*, Denham Court*, Middleton Grange, West Hoxton, Carnes Hill, Horningsea Park, Prestons and Hoxton Park.
View areaBadgerys Creek, Bradfield, Bringelly*, Cecil Park*, Greendale, Kemps Creek*, Luddenham, Rossmore and Wallacia.
View area*Some suburbs extend across Liverpool and neighbouring council boundaries. Liverpool-specific requirements on this website apply only to properties within the Liverpool City Council LGA. We can confirm the applicable council from your property address.
Evidence-based structural and risk assessment.
Recognised tree risk assessment methodologies, aligned with Liverpool's own Technical Guidelines.
Practical arboricultural and risk-assessment experience.
Objective internal decay testing where visual assessment alone is not sufficient.
Prepared to support Liverpool removal applications where the evidence justifies it.
Reports plus professional removal and pruning where approved.
See a real example in the Liverpool Arborist Report Case Studies.
Not necessarily. The significance of a cavity or hollow depends on factors such as its extent, location, remaining wood, tree structure and potential targets. Further investigation may be appropriate where visual assessment cannot adequately determine the condition.
Not automatically. Some trees develop a stable lean over many years. A recent change in lean, root-plate movement, soil cracking or other signs of instability may require more urgent assessment.
Where appropriate, Resistograph testing may provide additional information about internal wood condition, decay and remaining sound wood.
A structured evaluation of the likelihood a tree or part of a tree could fail, what it could affect if it did, and whether that risk can reasonably be managed. Our AQF Level 5 Consulting Arborists use recognised methodologies including QTRA and TRAQ.
Yes. Where the assessment identifies health, structural or risk conditions relevant to removal, an Arborist Report for Tree Removal can document the arboricultural evidence and recommendations. Council's requirements and the applicable approval or exemption pathway must still be considered.
Where the tree or a major part has already failed, is actively failing, or presents an immediate hazard that cannot reasonably wait for a standard assessment process. See Emergency Tree Removal Liverpool.
Send us your plans, Council correspondence or photographs of the tree. Our AQF Level 5 Consulting Arborists can identify the appropriate assessment, explain the next step and provide a fixed quote before work begins.
