Chainsaw and tree work tickets by country, by their full names

This page is a name-and-code reference. It does not say which ticket to take. The guide on certifications by country covers what employers ask for and where each law comes from. The guide on choosing a climbing course covers how to check a provider. Status is as shown on the dates in the sources.

United States

No official page linked here names a national chainsaw ticket or national climbing ticket. OSHA says the tree care industry must comply with the general industry standards in 29 CFR 1910 (OSHA tree care standards page). What exists is a set of standards, an employer-led training duty and private credentials.

OSHA 1910.266, logging operations

This standard applies to logging operations, which it defines as operations associated with felling and moving trees and logs from the stump to the point of delivery. It is a logging standard, not a tree care ticket. It says the employer shall provide training for each employee, including supervisors, at no cost to the employee. The text is at OSHA 1910.266 on osha.gov.

OSHA 1910.269, line-clearance tree trimming

Line-clearance tree trimmers who are not qualified employees must also be trained and competent in the skills the standard lists, including telling live parts from other parts and knowing the voltage and minimum approach distances. See OSHA 1910.269 on osha.gov and the guide on tree work near power lines.

TCIA Electrical Hazards Awareness Program

The Tree Care Industry Association magazine says the six-hour EHAP online course gives a Certificate of Completion, and that this is not the same as being EHAP certified. It says the EHAP credential has additional requirements, including hands-on training and annual renewal. The article is dated April 1, 2023. See the TCIA magazine article on EHAP.

Canada

British Columbia

SkilledTradesBC lists Arborist Technician and Climbing Arborist as separate programs. The pages say Arborist Technician includes falling, limbing and bucking, that it takes 8 weeks of technical training and 1,600 work-based hours, and that it must be taken before Climbing Arborist. Climbing Arborist is 8 weeks and 1,800 hours and covers aerial work with a lift truck and climbing equipment. See the Arborist Technician page and the Climbing Arborist page.

BC Faller Training Standard

The BC Forest Safety Council says that in British Columbia all manual tree fallers in forestry operations must be trained and certified. Its steps start with the 30 day New Faller Training Program under WorkSafeBC OH&S Regulation 26.22. The page is written for forestry operations and does not say it applies to urban tree work. See the faller training and certification page.

The same council runs a Basic Chainsaw Operator course of two days, mostly hands-on, in English only, with a wallet card and record of completion. Its page says the training does not qualify participants to fall trees. See the basic chainsaw operator page.

Ontario

The trade is Arborist, code 444A. Skilled Trades Ontario gives the time to become competent as 6,120 hours: 5,400 on the job and 720 in school. The trade is non-compulsory, so the Certificate of Qualification does not have to be renewed. The exam counselling guide, dated April 10, 2017, gives a pass mark of 70 percent and lists Maintain and Operate Chainsaw as 3 percent of the questions. See the Skilled Trades Ontario arborist page and the exam counselling guide.

United Kingdom

Two bodies matter for names. City and Guilds, which carries the NPTC name, and Lantra Awards. City and Guilds lists the old NPTC awards as closed.

Old NPTC awards, now closed

The City and Guilds fees and qualifications list for 2026 shows these as Closed to certification, with an expiry of December 31, 2021. The NPTC factsheet gives the Ofqual numbers and guided learning hours (GLH) in the table.

Code	Name	Detail
0020-01	Level 2 Award in Chainsaw Maintenance	600/6160/1, 15 GLH
0020-02	Level 2 Award in Cross-cutting	Pairs with 0020-01
0020-03	Level 2 Award, Maintenance and Cross-cutting	600/6161/3, 23 GLH
0020-04	Level 2 Award in Felling and Processing Trees up to 380mm	600/6162/5, 23 GLH
0020-07	Level 2 Award in Accessing a tree using a rope and harness	600/6164/9, 22 GLH
0020-13	Level 2 Award, Tree Climbing and Rescue	600/6620/9, 41 GLH
0021-06	Level 3 Award in Aerial Tree Rescue Operations	600/6292/7, 19 GLH

The factsheet says 0020-03 replaced CS30.1 and CS30.2, and 0020-04 replaced CS31. See the NPTC suite factsheet and the City and Guilds 2026 fees list.

Current City and Guilds Certificates of Competence

The same 2026 list shows these as Open to certification.

Code	Name	Level
0039-20	Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-Cutting	2
0039-21	Felling Small Trees up to 380mm	2
0039-22	Climbing Trees and Aerial Rescue	2
0039-23	Using a Chainsaw from a Rope and Harness	2
0039-30	Assisted Felling	3
0039-31	Aerial Tree Pruning	3
0039-32	Aerial Tree Rigging	3
0039-33	Felling Medium Trees, 380mm to 760mm	3
0039-34	Felling Large Trees over 760mm	3
0039-38	Chainsaw from a MEWP	3
0037-03	Thorough Examination of Equipment	3

The list gives Ofqual number 603/7353/2 for 0039-20 and 603/7354/4 for 0039-21.

The handbook for 0039-21, dated August 2022, gives 24 GLH, says candidates must hold 0039-20 first, and says assessment is a one-to-one practical assessment with oral questioning by an approved assessor, pass only. It covers risk assessment, emergency planning, legislation and felling techniques. See the 0039-21 handbook.

Lantra Awards

Lantra's aerial arboriculture page lists these awards by name.

Level 3 Award in Accessing a Tree Using a Rope and Harness and Aerial Rescue. No prerequisites, and the prerequisite for the rest of the aerial suite, says its learner guide.
Level 3 Award in Aerial Cutting of Trees with a Chainsaw Using Free-fall Techniques, 13 guided learning hours, with ground chainsaw awards, rope access and aerial rescue as prerequisites.
Level 3 Award in Aerial Tree Pruning, which its learner guide says is registered with Ofqual.
Level 3 Awards in Aerial Tree Rigging and in Stationary Rope Work Positioning and Rescue.
Level 3 Award in Use of a Chainsaw from a Mobile Elevated Work Platform. Its learner guide says it needs valid MEWP certification for the machine used.
Level 3 Award in Thorough Examination of Arboricultural Lifting Equipment.

Lantra's five-day ground chainsaw course page says the course is not an alternative to achieving the qualification, and that professional users must achieve the Level 2 Award in Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-cutting and the Level 2 Award in Felling and Processing Trees up to 380mm. Lantra's pages linked here show no certificate validity period. See Lantra aerial arboriculture, the five-day course page and the aerial cutting learner guide.

Australia

Australian training uses units of competency, each with a code on training.gov.au. The register shows each unit as current or superseded. AHC is the agriculture, horticulture and conservation package and FWP is forest and wood products.

The trade qualification

AHC30824 Certificate III in Arboriculture is current from May 1, 2024. The register says there are no entry requirements, and the package is 18 units, 9 core and 9 elective. AHC30820 shows as superseded, running from August 26, 2020 to April 30, 2024. The register's Climbing Arborist specialisation needs all three of AHCARB317, AHCARB318 and AHCARB319. See the AHC30824 listing and the AHC30820 listing.

Units by name

Code	Name	Status
FWPCOT2254	Maintain chainsaws	Current 2020
FWPCOT2253	Fell trees manually (basic)	Ended 2023
FWPCOT3350	Fell trees manually (intermediate)	Current 2024
FWPCOT2273	Trim and cut felled trees	Current 2023
AHCARB316	Perform pruning operations	Current 2020
AHCARB317	Dismantle trees	Current 2020
AHCARB318	Undertake aerial rescue	Current 2022
AHCARB319	Use arborist climbing techniques	Current 2020

The status column shows the year the current release began, or the year a superseded unit ended. What the register says about each one:

FWPCOT2254 covers maintenance of fuel or electric hand-held chainsaws.
FWPCOT3350 is for people already proficient with a chainsaw. It says competent people should be able to fell most trees except advanced trees and trees with significant defects.
AHCARB318 covers bringing an injured or trapped climber safely to the ground. Its prerequisites are HLTAID011 Provide First Aid and AHCARB319.
AHCARB319 covers climbing with ropes, harnesses and specialist equipment.

FWPCOT3350, FWPCOT2254 and AHCARB318 each carry the same note: no licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to the unit at the time of publication. That is about the unit. State and territory laws sit outside the register. The EWP specialisation includes TLILIC0005, a licence unit for a boom-type elevating work platform with a boom of 11 metres or more. See the listings for FWPCOT3350, FWPCOT2254 and AHCARB318.

New Zealand

NZQA lists unit standards by number, level and credits. Several older climbing and felling standards have expired, so an old number in an ad may point at a standard that no longer exists.

Unit standard	Level and credits	Status and note
31185 Climbing equipment, climb a tree, one-person aerial rescue	Level 4, 10	Replaced 2767 and 17256
2774 Climb difficult trees, branch walk, aerial rescue above 15 metres	Level 4, 10	Listed
17257 Fell and limb trees under supervision	Level 3, 5	Listed
25406 Sectional felling	Level 4, 10	Replaced 2822
17261 Groundperson duties	Level 3, 4	Listed
17151 Hazards near electrical supply lines	Level 3, 5	Knowledge only
25402 Advanced tree climbing, simulated aerial rescue	Level 5, 10	Listed
25403 Advanced rigging	Level 5, 10	Listed
17259 Platform vehicle (EPV)	Level 4, 4	Expiring, ends December 31, 2026

Levels come from the headings on NZQA's listing. See the NZQA arboriculture domain.

Qualifications

NZQA shows the New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture (Level 3), Ref 2678, with an Arboriculture strand, as current. Its arboriculture outcome is routine duties and site clean-up. The New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture Services (Level 4), Ref 2674, has an Arboriculture strand that covers rescue at heights and tree removal by felling techniques, with the job titles Climbing Arborist and Practitioner Arborist. It may lead to the New Zealand Certificate in Arboriculture (Level 5), Ref 2670, 70 credits, which may lead to the New Zealand Diploma in Arboriculture (Level 6), Ref 2669. See Ref 2678, Ref 2674 and Ref 2670.

WorkSafe New Zealand hosts the older Approved Code of Practice for Safety and Health in Arboriculture. It says all arborists engaged in arboricultural work shall be suitably qualified, with competency outcomes documented, and that tree work above three metres needs a second person on site trained in aerial rescue. It is an older document. See the WorkSafe page for how it applies.

The guide on working abroad as a tree worker covers planning a path across borders.