City and Guilds 0039-32 Aerial Tree Rigging: what the handbook says

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The pages used are the City and Guilds NPTC handbook for the award, the NPTC scheme page, the City and Guilds 2026 fees list and the Lantra Awards specification. The award is the Level 3 certificate of competence for lowering and controlling cut sections in the crown. The guide on chainsaw and tree work tickets by country gives the short summary. This page adds the handbook detail.

At a glance

Item	What the official source says
Awarding body	City and Guilds, under the NPTC name
Title	Level 3 Certificate of Competence in Aerial Tree Rigging
City and Guilds number	0039-32
Ofqual number	603/7359/3
Guided learning hours	24, with a total qualification time of 28 (handbook version 1.8, December 2025)
Age	16 or over
Grading	Met or not met
Unit	303, Aerial tree rigging
Status in the 2026 list	Open to certification, registration expiry December 31, 2027, certification expiry December 31, 2030

What the handbook says it covers

The handbook says the award is for people who use chainsaws as part of their work in arboriculture, forestry or other industries. Its cover list runs: risk assessment, emergency planning, legislation, industry best practice, tree condition and working at height assessment, and tree rigging. It says successful candidates could go on to build their proficiency through practice at work or develop further skills in operating chainsaws. It is not part of an apprenticeship framework.

Entry requirements

The handbook says candidates must have achieved 0039-20, Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-Cutting, 0039-21, Felling Small Trees up to 380mm, 0039-22, Climbing Trees and Aerial Rescue, and 0039-23, Using a Chainsaw from a Rope and Harness, or equivalent versions. The minimum age is 16. The qualification structure table in the same handbook lists four prerequisite units that differ from that list: 201 chainsaw maintenance, 202 cross-cutting timber, 203 tree climbing and aerial rescue, and 204 branch removal and breakdown of crowns. The two lists do not match, and the handbook does not say why.

Assessment

The handbook describes one assessment type: a one to one practical assessment with oral questioning by an approved City and Guilds NPTC assessor. Grading is met or not met. The handbook says the practical observation and oral questioning should take between 3 and 4 hours. Candidates have to finish within 24 months of the date of initial registration, and registration is valid for two years. The unit text says assessors must hold a current First Aid at Work certificate. It strongly recommends that candidates hold an Emergency First Aid certificate.

What the unit text lists

The unit has one learning outcome with three criteria: hazards, risks, controls, emergency procedures and industry guides; tree condition and working at height assessment; and tree rigging. The industry guides it names are the Arboricultural Association technical guides 1, 2, 3 and 5, the Health and Safety Executive research report RR668 on rigging and dismantling practices in arboriculture, and the tree work recommendations in BS 3998. The handbook says rigging may be needed when free fall techniques are not possible, and lists its limits: higher competence needed, a long set-up and a lot of equipment.

The component list names rigging blocks, rigging ropes, connectors, slings and strops, lowering devices and redirect pulleys, and asks for compatible parts, with allowance for strength lost through configuration, age and condition. For loads, the unit text gives a log mass chart worked from length, diameter, a safety factor and a species correction. It then states the load on the rigging point as the log mass times 2 when the point is above the load and the log mass times 11 when the point is below it. Its ways of cutting shock loading are letting sections run, taking smaller sections, putting more rope in the system and changing the rigging system. Its ways of adding friction are natural tree structure, a rigging bollard, a capstan, a figure of eight and rigging rings.

The techniques it defines are the tip tie, the butt tie, the balance or cradle, snatching, the speed line and lifting. The systems are a drift load transfer line, a spider leg, a speed line, false anchor points and a pull or tag line. It names four knots: the timber hitch, the cow hitch, the running bowline and the clove hitch. Sections are removed by tip tie, butt tie, cradle, vertical free fall and vertical lowered section. The handbook says the climber must direct the ground operations, that limbs are lowered under control, and that the chain brake is applied or the saw is switched off while sections are lowered.

The Lantra Awards rigging award

Lantra Awards has its own Level 3 Award in Aerial Tree Rigging, Ofqual number 600/5714/2. Its specification gives 24 guided learning hours and a total qualification time of 26, with one mandatory unit. The operational start date is September 1, 2025. It names two prerequisites: the Lantra Level 3 Award in Access a Tree Using a Rope and Harness and Aerial Rescue, and either the Lantra Level 3 Award in Aerial Cutting of Trees with a Chainsaw Using Free-fall Techniques or the Lantra Level 3 Award in Use of a Chainsaw from a Mobile Elevated Work Platform. It is graded pass or fail.

Refresher

City and Guilds runs a CPD module for this award, 0041-05, Level 3 CPD Module in Aerial Tree Rigging, Ofqual number 610/6052/5. The 2026 list shows it open to certification. The handbook gives no expiry period for the certificate. Its two-year figure is the length of a registration to take the assessment.