City and Guilds 0039-34 Felling and Processing Large Trees over 760mm: 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 and the 2026 City and Guilds list. The award is the top of the three tree-size steps in the City and Guilds felling ladder. The guide on chainsaw and tree work tickets by country carries its number in a table. This page reports the handbook.

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 Felling and Processing Large Trees Over 760mm
City and Guilds number	0039-34
Ofqual number	603/7647/8
Guided learning hours	16, with a total qualification time of 20 (handbook version 1.6, March 2025)
Age	16 or over
Grading	Met or not met
Status in the 2026 list	Open to certification, registration expiry December 31, 2027, certification expiry December 31, 2030

A misprint worth knowing

The handbook cover and footer say 0039-34. The summary table inside it prints 0020-34 beside the same title and the same Ofqual number, 603/7647/8. The 2026 City and Guilds list has no 0020-34 row and shows the award as 0039-34. The handbook's version history also records a May 2022 change of the unit title from "large trees over 380mm" to "large trees over 760mm".

What the handbook says it covers

The handbook says the award is for people who fell and process large trees over 760mm as part of work in arboriculture, forestry or other industries. It lists hazards, risks, controls, emergency planning, legislation and industry good practice.

The unit text, number 305, has a felling plan section. The plan covers site requirements, felling techniques, direction of fall, the structural integrity of the tree, equipment and felling dimensions. It lists what makes a tree hard to fell as form, size or weight, decay or rot, site hazards and location. The additional equipment it names is wedges, mechanical felling wedges, tree jacks, winches and machinery. Like the medium-tree unit, it points to the Forest Industry Safety Accord guidance and the Forestry Commission winching guide, and states a safe working distance of two tree lengths.

Entry requirements

The handbook says candidates must hold 0039-20, 0039-21 and 0039-33, or equivalent versions. That makes it the end of a chain: maintenance and cross-cutting, then small trees, then medium trees, then large trees.

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 assessments should take no longer than 1.5 to 3 hours. Candidates have to finish within 24 months of the date of initial registration, and the handbook says registration is valid for two years. The assessor has to hold a current First Aid at Work certificate, according to the unit text.

Refresher and renewal

The Health and Safety Executive leaflet Chainsaws at work (INDG317) says all chainsaw operators should do regular refresher or update training. It suggests every two to three years for occasional users and every five years for full-time users. FISA's training guide 805, updated August 2025, says INDG317 recommends three to five years. It gives its own recommendation of recorded refresher or update training at least every five years for most machinery work, chainsaw and aerial tree work included. The two documents word the interval differently, and both are recommendations.

City and Guilds runs a CPD module for this award, 0041-15, Level 3 CPD Module in Felling and Processing Large Trees over 760mm, Ofqual number 610/6062/8. The 2026 list shows it open to certification, with registration expiry January 8, 2027 and certification expiry January 8, 2030. The NPTC page for the CPD modules says they are for qualified operators who hold the matching certificate of competence.

The handbook for this award gives no expiry period for the certificate. Its two-year figure is the length of a registration to take the assessment.

Old codes

The City and Guilds NPTC factsheet has no entry for trees over 760mm. Its only older felling award above 380mm is the Level 3 Award in Felling and Processing Trees Over 380mm (CS32, 0021-01 and 0021-11, Ofqual number 600/6163/7). No page read says the 0039-34 award replaces it. See old NPTC chainsaw codes and the awards that replaced them.

Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.