City and Guilds 0039-21 Felling Small Trees up to 380mm: 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 City and Guilds 2026 fees list and the Health and Safety Executive chainsaw leaflet. The award is the first felling certificate of competence in the City and Guilds ground-based chainsaw ladder. The guide on chainsaw and tree work tickets by country already gives the number and the short summary. This page adds the rest of the handbook.

At a glance

Item	What the official source says
Awarding body	City and Guilds, under the NPTC name
Title	Level 2 Certificate of Competence in Felling Small Trees up to 380mm
City and Guilds number	0039-21
Ofqual number	603/7354/4
Guided learning hours	24, with a total qualification time of 28 (handbook version 1.6, December 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

What the handbook says it covers

The handbook says the award is for people who operate chainsaws in arboriculture, forestry or other industries and need the knowledge and skills to fell small trees up to 380mm. Its list of content runs: risk assessment, emergency planning, legislation, industry best practice, environmental considerations, recognising disease and decay, changing felling methods, setting up supports, felling techniques and cuts, pre-start checks, site preparation, hung up trees, aid tools, branch removal, brash, cross-cutting to length, stacking timber and waste disposal.

The unit text, number 202, names the legal factors to weigh as felling licences, Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas. It states a safe working distance of two tree lengths. It lists felling techniques by name, among them the step cut, the 80 percent front cut, the spear cut, the double V cut, the basic fell, the split level, the dog's tooth or holding cut and the Danish or safe corner hold. It names wedges and felling levers as aids.

Entry requirements

The handbook says candidates must hold 0039-20, the Level 2 Certificate of Competence in Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-Cutting, or an equivalent version. It also sets the minimum age of 16. The handbooks for 0039-30, 0039-33, 0039-34 and 0039-35 each name 0039-21 as an entry requirement as well. The handbook names the Level 2 Certificate in Using a Chainsaw from a Rope and Harness (0039-23) as an example of a next step.

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 1.5 and 2 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, 0041-02, Level 2 CPD Module in Felling Small Trees up to 380mm, Ofqual number 610/6049/5. The 2026 list shows it open to certification. The NPTC page for the CPD modules says they are for qualified operators who hold the matching certificate of competence and want formal CPD to meet the training requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations and INDG317.

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 lists CS31 against the older Level 2 Award in Felling and Processing Trees up to 380mm, 0020-04, Ofqual number 600/6162/5, 23 guided learning hours. The 2026 list shows 0020-04 as closed to certification, with certification expiry December 31, 2021. The factsheet also lists CS31 against the combined Ground Based Chainsaw Operations award, 0020-12. No page read states that 0039-21 replaces either one. See old NPTC chainsaw codes and the awards that replaced them.

The Lantra Awards felling award

Lantra Awards has its own Level 2 Award in Felling and Processing Trees up to 380mm, Ofqual number 600/5703/8, in its ground-based chainsaw specification. The specification gives 21 guided learning hours and a total qualification time of 32. It names completion of the Lantra chainsaw maintenance and cross-cutting awards, or the combined award, as the prerequisite. It describes the award as the basic felling qualification and a prerequisite for the other felling qualifications and for aerial treework involving a chainsaw. Lantra's own five-day course page says the course is not an alternative to achieving the qualification.

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