City and Guilds 0038-30 to 0038-41 utility arboriculture awards: what the handbooks say

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The pages used are the eight City and Guilds NPTC scheme pages, the eight NPTC handbooks and the City and Guilds 2026 fees list. The awards sit in the utility arboriculture suite, for work around overhead power lines. The guide on tree work near power lines gives the wider picture. The guide on felling utility poles covers the related 0039-27 award.

The eight awards side by side

Award	Hours	Age and assessment time
0038-30, Level 3 Basic Electrical Knowledge, Ofqual 603/7885/2	16 and 17 guided learning hours and total qualification time	16 or over, 1.5 to 3 hours
0038-31, Level 3 Tree Species Recognition, Growth Characteristics and Associated Hazards, Ofqual 603/7886/4	8 and 9 guided learning hours and total qualification time	16 or over, 1.5 to 3 hours
0038-32, Level 3 Ground-based Pruning, Ofqual 603/7887/6	8 and 10 guided learning hours and total qualification time	18 or over, 1.5 to 2 hours
0038-33, Level 3 Aerial Pruning, Ofqual 603/7888/8	8 and 10 guided learning hours and total qualification time	18 or over, 1 to 2 hours
0038-34, Level 3 Assisted Tree Felling, Ofqual 603/7889/X	16 and 18 guided learning hours and total qualification time	18 or over, 1.5 to 2 hours in total
0038-35, Level 3 Use of Chainsaw from a MEWP, Ofqual 603/7890/6	16 and 18 guided learning hours and total qualification time	18 or over, 1.5 to 3 hours
0038-40, Level 4 Surveyor, Ofqual 603/7891/8	24 and 28 guided learning hours and total qualification time	18 or over, 3.5 to 6 hours
0038-41, Level 4 ETR 132 Resilience Arboricultural Surveyor, Ofqual 603/7892/X	16 and 18 guided learning hours and total qualification time	18 or over, 2 to 4 hours

The handbook versions are 1.5 (February 2025) for 0038-30, 1.2 (February 2025) for 0038-31, 1.3 (February 2025) for 0038-32, 1.2 (February 2025) for 0038-33, 1.3 (January 2026) for 0038-34, 1.5 (May 2026) for 0038-40 and 1.4 (January 2026) for 0038-41. The 2026 fees list shows every one of the eight as open to certification, with registration expiry December 31, 2027 and certification expiry December 31, 2030. In each handbook candidates have to finish within 24 months of the date of initial registration, and registration is valid for two years.

Entry awards named in each handbook

Award	Prerequisites the handbook names
0038-30	None
0038-31	0038-30
0038-32	0038-30 and 0038-31
0038-33	0038-30, 0038-31, 0038-32, 0039-20, 0039-21, 0039-22 and 0039-23
0038-34	0038-30, 0038-31, 0038-32, 0039-20 and 0039-21
0038-35	0038-30, 0038-31, 0038-32, 0039-20, 0039-21, and either 0017-03 or an IPAF certificate or card
0038-40	0038-30 and 0038-31
0038-41	0038-30, 0038-31 and 0038-40

The 0039 numbers are the ground and aerial awards written up in the guides on chainsaw maintenance and cross-cutting, felling small trees, climbing trees and aerial rescue and chainsaw from a rope and harness.

What the Basic Electrical Knowledge handbook prints

The 0038-30 handbook, in unit 301, covers proximity zones, vicinity zones and live zones, the permit to work, safety documents, tree electrical categories and overhead line components. The figures below are the handbook's own, shown with attribution and not as a rule from this site.

Line voltage	Vicinity zone distance in the handbook	Live zone distance in the handbook
Low voltage	1m	0.3m
11kV	2m	0.8m
33kV	2.5m	0.8m
66kV	3m	1.0m
132kV	3.5m	1.4m
275kV	4m	2.4m
400kV	5m	3.1m

For the proximity zone the same handbook gives felling within two tree lengths of live equipment, and other work within 9m of equipment up to and including 66kV and within 15m of equipment above 66kV.

Who each award is for

The scheme pages for 0038-31 to 0038-41 each give a short statement of who the award is for and what it covers. The 0038-40 handbook has two modules, 0038-401 for theory and 0038-402 for the practical. The 0038-41 award is titled for the ETR 132 resilience surveyor role. The 0038-35 award is the utility version of the chainsaw from a MEWP award, and the guide on chainsaw from a MEWP sets the two side by side.

Refresher modules

City and Guilds lists utility CPD modules 0041-06 to 0041-13. The 2026 fees list prices them at GBP 21 or GBP 27 each. The NPTC CPD pages suggest a refresher every two to three years for occasional users and every five years for full-time users.