Law & permits
OSHA and tree care: the rulemaking, the 2021 inspection guidance and the general rules OSHA applies
OSHA has no tree care standard.
Law, permits and standards
What statutes, regulators and standards bodies say about tree work and trees: workplace rules, tree protection and permits, wildlife law, licensing and the standards themselves.
104 pages in this topic. Each guide names its sources and the date they were read.
OSHA and US workplace rules
Open
Law & permits
OSHA standards that apply to tree work
OSHA has no rule written for tree care, so its tree care page and 2021 inspection memo point to general industry standards.
Law & permits
Right to refuse unsafe work, country by country
What each regulator or statute says about a worker refusing or stopping work that is unsafe: the thresholds, the steps, and who is told.
Safety
Safety rules for tree work, country by country
Each of the five countries covers tree work through a different mix of law, regulator guidance and industry standards.
Safety
Tree work safety rules by US state, Canadian province and Australian state
National pages only go so far.
Law & permits
What changed: rules and standards for tree work, by date
A dated log of changes to rules, standards and official guidance that touch tree work, newest first, each date as the official page prints it and each entry linked to that page.
Directory
Official bodies in the United States
Safety regulators, licensing boards, pesticide offices and plant health agencies, state by state.
ANSI Z133, A300 and other standards
Safety
ANSI Z133-2026: the 2026 edition and where to read it
ANSI Z133 is the US safety standard for tree care work.
Trees & tree care
Pruning standards by country: what A300, BS 3998 and AS 4373 cover
Three written standards set out what good pruning means in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Safety
Standards for tree work: one register
One lookup table of the standards tree work meets: ANSI Z133 and A300, the British Standards, the Australian and joint Australian and New Zealand standards, and the EN and ISO numbers on helmets, chainsaw clothing, harnesses and ropes.
Law & permits
What changed: rules and standards for tree work, by date
A dated log of changes to rules, standards and official guidance that touch tree work, newest first, each date as the official page prints it and each entry linked to that page.
UK work regulations
Law & permits
Right to refuse unsafe work, country by country
What each regulator or statute says about a worker refusing or stopping work that is unsafe: the thresholds, the steps, and who is told.
Safety
Safety rules for tree work, country by country
Each of the five countries covers tree work through a different mix of law, regulator guidance and industry standards.
Safety
Site paperwork for tree work: risk assessments, method statements and equipment records
Which written records the law or a regulator asks for around tree work, and who they apply to, country by country.
Directory
Official bodies in the United Kingdom
HSE, the devolved bodies, plant health, forestry and qualification bodies.
Tree preservation and permits
Law & permits
Checking tree rules with UK councils: TPOs, conservation areas and felling licences
How tree protection is looked up in the four UK nations: what the regulations, the government pages and 20 council pages say about protected trees, conservation areas and felling licences, and which office decides.
Law & permits
Tree permits in Canadian cities
A city by city lookup of what Canadian city pages and bylaws say is protected or needs a permit for work on trees, with the size threshold as each page writes it and the office that decides.
Law & permits
Tree permits in the largest US cities
A city-by-city lookup of what each city's own pages say about permits for street trees and protected private trees, with the size thresholds as written and the office that decides.
Law & permits
Tree protection orders, bylaws and permits
The kinds of legal tree protection a crew can run into in five countries, with what official pages say.
Law & permits
Tree rules in Australian and New Zealand councils
In Australia and New Zealand the tree rules sit with councils and with state or district planning rules.
Law & permits
Who regulates what in tree work, country by country
Seven jobs, six countries: which official body covers workplace safety, compensation, pesticides, plant health, tree permits, wildlife and commercial vehicles, with a link to its own page.
Wildlife protection law
Law & permits
Birds, bats and the law: wildlife in the tree, country by country
What each country's wildlife agencies say about active nests, bat roosts and protected animals in trees that are being worked on, and who they say to call.
Contractor licensing and business compliance
Law & permits
Contractor licences for tree work: which state boards cover it
Which state contractor licensing laws name tree work, read from California's and Oregon's contractor boards and Washington's contractor registration statute, with a page for each.
Law & permits
Licence numbers on ads and vehicles: what the boards of California, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington say
Four state boards say in writing that a tree business must print its licence or registration number on advertising, and two of them also say how big the number must be on a vehicle.
Certifications & courses
No arborist licence, but rules: what the law asks in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand
Does any law say you need a licence to do tree work?
Running a business
Starting a tree service: licences and registrations by country
What official pages say a new tree business has to register or hold in each country, from state tree licences in the US to tax numbers in Australia and New Zealand.
Certifications & courses
Which US states license arborists or tree companies
A handful of states write a license, exam or registration for tree work into law.
Law & permits
Who regulates what in tree work, country by country
Seven jobs, six countries: which official body covers workplace safety, compensation, pesticides, plant health, tree permits, wildlife and commercial vehicles, with a link to its own page.
Employment classification and pay law
Work & pay
Minimum pay for tree work: awards, minimum wages and prevailing wage by country
The legal pay floors that apply to tree workers in the five countries, as the official pages state them, with the date each took effect.
Tree protection on sites and tree value
Trees & tree care
Trees on building sites: the protection standards
What the tree protection standards for construction cover, who publishes them, which edition is current, and what city pages say about protection zones and fencing.
Neighbour tree disputes
Law & permits
Entering a neighbour's land for tree work: what the statutes say
Three statutes in the United Kingdom and Queensland deal with who may go onto a neighbour's land to work on a tree or hedge: a court access order in England and Wales, tribunal orders in Queensland, and the entry powers of councils under the high hedge Acts.
Law & permits
Neighbour tree law: what the statutes and official pages say, place by place
Which statutes and official pages deal with a neighbour's tree or hedge in the United Kingdom, Ireland, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, New Zealand, British Columbia and seven US states, with the section numbers.
Prosecutions, fines and civil claims
Law & permits
Tree work prosecutions: what regulators published
Where the tree work regulators of the United Kingdom, Ireland, New South Wales and New Zealand publish prosecutions, with a table of what each country page holds.
Official bodies by country
Directory
Official bodies, country by country
The directory of regulators and official schemes for each country on the site.
Directory
Official bodies in Ireland
The Health and Safety Authority, plant health, forestry, qualifications and the other Irish bodies tree work deals with.
Directory
Official bodies in Canada
Safety regulators, workers' compensation boards, pesticide and plant health offices, province by province.
Directory
Official bodies in Australia
Safety regulators, licensing, plant health and biosecurity offices, state by state.
Directory
Official bodies in New Zealand
WorkSafe, ACC, biosecurity and the other New Zealand bodies tree work deals with.
Directory
Official bodies in Europe
Workplace safety, plant health and forestry authorities and the arboriculture bodies in seven European countries.