When do I need an arborist report and what is a Project Arborist?
A Project Arborist is an ISA Certified Arborist who is hired by the applicant. The tree care professional is independent from the City and provides an unbiased perspective on tree health and management of your property throughout the project.
Project Arborist involvement:
- tree removal reports
- tree inventory reports
- tree health care plans
- replacement tree plans
- tree protection fencing reports
- onsite to supervise all work within critical root zone.
An arborist report is required for any tree removal application and for all major development projects. This includes demolition and rebuild of any single family home or commercial property, all pre-application reviews, development permits, laneway and carriage house applications or any other major project with construction occurring within 4m of any protected tree's critical root zone (DBHx6). The requirement for an arborist report may be waived if the lot has three or fewer protected trees (no specimen size) and the complexity of the project will have minimal impact on protected trees.
For tree removals an arborist report is needed if there are concerns about root encroachment, decay, disease, structural weaknesses, etc. If the tree is a standing dead tree then no report is need. In these situations we accept printed colour photos of the tree with your application.
