Tree Risk Assessment

Tree Risk Assessment is a vital part of tree management. Trees are living organisms and because of this monitoring their health is important, but just as important and often overlooked is the assessment of a tree’s structure. Even healthy trees may have structural concerns. Tree risk assessment following the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) methodology is one of the most utilized methods for assessing potential risk posted by trees. This approach has varying levels of assessment to suit the scope of the project, budget and needs of tree owners and managers.

Level 1 assessments include a limited visual assessment of populations of trees to identify tree defect and to prioritize work.

Level 2 assessments involve detailed ground based visual inspections of individual trees.

Level 3 assessment consist of varying types of advanced tree assessments including: aerial inspections by tree climber or drone, sonic tomography and/or resistance drilling to better understand a tree’s internal structure, pull testing and many other methods to better understand a tree’s structure.