What Is an Arboriculturist, and Do You Need One or a Tree Surgeon?
An arboriculturist is a tree specialist who assesses trees and gives professional advice about them. That covers their condition and safety, how they will be affected by building work, and the risk they pose to nearby property. An arboriculturist who does this as an independent advisor is usually called an arboricultural consultant.
A tree surgeon carries out the practical work: pruning, reducing, felling and removing trees.
The short version: if you need a report, an assessment or advice you can rely on, you need an arboriculturist. If you already know what work needs doing, you need a tree surgeon.
What does an arboriculturist do?
An arboriculturist identifies the trees on a site and assesses their condition, then makes recommendations based on what they find and sets them out in a written report.
The Arboricultural Association (AA), the professional body for tree care in the UK, divides the people who work with trees into two broad groups. Arborists carry out the practical work. Consultants do the diagnostic work, inspections, design and report writing, and some specialise in areas such as tree risk or subsidence. An arboriculturist giving advice is working on the consultancy side.
For development sites, the British Standard for trees and construction, BS5837:2012, defines an arboriculturist as a "person who has, through relevant education, training and experience, gained expertise in the field of trees in relation to construction". In practice, the work includes:
tree surveys for planning applications, including the BS5837 tree survey, Arboricultural Impact Assessment and Arboricultural Method Statement;
tree condition and risk assessments, for homeowners, schools, estates and anyone responsible for trees near people or property;
mortgage tree reports and subsidence and heave risk assessments when buying or owning a house near trees;
specifying tree work, so that any pruning or felling is proportionate and done to the right standard;
supervising work on site, for example digging near roots on a development.
The spelling varies: arboriculturist and arboriculturalist are both used. "Arborist" sounds similar but means something different in the UK, which is part of why the roles get confused.
What does a tree surgeon do?
A tree surgeon carries out physical work on trees. That includes crown reduction and thinning, removing deadwood, felling, stump grinding and emergency work after storms. It is skilled and physically demanding work, done with chainsaws, climbing equipment and specialist machinery, and good tree surgeons hold practical qualifications for each of these.
Many tree surgeons know a great deal about trees and can tell you a lot about the ones in your garden. The difference is in what they are there to do: carry out work, rather than produce an assessment or a report.
Is a tree surgeon an arborist?
Yes. In the UK, arborist and tree surgeon are two names for the same job. The AA uses them interchangeably for practical tree workers: the people who plant, prune, carry out remedial work and remove trees.
The confusion comes partly from the US, where "arborist" also covers advisory work, and many of the articles you'll find online are American.
The advisory role is consultancy, and in the UK it goes by "arboriculturist" or "arboricultural consultant". That is the role local planning authorities (LPAs), mortgage lenders and insurers expect when they ask for a tree report.
Which do you need?
It depends on what you are trying to do.
Your situation | Who you need |
Applying for planning permission on a site with trees, or near a neighbour's trees | An arboriculturist, for a BS5837 tree survey and any reports the LPA asks for |
Buying a house, and the lender or surveyor has asked for a tree report | An arboriculturist, for a mortgage tree report |
Responsible for trees near a road, path, school or building and want to know which need attention | An arboriculturist, for a tree condition and risk assessment |
Worried about a particular tree and not sure whether it needs work | An arboriculturist, for an independent assessment |
You know what work you want, such as a crown reduction or removing a dead tree | A tree surgeon |
A tree or large branch has come down | A tree surgeon |
Often you need both, one after the other. The arboriculturist assesses the trees and says what work is needed; the tree surgeon carries it out.
Before any tree work, check with your LPA whether the tree is covered by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or sits in a Conservation Area. Either can mean permission or notice is needed first.
If you are still not sure which report fits your situation, our post What type of tree survey do I need? goes through the options.
Why does independent advice matter?
Because when the person assessing the tree is not the person who would be paid to work on it, the advice depends only on the tree and its context.
That isn't a criticism of tree surgeons. Many give honest, careful advice. Independence simply takes the question away, and objective advice is what the AA describes as the consultant's job. An independent assessment can conclude that a tree needs only light pruning, or nothing at all for now, and the person giving that advice has nothing to gain either way. It can also save money, because work is specified in proportion to the actual risk.
Flow Tree Consultancy doesn't carry out tree work. Our recommendations, whether in a tree condition and risk assessment or a planning report, are independent, and you are free to take them to any tree surgeon you choose.
How do an arboriculturist and a tree surgeon work together?
The arboriculturist specifies the work; the tree surgeon does it.
A good specification says which trees need work, what work and why, and how urgent it is. That gives you something clear to get quotes against, so you can compare like with like. On a development site, trees sometimes need pruning to make room for construction, such as lifting a crown to give clearance for scaffolding or machinery. The arboriculturist specifies this facilitation pruning, the tree surgeon carries it out, and the arboriculturist may oversee the work. The arboriculturist may also supervise other parts of the build that affect trees, such as digging near roots or putting up tree protection fencing.
How can you check someone is qualified?
As the AA points out, anyone can call themselves a tree surgeon. So it's worth asking what qualifications and insurance someone holds, whichever role you need.
For an arboriculturist, look for:
a degree or higher-level qualification in arboriculture;
professional membership, such as of the Arboricultural Association;
a recognised tree inspection certification, such as LANTRA Professional Tree Inspector;
professional indemnity insurance, which covers the advice itself;
experience of your kind of job, whether that is a planning application, a mortgage report or a risk assessment.
For a tree surgeon, the AA's leaflet Choosing Your Arborist recommends that you:
ask to see their chainsaw certificates (NPTC or Lantra Awards), which the Health and Safety Executive expects anyone using a chainsaw for tree work to hold, and any arboricultural qualifications;
ask for proof of public liability and employers' liability insurance, with at least £5 million public liability cover;
get written quotes, ideally more than one, that set out the work and refer to BS3998:2010, the British Standard for tree work;
ask for references and follow them up;
check whether the company is an AA ARB Approved Contractor, a quality-assured scheme for tree work businesses.
If your trees have been assessed by an arboriculturist first, the specification gives every tree surgeon the same work to quote for.
From our experience
We are often asked to look at a tree after tree surgeons have recommended felling it. In one case, several tree surgeons had advised removing a tree because a fungal fruiting body had appeared on it. The tree had real emotional value to the client, who didn't want to lose it. We carried out an advanced assessment of the tree and found that, with some pruning, the risk of failure could be reduced to an acceptable level and the tree kept. That is not unusual. Often little or no work is justified, rather than extensive tree work or felling.
It works the other way too. Tree surgeons often recommend us to inspect trees and decide what work, if any, is needed. Many tree surgeons know when an arboriculturist is the right person for the job.
The most common misunderstanding is that we are tree surgeons, or that the two are interchangeable. The main difference is that we give advice, and we have the qualifications and expertise to back that advice up. Tree surgeons are often knowledgeable and skilled, but their role is to carry out the work.
When a homeowner takes our specification to tree surgeons, every one of them quotes for the same work, and the homeowner knows the work specified is independent and proportionate.
Frequently asked questions
What is an arboriculturist? A tree specialist who assesses trees and gives professional advice on their condition, safety and management, and on how they relate to buildings and development. An arboriculturist who works as an independent advisor is usually called an arboricultural consultant.
What is the difference between an arborist and a tree surgeon? In the UK, none: the Arboricultural Association uses both words for someone who carries out practical work on trees. "Arboriculturist" and "arboricultural consultant" are the terms for the advisory role of assessing trees and writing reports.
Do I need an arboriculturist for a planning application? If your LPA asks for a tree survey or arboricultural report, yes. These are written to BS5837:2012 by an arboriculturist. A tree surgeon would not normally provide them.
Can a tree surgeon tell me if my tree is safe? A tree surgeon can give an opinion. If you
need a written assessment you can rely on, for example as a landowner or for an insurer, you need a tree condition and risk assessment from an arboriculturist. No assessment can say a tree is completely safe; it identifies the level of risk and what, if anything, to do about it.
Does an arboricultural consultant carry out tree work? Some consultancies also run tree surgery teams; others, including Flow Tree Consultancy, only give advice. Ask, if independence matters to you.
Need independent advice on your trees?
If you need a tree survey for planning, a mortgage tree report or an assessment of trees you are responsible for, email info@flowtrees.co.uk or use the enquiry form. Send the site address, what you need the report for, any plans or lender requirements and your deadline. We'll send a fixed-fee quote, usually within 12 hours, and you deal directly with the consultant who carries out the survey and writes the report.
About the author Written by our qualified arboricultural consultant: First Class BSc (Hons) in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, Level 3 Extended Diploma in Arboriculture and Forestry, Professional Member of the Arboricultural Association, LANTRA Professional Tree Inspector certification, VALID Tree Risk-Benefit Validator, and a decade of industry experience. Flow Tree Consultancy is an independent arboricultural consultancy: we don't carry out tree work, so our advice has no works to sell.
Last reviewed: October 2026
