Due Diligence
In today’s landscape, increasingly accurate methodologies are available to assess, identify, qualify, and communicate treerelated risks. These techniques support legal obligations of property owners to conduct reasonable inspections, identify apparent defects, and mitigate unreasonable risks in their landscape and urban trees.
The level of formal risk assessment employed in a specific case can vary from a Level 1: limited visual assessment to a Level 2: basic assessment, or even a Level 3: advanced assessment, depending on the goals of the tree manager and their tree assessor’s assignment. Advanced techniques can uncover opportunities for cutting-edge risk reduction.
Careful assessments can significantly minimize the risk of negligence and gross negligence claims. When conducting a formal, qualified tree risk assessment, the tree assessor should provide the responsible tree managers with guidance on the following topics:
- Assignment/Scope of Work/Level of Assessment
- Tree Descriptions
- Site Descriptions
- Target Descriptions
- Likelihood of Failure
- Likelihood of Impact
- Consequences of Failure
- Risk Categorization and Analysis
- Risk Mitigation Options
- Residual Risk
- Reassessment Interval
- Assessment Limitations
