Professional Tree Safety Surveys
Tree Risk Assessment & Management with STRATA™
Professional tree safety surveys for homeowners, including public and private sector organisations
Whether you are concerned about an individual tree or responsible for trees across a school, healthcare site, estate or public space, Urban Forestry Group provides professional tree risk assessment using STRATA™, which is Structural Tree Risk Assessment and Tracking Analysis.
Our structured approach records relevant tree and site evidence, considers who or what could be affected if failure occurs, evaluates risk and establishes clear priorities and timescales for action, helping you make proportionate, informed and documented tree management decisions.
Professional Assessment → Clear Priorities → Practical Next Steps.
STRATA™ combines professional arboricultural judgement with a structured assessment process and clear, recorded outcomes.
Qualified Arboricultural Surveyor
Tree risk assessment undertaken by a degree-qualified and experienced arboricultural consultant, providing professional advice based on the tree, its condition and its surroundings.
Structured STRATA™ Method
A defined and repeatable assessment framework that connects recorded tree evidence, tree target zone and site context with systematic risk evaluation and recommended action for tree work.
Clear Priorities & Timescales
Recommended actions for tree work are supported by colour-coded Works Priorities and appropriate timescales for each tree, helping you understand what requires attention and what should happen next.
Digital Mapping & Recorded Evidence
Mapped tree records, photographs, observations and recommendations creating a clear assessment and provide a practical basis for future tree management, supported by the controlled STRATA™ framework.
From a Single Tree to an Entire Estate
Tree risk management should be proportionate to the number of trees, how the site is used and the circumstances being assessed.
STRATA™ can support a focused assessment where there is concern about an individual tree, while also providing the structured records, priorities and review process needed by organisations responsible for larger tree populations.
Homeowners
Concerned About a Tree at Home?
You may have noticed a crack, dead branch, decay, movement or another change and simply want to know whether the tree requires attention.
A professional assessment considers the tree’s observable condition together with its surroundings and what could reasonably be affected should part of the tree fail.
The objective is to provide clear, proportionate advice, including whether work is required, how urgently it should be undertaken and whether further investigation or future reinspection is appropriate.
Organisations
Effective Tree Management at Scale
For schools, healthcare sites, estates, grounds maintenance providers and public-sector organisations, tree safety often involves managing many trees over time rather than responding to one isolated concern.
STRATA™ provides a consistent framework for recording inspection evidence, evaluating risk and establishing Works Priorities and recommended action timescales.
Digital records, photographs, recommendations and reinspection information can then support work programming, budgeting, contractor instructions and an ongoing record of tree-management decisions.
Balanced Tree Safety
Trees are living structures and naturally change over time. Features such as dead branches, cavities or decay do not automatically mean that a tree needs to be removed.
Professional tree risk assessment considers the condition of the tree together with its surroundings, how the area is used and what could reasonably be affected should tree or branch failure occur.
STRATA™ provides a structured way of bringing this information together so that management decisions can be based on recorded evidence, site context and professional arboricultural judgement.
This supports a proportionate approach, identifying where action is genuinely required while helping avoid unnecessary tree work where the level of risk does not justify it.
STRATA™ has been developed with reference to recognised UK tree-safety guidance, including the National Tree Safety Group’s Common Sense Risk Management of Trees and HSE guidance on managing risks from falling trees and branches.
Understand the tree → Understand the setting → Make a proportionate decision
A Structured Route from Tree Inspection to Action
STRATA™ follows a defined assessment process so that tree management recommendations can be traced back to the evidence recorded on site.
Rather than moving directly from identifying a tree feature to recommending work, the method considers the tree, its surroundings and the potential consequences before establishing an appropriate Works Priority and management response.
Inspect → Recording the Evidence → Consider the Target Zone → Set a Work Priority → Provide a Detailed Report → Review
Inspect the Tree
A professional STRATA™ tree risk assessment provides a defined and repeatable framework that connects recorded arboricultural evidence with site context, structured risk evaluation and clear management priorities. Professional judgement remains central to the process, as part of a audited tree management record.
Recording the Evidence
The arboricultural surveyor records the tree(s) observable tree condition(s), any observable defects or disorders, site influences, photographs and the tree(s) measurements, that collectively provide the factual basis for the tree risk assessment in relation to where it could potentially fall in all directions.
Consider the Target Zone
The tree risk assessment considers who or what could be affected should tree or branch failure occur, including people, property, access routes and site infrastructure. Recorded evidence and site context are used to assess the Probability of Harm and potential Consequence of Harm through a defined STRATA™ process.
Set a Work Priority
The tree risk assessment produces a Works Priority between Very Low – Very High and recommended timescale for action , helping identify which trees require the greatest attention and when they should be addressed.
Provide a Detailed Report
Receive a clear tree risk assessment report with a colour-coded site plan showing Works Priorities, together with the information recorded during the site survey, recommended tree work and supporting site photographs.
Track, Record & Review
Tree risk assessment records support reinspection, review and ongoing tree management. This provides a clear basis for monitoring recommendations, recording decisions and maintaining continuity over time.
The result is a clearer connection between what was observed on site, how the risk was evaluated and why a particular management response is recommended.
Professional Tree Management
When comparing tree risk assessment quotations, the lowest price does not always represent the best long-term value.
A useful tree assessment must connect observations, risk evaluation, recommended actions, and urgency. STRATA™ provides a repeatable framework that combines recorded evidence, site context, priorities, and professional judgment to support consistent management decisions.
This delivers practical next steps for homeowners and helps organizations structure work programs, allocate budgets, brief contractors, and maintain records.
Risk is part of tree management, but it isn’t the whole value of the tree.
The Carbon Value of Your Tree Assets
For organisations managing larger tree populations, trees are not only an asset requiring appropriate risk management, they can also form an important part of the wider green estate.
Using Mapscape alongside the STRATA™ survey process, UFG can calculate estimated carbon stored within surveyed trees and project how this may change at five-year intervals through to 2050.
This provides an additional evidence layer for organisations developing carbon reduction, sustainability and green-estate strategies, helping them understand the contribution their existing trees may make over time and the potential implications of tree retention, removal and future planting.
For healthcare organisations, local authorities, educational estates, golf courses and other major landowners, combining structured tree risk management with carbon information can help demonstrate that tree assets are being considered not simply as potential liabilities, but as valuable environmental infrastructure.