Tim the Tree-Man

Dual qualified at AQF Level 8 and AQF Level 5. That is what sits behind every report leaving this office, along with ISA Certified Arborist status, ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified, and Advanced Quantified Tree Risk Assessor under QTRA. Tim the Tree-Man has been consulting out of Brisbane for more than 17 years for commercial, residential and civil clients, and we became a Qualified Member and Consultant of the Queensland Arboricultural Association in 2025. A student enrolled in the Diploma of Arboriculture assists on site. Public liability and professional indemnity insurance cover the lot.

When a tree dispute reaches QCAT, the arborist report has to be written by an arborist qualified to at least AQF Level 5, it has to be factual in nature, and it has to discuss the local and state legislation and the Australian Standards relevant to that particular site. We write those reports, and we attend the hearings to support our clients, which is the part that counts once the other side has produced a report of its own.

Around a development, the work splits by timing. Early on, a preliminary arboricultural impact assessment report gives builders, architects and site contractors something to design around, with tree-sensitive design recommendations where they apply, and the full arboricultural impact assessment report follows when the development application calls for one. Once machinery starts moving, AS 4970-2009 wants an AQF Level 5 arborist on the job wherever work is happening around protected or retained vegetation, and that is what a project arborist engagement covers: supervision on site while the work is under way, so the job stays compliant with the local and state consenting authorities.

Away from development sites, a visual tree assessment is how a defect gets found before it becomes a failure, carried out from the ground or from up in the canopy, looking for the defects and external characteristics that point towards structural instability, and taking in the surrounding environment where that has a bearing on the tree. Confirming protected vegetation status is due diligence in its own right, so we contact the relevant consenting authorities and establish exactly what the vegetation on your site is protected by, whether that is local or state heritage, a condition of a Development Approval, or Brisbane City Council's Natural Assets Local Law. Buyers get the same treatment before they sign, through a pre-purchase onsite vegetation inspection covering the current and likely future impacts of everything growing around the place, and plant health care plans keep a tree that is worth holding onto in good condition. We take work across Queensland and northern New South Wales. Ring the office on 3315 4889 or Tim direct on 0412 738 038, and have three things ready when you do: the address, whether there is protected vegetation on the block, and whether we will be dealing with animals onsite or locked gates.