Arboricultural method statement: section by section
The method statement is the document a contractor can actually follow. Here is what each section has to contain under BS 5837:2012, and what a tree officer checks before discharging the condition.
An arboricultural method statement is the document that tells a contractor exactly how to build near a retained tree without killing it. It is not the survey and it is not the impact assessment. It is the written method, tied to a tree protection plan, that a tree officer will attach to a condition and later use to decide whether the condition has been discharged.
BS 5837:2012 sets out the sequence. A tree survey records the trees and gives each a category, an arboricultural impact assessment tests the layout against them, and where construction has to happen inside a root protection area, the arboricultural method statement explains how. Most conditions on schemes with trees require all three, with the method statement and the protection plan approved before any work starts on site.
Where it sits against the impact assessment
The impact assessment identifies the conflicts. The method statement resolves them. If your Arboricultural Impact Assessment concludes that a driveway clips the root protection area of a category B oak, the method statement is where the no-dig build-up, the level, the geotextile and the sequence are specified.
That division tells you what belongs in each document. Do not restate the survey schedule in full. Cross-refer to it by tree number and category, repeat only the root protection area dimensions that the method depends on, and spend the space on method instead. A tree officer reading a method statement is looking for instructions a groundworker can follow.
Start with a short statement of the retained trees, the trees being removed and the reason, and the conditions the statement responds to. Then set out the constraints: root protection area radius for each relevant tree, calculated as 12 times the stem diameter for a single stem tree and capped by the standard, along with crown spread and the shadow of any proposed structure.
The tree protection plan and the fencing specification
The tree protection plan is a drawing, not an appendix to a drawing. It shows the retained trees with their root protection areas plotted to scale, the line of protective fencing, the construction exclusion zone, ground protection areas, and the position of the site compound, material storage, wheel wash and welfare units, which have to sit outside the exclusion zone.
The default fencing specification in BS 5837:2012 is a 2.3 metre high framework of scaffold tube with weldmesh panels, braced and set on a ground bar, with signage reading construction exclusion zone. Where a lighter specification is proposed, the method statement has to justify it against the standard rather than simply assert it. Where ground protection is used instead of fencing for a temporary access, specify the build-up: a geotextile separation layer, a granular or proprietary track panel surface, and a stated bearing performance.
Our note on tree protection plans and fencing specification goes through the drawing conventions officers expect.
Phasing and supervision points
Sequence is what makes the statement usable. Write it as an ordered list of operations, with the arboricultural supervision points marked.
- Site meeting before work starts with the arboriculturist, the site manager and the tree officer where the authority asks for it.
- Erect protective fencing and ground protection, then photograph it and issue a written record before any plant arrives.
- Remove the trees consented for removal, with any bat or nesting bird checks completed first.
- Demolition and site clearance, with the exclusion zone intact.
- Excavation and foundations, with hand digging and supervision where any excavation falls inside a root protection area.
- Service installation, supervised.
- Hard surfacing and no-dig construction.
- Soft landscaping and planting.
- Fencing removed last, after all plant has left.
Name the supervision points rather than saying supervision will take place. A condition is discharged on evidence, and the evidence is a site record signed and dated by the arboriculturist with photographs.
No-dig construction details
No-dig means the existing soil profile within the root protection area is not excavated at all. The build-up goes above existing grade: a geotextile separation layer laid over the existing surface, a cellular confinement system or three-dimensional geogrid filled with a clean angular no-fines granular material, then the surfacing. The whole construction has to be laid from the outside in, with plant tracking only on already completed surface.
Two details are routinely missed. The first is edge restraint: a trench for a kerb race is an excavation, so the detail has to use a surface-fixed or above-grade restraint. The second is levels, because raising the surface by 200 millimetres or more changes thresholds, drainage falls and the relationship to the tree collar. Draw the section. A section at the point of closest approach, showing the existing ground level, the build-up and the tree, answers more officer questions than three pages of text.
Permeability matters too where the surface sits over roots. Bound impermeable surfacing across a large part of a root protection area will draw an objection even where nothing was excavated.
Services within root protection areas
Underground services are the most common cause of damage after the fencing comes down, because the utility contractor arrives late, works to their own drawing, and has never seen the method statement. Deal with it explicitly.
Route services outside root protection areas wherever the layout allows, and say so on the plan. Where a route has to cross, specify trenchless installation by thrust boring or directional drilling at a depth below the rooting zone, with launch and reception pits outside the protection area. Where a shallow crossing is unavoidable, specify hand excavation under supervision, with roots over 25 millimetres retained and the trench backfilled with a suitable material to avoid a preferential drainage path.
Then do the thing that actually works: name the constraint in the section 106 or the contract preliminaries, and issue the statement and plan to every subcontractor at induction.
Monitoring, records and discharging the condition
Set out the monitoring regime as a table of visits tied to the phases above, and state what each visit produces. A dated record with photographs, a note of any deviation, and a remedial action where a breach has happened. Where a tree is damaged, the statement should already say what happens: the arboriculturist inspects, a remedial specification follows, and the authority is told.
To discharge the condition, submit the approved method statement and protection plan, the note of the site meeting held before work started, the fencing erection record with photographs, and the supervision records for each excavation inside a protection area. Authorities differ on how much they want, so ask the tree officer at the outset what evidence they expect, and agree it then rather than at the point of sale when a buyer's solicitor asks whether the conditions have been discharged.
One more practical point. Where a tree is protected by a Tree Preservation Order or stands in a conservation area, works to the tree itself need separate consent or notice, and the method statement does not provide it. Pruning to give construction clearance is work to the tree, so apply for it as part of the same programme rather than discovering the point when the scaffold will not fit. The full set of report types shows where the arboricultural work sits against the rest of a submission, and the Design and Access Statement should carry the design reasoning for retaining the trees in the first place.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. Arboricultural work of this kind is normally expected from a suitably qualified arboriculturist, and professional review is strongly advised.
Draft your supporting statements on PlanScope and send them for professional review before they go to the council. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an arboricultural impact assessment and a method statement?
The impact assessment identifies where the proposed layout conflicts with retained trees and their root protection areas. The method statement explains how each conflict will be handled on site, with sequences, build-ups and supervision points. Conditions on schemes with trees usually require both, together with a tree protection plan drawing.
How is a root protection area calculated?
For a single stem tree, BS 5837:2012 sets the radius at 12 times the stem diameter measured at 1.5 metres above ground, subject to the cap in the standard. The resulting area can be reshaped to reflect known root distribution or site constraints, but the total area must be maintained rather than reduced.
What fencing specification should the method statement use?
The default in BS 5837:2012 is a 2.3 metre high scaffold tube framework with weldmesh panels, braced and set on a ground bar, with construction exclusion zone signage. A lighter specification can be proposed where the risk is lower, but the method statement has to justify it against the standard rather than simply state it.
Can services be routed through a root protection area?
Only where there is no alternative, and then by trenchless methods such as thrust boring or directional drilling, with launch and reception pits outside the protected area. Where a shallow crossing cannot be avoided, specify hand excavation under arboricultural supervision with roots over 25 millimetres retained and careful backfill.
Does an approved method statement allow pruning of a protected tree?
No. Works to a tree covered by a Tree Preservation Order need consent from the local planning authority, and works to a tree in a conservation area need a section 211 notice. Plan any pruning for construction clearance as a separate application on the same programme, before scaffolding or plant is booked.
What evidence discharges an arboricultural condition?
Usually the approved method statement and tree protection plan, a note of the site meeting held before work started, a dated photographic record showing the fencing erected before plant arrived, and supervision records for every excavation inside a root protection area. Ask the tree officer at the outset exactly what they want, because authorities differ.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.