Site set up checklist before works begin on a treed plot

A site set up tree protection checklist has one governing rule: the protective fencing goes up before anything else happens, including demolition, site clearance and the arrival of the first skip. Most tree protection conditions are worded to bite prior to commencement of development, and most of them define commencement to include demolition and clearance. So a contractor who brings a machine onto the plot to pull out a hedge before the fencing is in has breached the condition on day one, and the council can serve a breach of condition notice or refuse to discharge the condition retrospectively.

Everything else on this list follows from that. Work out what has to be approved, get it approved, put the fencing up, photograph it, then start.

Conditions to discharge before anything moves

Read the decision notice and separate the conditions into three groups: those to be discharged before commencement, those to be discharged before a later stage such as above ground works or occupation, and those that are simply compliance conditions running through the build.

On a plot with retained trees the pre-commencement group usually includes an arboricultural method statement and tree protection plan, the site set up or logistics layout, a construction management plan, a construction traffic management plan where access is constrained, drainage details, contamination measures where relevant, and any archaeological written scheme of investigation.

Two items sit outside the planning conditions and catch self-builders regularly. The biodiversity gain plan has to be approved by the local planning authority before development begins where the biodiversity gain condition applies, and the statutory metric behind it must be completed by a competent person under the Environment Act 2021 regime. And if you are claiming a Community Infrastructure Levy exemption, the forms and the commencement notice have to be submitted and acknowledged before work starts, because starting early can forfeit the exemption entirely.

Allow eight weeks for discharge applications as a working assumption and submit them as a batch rather than one at a time.

Fencing specification and where the line goes

The position of the fence is set by the root protection area, and the root protection area is calculated rather than estimated. For a single stem tree the standard approach in BS 5837:2012 gives a radius of twelve times the stem diameter measured at 1.5 metres above ground, with a cap on the resulting area, and the shape can be adjusted where known constraints mean roots cannot be present.

The default protective barrier in the standard is a fence of welded mesh panels around 2.3 metres high mounted on a scaffold framework, braced to resist impact, with the panels secured to the framework rather than propped against it. Chestnut paling on stakes, plastic mesh on timber posts and a line of bricks are all commonly offered and none of them meets the specification unless the method statement says so.

• Fence line set at the root protection area boundary as shown on the approved tree protection plan, not moved to suit the build
• Panels braced and fixed, with no gaps at ground level
• Signs on the fence at regular intervals reading construction exclusion zone with no access
• Ground protection to the approved specification where any work inside the root protection area is unavoidable, laid before wheeled or tracked plant approaches
• Fencing to remain in place for the whole construction period and be removed only with written agreement

Where trees are protected by a Tree Preservation Order or stand in a conservation area, any pruning needs separate consent or notice before it happens, and access facilitation pruning has to be specified in the method statement rather than decided on site. The tree survey and impact assessment behind all of this should already carry the specification, and councils generally expect a suitably qualified arboriculturist as its author with professional review before submission.

Compound, storage and parking

The site compound is where most root damage actually happens, because it is the part of the site nobody draws carefully.

Position the compound, material storage, spoil heaps, welfare unit, skip position and operative parking entirely outside every root protection area, and mark each of them on the approved layout with dimensions. Then check the vehicle routes between them, because a delivery lorry that can only turn by mounting a root protection area defeats the whole exercise.

The specific prohibitions to write into the layout and the induction:

• No mixing of concrete or mortar, and no washing out of mixers or plant, within or uphill of any root protection area
• No storage of fuel, oil, chemicals, cement or bagged aggregates inside the exclusion zone
• No fires anywhere on site where a retained tree canopy is within reach
• No changes in ground level within a root protection area without a specific approved detail
• No temporary site cabins, containers or scaffolding bases inside the exclusion zone

Spoil deserves particular attention on a small plot, because there is rarely anywhere to put it. Decide before commencement whether it leaves site or is stockpiled, and if it is stockpiled, where, with the area shown on the drawing. A stockpile against a trunk kills the tree slowly and the damage is not visible for two or three years.

A Construction Management Plan is the document that ties the compound layout, the working hours, the dust and noise controls and the waste arrangements together, and a Construction Traffic Management Plan deals with routing, wheel washing and delivery scheduling where the access is tight.

Services and the routes that cannot cross a root protection area

Service routes are the second most common cause of damage and the one most often approved by accident, because the drainage and utility drawings are produced by different people from the tree protection plan.

Overlay them. Put the drainage layout, the incoming water, electricity, gas and telecoms routes, and any soakaway or attenuation position on the same drawing as the root protection areas, and resolve every clash before commencement.

Where a route has to cross a root protection area, the options are trenchless installation by thrust boring or directional drilling at a depth below the rooting zone, a hand-dug trench excavated radially to the stem under arboricultural supervision with roots over a stated diameter retained, or a route above ground within a protected duct. Utility providers have their own guidance on working near trees and will usually follow a specification if it is issued with the order rather than negotiated on the day.

Soakaways and infiltration features need particular care, since they concentrate water and are usually deep. Our note on a drainage strategy for a minor residential scheme covers how those positions get fixed.

Get the connection dates in the programme early. A water connection booked for week four and installed by a crew with no tree specification is how a mature oak loses a third of its roots.

Signage, induction and the arboricultural monitoring schedule

Signage is not decoration. Every operative who arrives on site should be able to see where they may not go without asking.

Put the exclusion zone signs on the fence, a copy of the tree protection plan in the welfare unit, and the approved site layout on the hoarding inside the gate. Then cover the tree protection measures in the site induction, with a record of who was inducted and when. Sub-contractors and delivery drivers are the weak point, so brief the gate.

The method statement should also set out an arboricultural monitoring schedule: a pre-commencement inspection, supervision at each stage where work occurs within or adjacent to a root protection area, and a defined reporting route to the local planning authority. Fix those visit dates against the construction programme rather than leaving them to be arranged.

• Pre-commencement fencing inspection and written confirmation
• Supervision of any approved works inside a root protection area
• Supervision of service installation crossings
• Inspection after any incident, damage or fence movement
• Final inspection before fencing removal

Keep the reports. Where a condition requires monitoring records, the council can ask for them at any point and their absence is itself a breach.

The photographic record

Before anything moves, photograph the site properly. It takes twenty minutes and it is the only evidence you will have if a dispute arises about pre-existing damage, ground levels or boundary positions.

Photograph each retained tree from at least two positions showing the full stem and canopy, the fence line in position with a scale reference, existing ground levels at the trunk of each tree, the condition of any neighbouring boundary wall or fence, the access and the verge outside the site, and the position of any existing hardstanding within a root protection area.

Date-stamp everything and keep the original files rather than compressed copies. Then repeat the exercise at each monitoring visit, from the same positions, so change is visible.

One more check at this point. Nesting birds are protected while nesting, and the main season runs from March to August, so any vegetation clearance in that window needs a check by a competent ecologist immediately before the work. Trees with bat potential need their own assessment, and both sit outside the planning conditions as matters of wildlife law.

Who signs the site off as ready

Nominate one person and write it down. On a self-build that is usually the project manager or the main contractor's site manager, with the project arboriculturist confirming the tree protection element in writing.

The sign-off sequence that works:

1. All pre-commencement conditions discharged in writing by the local planning authority, with the reference numbers recorded.
2. Biodiversity gain plan approved where required, and any Community Infrastructure Levy forms and commencement notice submitted and acknowledged.
3. Fencing and ground protection installed and inspected by the arboriculturist, with a short written confirmation and photographs.
4. Site layout, compound and storage positions set out on the ground and checked against the approved drawing.
5. Service routes agreed with each utility, with the tree specification issued to each crew.
6. Induction delivered and recorded, signage in place.
7. Photographic record complete and filed.
8. Commencement notified to the council where any condition or agreement requires it.

Only then does the first machine arrive. Where the scheme carries a biodiversity obligation, the Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment and its gain plan sit alongside this sequence and must be approved by the authority before development begins.

This is general guidance rather than legal advice, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required.