ARB Approved Contractor: what it costs, what it takes, and whether it's worth it.

September 2026 · 9 min read · By TreeLine Marketing Agency

Anyone can buy a chainsaw, print a leaflet and call themselves a tree surgeon. The Arboricultural Association says so itself, in the first paragraph of its Approved Contractor handbook: arboriculture in the UK is not a regulated profession. The ARB Approved Contractor scheme (ArbAC for short) exists to fill that gap. It's an accreditation of the whole business, not of an individual, and it's the badge councils, housing associations and larger commercial clients look for when they put tree work out to tender.

This guide is drawn from the Association's own handbook, standards and 2025 fee sheet, all published at trees.org.uk. Fees and standards change each year, so treat the figures as a guide and check the current documents before you commit.

What the scheme actually is

An Approved Contractor is a business that has been assessed by the Association, has met its Scheme Standard, keeps meeting it, and signs up to the Association's Code of Conduct and Ethics. The Standard covers four modules:

1. Work site safety inspection: how a live job is run.
2. Work quality inspections and arboricultural knowledge: whether finished work meets the standard (BS 3998 is the reference) and whether the people running it know why.
3. Customer care and office procedures: quotes, contracts, complaints, records.
4. Health and safety management and workplace inspection: policies, risk assessments, training records, LOLER inspections of climbing kit, the yard and workshop.

Modules 1 and 2 are assessed on site by an Association assessor. Modules 3 and 4 are assessed remotely from the evidence you submit. There are two versions of the technical standard on the amenity side of the scheme, one for businesses with fewer than five staff and one for five or more, so a two-person outfit isn't judged against the paperwork of a twenty-person firm.

Who can apply

The handbook sets out the eligibility criteria. A business must:

• Comprise at least two people. That can be a sole trader plus a subcontract labourer. There's no maximum.
• Do most of its work with its own staff, employed or self-employed. Subcontracting is fine as long as the norm is in-house.
• Have at least one named Manager, who the Association holds responsible for quality, staff, subcontractors and compliance. A Manager needs a minimum of five years' experience in arboricultural contracting. Association membership and arb qualifications to at least Level 2 are preferred but not essential.
• Hold appropriate insurance (see below).
• Have been trading for two years, though the Association can waive this at its discretion.
• Comply with the Scheme Standard.

If you're a one-person business with no regular groundie, you're not eligible yet. If you've been going eighteen months, ask; the two-year rule is discretionary.

The insurance bar

This is the requirement that surprises people. Under the handbook, an Approved Contractor must hold as a minimum:

• Public liability of £5 million, or more if a broker advises it.
• Employers' liability at a level appropriate to the size of the business, which the handbook says is usually £10 million. (The legal minimum for any employer is £5 million; the scheme's expectation is higher.)
• Professional indemnity where you provide tree reports or advice.
• Motor insurance that matches your business use and drivers.

The cover must be written for arboricultural businesses without unreasonable exclusions. If your policy was bought off a comparison site, it may not pass. Our guide to tree surgeon insurance covers what specialist arb cover looks like and what's normally excluded.

What it costs

Fees are set by business size, counting everyone engaged in the business. These are the Association's published 2025 figures, excluding VAT:

A few things the table doesn't show. The assessment fee is paid up front and doesn't guarantee acceptance; an unsuccessful applicant who reapplies pays again. The annual fee is charged pro rata in the first year. Approved Contractors are audited every year and reassessed on site every other year, and the on-site reassessment is charged at the assessment rate, so budget for it in alternate years. TrustMark registration is an optional add-on at £75 plus VAT in year one and £50 plus VAT a year after that. A pre-assessment visit is available for an extra charge if you'd rather find the gaps before the real thing.

For a micro business, then, the first year is roughly £1,025 plus VAT, and a typical two-year cycle after that is one annual fee plus one reassessment. Against the value of a single council contract it's small money. Against a purely domestic diary in a village, it's a real decision, which is the point of the next section.

How the process runs

1. Apply online at trees.org.uk and pay the assessment fee.
2. Send the paperwork for the desktop audit, including the insurance questionnaire, references (ideally one from a local authority) and the Manager's CV.
3. The assessment date is set, usually 8 to 10 weeks from application if the documents are in order.
4. The assessor visits. They'll want your office systems and records, your yard and workshop, previously completed sites, and a live job in progress. Micro and small businesses get one assessor day; larger ones get two or three.
5. The report goes to the Association for a decision. The assessor may give you a steer on the day, but nothing is final until the written result arrives.
6. Approval, then maintenance: a desktop audit in year two, a site reassessment in year three, and so on. Spot checks are part of the scheme.

Realistically, from application to putting the logo on the van is a season, and longer if the assessor sends you away to fix your records first.

What you get for it

The handbook lists the benefits, and the ones that matter commercially are:

• Access to tenders that are only open to Approved Contractors. Many local authorities, housing associations and facilities companies specify ArbAC. If you want that work, the badge is the entry ticket.
• TrustMark registration, the government-endorsed scheme, for a small add-on fee.
• SSIP accreditation, awarded automatically on completion of the annual audit, which is what larger commercial buyers' procurement systems ask for.
• Use of the Approved Contractor logos on your van, website, quotes and uniforms.
• A listing in the Association's Find a Professional directory, which is where tree officers and informed homeowners look.
• The Association's own line: being able to charge a professional fee for a professional service.

So is it worth it?

It depends entirely on the work you want.

If you want council, commercial or housing association contracts, it's not optional. The tender documents will ask for it, along with your SSIP and your £5 million public liability, and without them you won't get past the first page. For a business that wants a steady contract base under its domestic work, the fee is trivial next to the first contract it unlocks.

If you're a domestic business and want to stay one, the honest answer is that most homeowners have never heard of the scheme. The badge on its own won't make the phone ring. What it will do is answer the trust question for the minority of customers who do look, and it forces the housekeeping (LOLER records, risk assessments, written quotes, a complaints procedure) that makes a business easier to run and easier to sell one day. Plenty of good domestic firms hold it for that reason alone.

If the assessor would find gaps, the scheme has done you a favour by pointing at them. The pre-assessment visit is worth the money if you're not sure.

Making the badge earn its keep

The businesses that get the marketing value out of ArbAC are the ones that explain it, because the customer doesn't know what it means. One line does it: “ARB Approved Contractor: independently assessed by the Arboricultural Association for safety, work quality and customer care.” Then put it everywhere the customer looks:

• On the van and the chipper. Our van signwriting guide covers where it goes and what to leave off around it.
• On the website, on the home page and every service page, next to your insurance level and your qualifications. That's a standard part of a tree surgeon website we build.
• On every quote, in the footer, with the one-line explanation. It's the difference between an £850 quote that looks expensive and one that looks professional.
• In your Google Business Profile description and in the replies to your reviews. It's part of the trust picture we build with reputation management for tree surgeons.
• As a citation. The directory listing is a consistent record of your name, address and phone number on a relevant, established site, which quietly helps local SEO.

If you're weighing up whether the scheme fits where you want the business to go, it helps to have the growth plan first. Our guide to growing a tree surgery business from one crew to two is the place to start, and if you'd like an outside view on whether your marketing is ready for contract work, book a free audit.

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