What is a Basic Tree Risk Assessment?

This question came up at the ISA Conference in Atlanta.

A Basic Tree Risk-Benefit Assessment with VALID is a very different animal to the ISA's Basic Tree Risk Assessment with TRAQ.

This is why...

VALID
You carry out all your risk assessments under the protective umbrella of a Tree Risk-Benefit Management Strategy.

We have 2 types of Tree Risk-Benefit Assessment, highlighted in our Strategy.

Passive Assessment
Is simply picking up on Obvious Tree Risk Features you can't help but notice, as you go about your day-to-day routine.

Anyone can carry out Passive Assessment.

Passive Assessment is a Duty Holder's most valuable tree risk asset.

That's because it's this high volume, low effort, day in day out  citizen science risk assessment that's most likely to pick up a red risk tree - well before an Arborist finds it with Active Assessment.

Active Assessment
Is looking for risks that might not be Acceptable or Tolerable.

It has 3 levels to it that increase in depth of evaluation.

Basic > Detailed > Advanced

We don't give these levels of assessment numbers because it adds nothing useful to their meaning.

Basic Validators (non-Arborists trained to recognise Obvious Tree Risk Features), and Validators carry out Basic Assessments.

Only Validators can carry out Detailed and Advanced Assessments. This is where they use our Tree Risk App, or other Safety Factor software, to work out whether the risk is Acceptable, Tolerable, Not Tolerable, or Not Acceptable. Up to these levels the Strategy is doing the assessment. The risk is Acceptable, unless there's obvious emergency work.

TRAQ
Has 3 levels of Assessment

Level 1 Limited Visual
Level 2 Basic
Level 3 Advanced

When putting VALID together, we wanted to align the levels of Active Assessment with TRAQ, for obvious reasons.

But, with the best will in the world, we could see nothing Basic about the TRAQ Basic Tree Risk Form.

In short...

A VALID Detailed Assessment is roughly the same level as a TRAQ Basic Assessment.