Tree felling regulations in NZ: what an arborist has to sort before the saw starts

Is the tree protected? The district plan comes first

The first question on any removal or heavy pruning job is whether the tree is protected. Protection comes from the district or city plan made under the Resource Management Act 1991, not from the tree’s size or age alone. Many plans schedule individual notable or significant trees, and removing or substantially pruning one without the right resource consent can be an offence against the plan. The rules and the schedule differ from council to council, and plans are changed over time, so you cannot rely on what applied at the last property. Check the current schedule for the address with the territorial authority, and be careful with trees on a boundary, in a reserve, or in a heritage or special character area, where other rules may apply. Ask the client whether they know of any covenant, consent condition or subdivision condition that protects planting, as some are not in the plan at all. If the tree is scheduled, the consent has to be granted before work starts, and a quote for removal should be conditional on it.

WorkSafe: 24 hours’ notice for commercial felling

WorkSafe’s list of particular hazardous work includes “logging or tree felling undertaken for commercial purposes”. Work on that list must be notified to WorkSafe at least 24 hours before it starts, under the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995, with the notice coming from the employer and the person who controls the workplace. Two details matter in practice. First, the trigger is felling, so pruning, crown work, hedge trimming and dead-wooding are not notifiable on this ground. Second, WorkSafe’s wording has no height threshold, so a small tree felled commercially is within it and a tall tree pruned in the canopy is not. Felling on your own land for your own purposes is not commercial. Notification is filed online through WorkSafe’s notifiable work form, and it is a good habit to record the date and reference on the job so there is evidence you gave the notice in time. Notification does not replace the safe work method you are expected to have for the job.

Trees and power lines

Trees near overhead lines are governed by the Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003, which were amended in 2024. Each conductor has a growth limit zone, set by Schedule 2 of the regulations depending on the line, with a wider notice zone around it. When a tree encroaches, the lines company (the works owner) can give the tree owner a hazard warning notice, and when it grows into the growth limit zone, a cut or trim notice. The tree owner has to cut within the deadline in the notice and tell the lines company when and where the cutting will happen at least three working days beforehand. Owners can also ask for a dispensation or declare they have no interest in the tree, options your client may ask about. Importantly, the regulations themselves do not say who is allowed to do the cutting. Safe working distances come from the electrical code of practice NZECP 34:2001, and lines companies set their own contractor rules and may need to isolate the line. Never cut near a live line on the strength of a client’s say-so. Get the notice reference, speak to the lines company and plan the isolation.

• Keep the lines company’s cut or trim notice reference on the job
• Advise the lines company of the time and location before cutting (lines companies publish this as at least 3 working days; follow the period on your notice)
• Work to NZECP 34:2001 approach distances and the lines company’s contractor rules
• Arrange isolation where the lines company requires it

Roadside work and traffic management

Dropping a tree next to a road, or working from a truck on the verge, usually means restricting a lane or a footpath. Temporary traffic management in New Zealand follows NZTA’s guidance (the older Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management, CoPTTM, has been superseded as the preferred guidance by the New Zealand Guide to Temporary Traffic Management), and the road controlling authority, the council for local roads or NZTA for state highways, has to be involved. In practice that means a traffic management plan, approval to work in the road corridor, and a qualified Site Traffic Management Supervisor (STMS) on site before the first cone goes out. Allow time for this in your programme and your quote, because it is often the longest-lead item on a roadside removal and it is not cheap. Make sure the client understands that a verge tree may belong to the council, and that a private owner cannot simply order it felled. For a job that only needs a driveway or a quiet cul-de-sac cone, check what the controlling authority will accept, because their expectations are not the same everywhere.

Your duties as a PCBU

On top of the specific rules, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 makes your business a PCBU with a primary duty to look after workers and others affected by the work. For tree work, that means a documented plan for the hazards that actually kill arborists: falling or dropped objects, chainsaw and chipper injuries, working from heights and from a rope, electrical proximity, and unexpected tree behaviour. Record who is on the crew, what training and tickets they hold and when those expire, and make sure people are supervised to the level their experience warrants. If you apply herbicide to a stump or regrowth, NZS 8409:2021 on managing agrichemicals expects a record of the product, rate, weather, operator and neighbour notification, and regional plans often make compliance a condition of the permitted activity. A pre-job site assessment, an exclusion zone for the drop and a rescue plan are the minimum for any climbing job, and your client will often ask to see them.

Keeping the proof: how Toolie helps

Toolie’s arborist pack turns the above into a checklist per job. Tick that the job fells a tree commercially and it flags the WorkSafe 24-hour notice; mark the tree as notable or protected and resource consent becomes a requirement that stops the job being marked complete; flag roadside work and traffic management appears; flag power lines and it prompts you to record the lines company’s notice reference and the 3-working-day advice; flag herbicide and it adds a spray record with the operator’s GROWSAFE number. A separate tree inventory register holds each tree’s species, size, condition, the risk rating from whichever method you use (VTA, QTRA, TRAQ or your own), protected status with the district plan reference, recommended work and a re-inspection interval, and it shows when the next inspection is due. It records what you decide; it does not decide whether a tree is protected, and it does not file the WorkSafe notice.

Sources

Official sources this guide relies on. Rules change, so check the current version before relying on a date or threshold.

• WorkSafe NZ: Particular hazardous work (notifiable works)
• Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003, legislation.govt.nz
• Resource Management Act 1991, legislation.govt.nz
• NZTA: Code of practice for temporary traffic management (CoPTTM) and STMS warrants

Related: notifiable work & events · HSWA 2015 overview · working at height · health & safety software. Back to arborists software · software for every trade.