Tree survey for planning permission

serious_saver

We have been told by our council planning team that we need a BS5837:2012 tree survey. We've been quoted £395

This is the breakdown:
Site visit (5.5 hours - which seems excessive for two small trees) - £220
Report work (3 hours) - £120
Expenses - £55

Has anyone had one of these done and does it seem fair?

System

Interesting you've decided their site survey hours are excessive, presumably you know the ins and outs of what they'll be looking at in order to satisfy the local authority?!
If you're not happy with the quote get another to compare it

serious_saver

the_r_sole wrote: »

Interesting you've decided their site survey hours are excessive, presumably you know the ins and outs of what they'll be looking at in order to satisfy the local authority?!
If you're not happy with the quote get another to compare it

We're on the board for checking if a quote is fair. If you have personsl experience, please share it. If not, your comments are unhelpful.

I have my own reasons for thinking the hours are excessive.

teneighty

Seems odd if you've only got 2 small trees. Planners only usually ask for a report if there are large trees or ones with a tree preservation order in the vicinity of the work.

But as already said shop around and you should get it cheaper, if it really is just 2 small trees then £200 to £250 would be more reasonable.

Furts

Bit specialised, so it depends how far the expert has to travel. But if the journey is 1-2 hours each way then that does not make the hours excessive. Indeed it could be argued the opposite is the case. After all, for tool hire, JCB hire, skips and many items one has to pay for a minimum of a day.

System

serious_saver wrote: »

We're on the board for checking if a quote is fair. If you have personsl experience, please share it. If not, your comments are unhelpful.

I have my own reasons for thinking the hours are excessive.

I do have professional experience of commissioning tree surveys for planning applications, however you have already decided they are spending too long on your job so get other quotes, nothing else will satisfy your judgement on this.

Furts

the_r_sole wrote: »

I do have professional experience of commissioning tree surveys for planning applications, however you have already decided they are spending too long on your job so get other quotes, nothing else will satisfy your judgement on this.

I have no issue with this. If I were seeking a professional then it is reasonable to expect to pay a day. Those I use are not sat on my doorstep. Once PII and professionalism are added in then OP is being quoted for a day's work of 8.5 hours. So what if it takes less - we live in a commercial world. If the expert returns one hour earlier they will not be able to find a client to fill out that one hour slot.

I also suspect the expenses covers a decent chunk of mileage, and if so this too would be deemed acceptable.

The comical aspect is this. No way would an accountant, solicitor or many others travel, survey, return, report write, and then be subject to any comeback for £395.

serious_saver

the_r_sole wrote: »

I do have professional experience of commissioning tree surveys for planning applications, however you have already decided they are spending too long on your job so get other quotes, nothing else will satisfy your judgement on this.

If you have recent experience of commissioning these and, from your experience, you think this is a fair quote then please say so. That is why I came here after all. What have you spent, in the past, on this type of survey?

I have only said that it "seems excessive". If you can give me some examples of typical costs I would be grateful.

serious_saver

Just to give an update. We went with the quote and he was superb and very thorough. It did take a lot less time than originally quoted for and he amended the invoice to take that into account.

He also gave a lot of good advice about maintaining the trees that we are keeping and which varieties will work well in the areas that where we want more cover and are planning to plant new trees.