Report records

[sloth]

Hi all, I am just wondering

a) if there is a requirement to keep copies of reports, and if so for how long.

b) if there is no requirement do you keep a copy, just in case?

c) how you store copies, digital or paper?

 

Many thanks to any answers

[David Humphries]

Hi all, I am just wondering

a) if there is a requirement to keep copies of reports, and if so for how long.

b) if there is no requirement do you keep a copy, just in case?

c) how you store copies, digital or paper?

 

Many thanks to any answers

 

a) I would imagine it depends on the type report & its limitations. Generally for as long as your buisness and tree/tree site remains in existence.

 

c) Both. One hard copy to client and at least one back up on a hard drive and/or external hard drive.

 

 

 

.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

a) I would imagine it depends on the type report & its limitations. Generally for as long as your buisness and tree/tree site remains in existence.

 

c) Both. One hard copy to client and at least one back up on a hard drive and/or external hard drive.

 

 

 

.

 

 

ditto:thumbup1:

 

if you get a comeback youll want a record to jog your memory and prove your side!

[Paul Barton]

To address point (a), I would check with your insurer.

 

Given the ease of storing large amounts of data on hard drives these days, I would suggest never deleting any of your reports!

 

Personally I don't keep hard copies of reports but they are backed up multiple times.

[Treecreeper1961]

What are the legal implications when reports recommend monitoring or further investigation?

For example, if you recommend the monitoring of a tree and the following year you, or indeed another arb in your company or another, are employed to inspect the same zone by the same client and the previous report is not referred to or made available then, well, what is the legal position?

 

This may seem unlikely or unprofessional but it definitely goes on.

 

I am guessing that the onus is on the client, as the owner of the tree and with a duty of care, to ensure professional advice is followed.

 

However, if you are contracted to survey the trees on successive years and fail to refer to the previous report are you in breach of legally binding obligations?

 

Or, again, is it up to the client to make the previous report available?

Probably depends on the nature of your contract, but I would be interested to hear if anyone has views or experience of this sort of thing.

[sloth]

Pretty much what I thought

Treecreeper, I'd have said if you have made recommendations to re-survey a zone or tree it is down to the client to follow the recommendation. If you are called upon to go back and carry out said monitoring to an existing clients tree/trees it would certainly be professional to, if you don't have one, ask to see the previous survey. Certainly, if surveying for a new client I would ask whether any previous surveys had been carried out, and if I could see them. If they have called you in to survey based on previously specified monitoring recommendations, I would even more keen to see the previous report. However, I think if anything went wrong and you ended up in court, any onus for you to have seen previous reports would lie with the tree owner/manager.

[David Humphries]

Well worth the days investment in the Report Writing Workshop that Dave Dowson offers at TreeLife. I found the proforma & field work very useful & having Mr Dowson to bounce questions off is a good part of the package.

 

 

Report Writing

 

 

 

 

.

[sloth]

It's on the list of 101 courses/workshops I'd like to do!

 

With regards record keeping: I imagine in the event of tree related litigation, it would be up to the owner of the tree to have kept any reports and be able to produce them, surely? Unless written in contract that the surveyor has the responsibility to keep up to date with reviews, monitoring and record keeping.

[Treecreeper1961]

Well worth the days investment in the Report Writing Workshop that Dave Dowson offers at TreeLife. I found the proforma & field work very useful & having Mr Dowson to bounce questions off is a good part of the package.

 

 

Report Writing

 

 

 

 

.

 

Dave Dowson and co. are treemendous. If I had £2,000 to spend on training I would probably spend it all with them.

[Treecreeper1961]

Pretty much what I thought

Treecreeper, I'd have said if you have made recommendations to re-survey a zone or tree it is down to the client to follow the recommendation. If you are called upon to go back and carry out said monitoring to an existing clients tree/trees it would certainly be professional to, if you don't have one, ask to see the previous survey. Certainly, if surveying for a new client I would ask whether any previous surveys had been carried out, and if I could see them. If they have called you in to survey based on previously specified monitoring recommendations, I would even more keen to see the previous report. However, I think if anything went wrong and you ended up in court, any onus for you to have seen previous reports would lie with the tree owner/manager.

 

Hopefully the competence of any inspection would pick up on issues anyway but things such as crown deterioration and lean,perhaps fruiting bodies too, need reference to previous reports. The situation I referred too is based on experience, obviously. I know organisations who receive annual reports and seem oblivious to the fact the inspector has advised monitoring of a tree or trees. Or, perhaps they are secure in their knowledge that they have delegated their responsibility to the contractor?