ARB Approved...views please.

[richy_B]

.......Word at the time was that the contractor that had previously been doing it had costed it at £7/tree!    

I can believe it. In London they are only getting £15-19 from what I hear. You have to be knocking out hundreds a week to make that worthwhile.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I can believe it. In London they are only getting £15-19 from what I hear. You have to be knocking out hundreds a week to make that worthwhile.

A DAY Richy! It just don’t make sense?

[roseyweb]

I'm going through aaac at the moment, I've done every step but fill the form in for assessment. 

Get in a hs consultant who will show you how to manage doing Rams, Loler puwer better and if you employ staff, how you legally should be. 

 

We had some holes in what tickets we should have which grieves me a bit to have to plug but again we should legally have these it's just never occurred to me. 

Now all the paper work is in place I feel better prepared when I get to site and no longer have to squirm when asked for different paper work.

we have better systems for staff management, ppe etc 

 

i have plenty of work now but have 4 on the books mouths to feed which stresses me a bit knowing loosing one client could cause a big hole in the diary so I want aaac to get more clients to spread work over. 

 

Ive personally always detested domestic work but I know some people love it and if that's your playground aaac is going to be pointless. 

 

[aspenarb]

Back on track chaps

 

Mr @AA Teccie (Paul) I have question .

 

If a small arb outfit were to apply to join AA what would the costs be ?. Lets assume it based on a climber,one groundie and a labourer , also they are up to speed on the following.

They have loler on their climbing kit.

They keep maintenance records of kit and trucks.

 RAMS for all their work.

Toolbox talks with hse updates.

All have current tickets .

All wear chequered shirts and have beards

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

[Steve Bullman]

Doubt I would have managed 7 of those trees even in my prime.  That’s a lot of work in those circumstances 

[Joe Newton]

Doubt I would have managed 7 of those trees even in my prime.  That’s a lot of work in those circumstances 

It might just be doable in a long day but the quality of work and safety is going to be shocking!

[roseyweb]

 

If it helps so far its cost me a days consultancy,  a day of nptc assessments we had all Lolor and puwer in place already so I'm about £1200 in

i think the assessment will cost me 500 odd quid and a lost day. Not a lot really

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

21 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

 

 

If there was a big push to reach out to Joe Pub etc, and they started to demonstrate an awareness and desire to preferentially engage accredited practitioners if might create more of a pull factor?

 

That's probably quite a long way of saying, if more domestic customers "wanted it", more SMEs might do it.

 

Good shout asking the question Paul      

 

 

 

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

21 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

I like the idea of a scheme that puts the squeeze on poor practitioners... If it really would?

 

I've often thought, the scheme, whilst well known within the industry and the associated large contract tenderers, is not sufficiently well known at the lower level - Joe Pub, smaller local government and contract levels etc.

 

If there was a big push to reach out to Joe Pub etc, and they started to demonstrate an awareness and desire to preferentially engage accredited practitioners if might create more of a pull factor?

 

That's probably quite a long way of saying, if more domestic customers "wanted it", more SMEs might do it.

 

Good shout asking the question Paul      

 

Hi Kevin, don't know if this is working  

Hi Kevin, thanks for your posts here.

 

The problem with a big push is that it takes big resources, the kind we simply don't have unfortunately.

 

The analogy I often use relates to GAS SAFE and why people know (regardless of the 'legal' v 'voluntary' bit) and I really believe it's because of 'association' in hat every plumbers van you see has the logo on it rather than anything GAS SAFE have done in terms of marketing. Clearly we have a very, very long way to go here.

 

The other thing is the 'hot-spot' effect down here in Torbay, entirely coincidental that I live here, whereby because there are 10-12 ArbACs is a 30 miles radius most LAs and other commercials use the scheme as a min. standard.

 

Thanks again for contributing Kevin and if you can think of any "quick-fix" ways of hitting the public market please let me / us know (we have tried to get on 'Rogue Trader' but they're not really interested in anything or anyone other than the Rogue Trader and of course an industry expert and we've been "pipped to the post" there by James Pinder  )

Paul 

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

20 hours ago, beechwood said:

Paul

Enforcement of the standards is an issue.
Many people complain that AAAC carry out poor work and don’t comply with basic H+S standards.
A recent post on Facebook complained that a large AAAC had such poor prices on council contracts that management of H+S had to be disregarded to get enough work done.
The guy said a 2 man team had to do 7 of the pollards shown in photo below per day.



The general feeling is other than the inspection the AA does nothing. As an industry we, and I’m sure you, know who the culprits are. I suggest you do something about and publicise when you do. After a couple of companies are thrown off the scheme I’m sure everyone else will quickly step into line.
Have you thrown anyone off the scheme?

Having been a AAAC for many years I have never had a visit other than scheduled assessments.
The industry wants you to be tough on those who take the piss.

The other issue is the scheme adding value to a business i.e companies getting more work by being a AAAC. In my experience this is not the case, although I will admit we do not bid on large contracts and don’t massively market our AAAC status.

My simple suggestion would be that you convince Tree Officers to only have AAACs on there approved lists. This would be a great incentive for many companies to join the scheme. I know many already do but fill in the gaps, surely it is in there interest to help the AA increase participation and increase standards.

Hope this helps

Regards Neil

Hi Neil, thanks for your post here.

 

In answer to your question about have we ever thrown anyone off the scheme, in the context you mention = "no." In part as that isn't our approach, we here to help and develop, but we do have some who are on increased frequency of re-inspections because of concerns over standards, e.g. annually as opposed to biennially.

 

Whilst I understand your frustrations, and I really do, but I think the expectations of the AA are somewhat unrealistic at times...what about the clients role, particularly for LA TOs, where are they and why aren't they speaking to me / complaining to me. Currently we do, as you say, only 2-yearly visits, previously 5-yearly, and the issue of 'spot-checks' has been discussed at length AND it is something that may be implemented in future...I remain somewhat skeptical about there effectiveness TBH (but we should probably try it and see.)

 

I can reassure you anything brought to my attention will be considered and acted upon if appropriate...but unlikely a business would be "booted off" unless they really did something bad and /or repetitively.

 

Cheers,

Paul