Cable bracing and inspection qualifications?

[Khriss]

I meant in the paperwork side of it being intricate and at the sound of that price must be a popular area. Took more cable bracing out of Ash spp than anything else but good fr Cedar crowns. K

[krummholz]

NPTC have discontinued/cancelled their integrated ticket. I was doing it in October - nice 2 day course, lots of hands on learning using bracing components and tools I'd never had a chance to use with very knowledgeable instructors. The instructor comes in on the second morning and gathers us round for some bad news - he'd just found out the evening before when trying to register us that NPTC had discontinued the Bracing ticket earlier in the year and not told anyone. Apparently there wasn't enough uptake and they had to make some savings somewhere because they'll be rewriting a lot of material due to the WAHR/new technical guidance for climbing stuff going on. The decision was taken around the time of the first lockdown but they'd not thought to tell anyone!

Obviously this is very disappointing (apart from the manner in which it was discontinued) as it leaves tree workers and contracters in a limbo concerning liability, but it might also severely limit the use and adoption of bracing as a tool in arboriculture in the UK. 

OP's main concern was that he wasn't qualified to inspect or re-brace, but the question now is who is? Can only those who got the ticket when it was still around inspect and re-brace? In October we were given the equivalant of a certificate of attendance as you would on a refresher course, which is now the next best thing, but if there were to be a claim against a contracter who had installed or inspected bracing that had failed, how would you prove that you were properly trained and certificated to carry out the works? My assumption is that because there's now no ticket you'd be proving a more general understanding of tree biomechanics, textiles, vector forces...a lot more wooly and foggy, perhaps enough to scare away anyone who doesn't have the ticket for reaching for bracing as a solution for tree management...

[krummholz]

@Treerangers Given all that I would simpy refer to the relevant section of BS3998 and the manufacturer's instructions and technical data when re-inspecting/bracing

[Khriss]

That. ( thanks for doing all that writing for me ☺️)   K