Rupe

No problem if your boss doesnt mind, but in virtually every proffesion this would result in instant dismissal. No warnings or employee tribunals needed, I think its included as a form of gross misconduct. If you are employed full time then that is a priveledge and you should promote the company you work for, not try and take work from them for yourself. Its called moonlighting and various other things. Also, if you employed full time then you would be expected to be rested and good to go on mondays not knacked from working all weekend. Of course people tire themselves out in all sorts of ways at weekends but even then some companies take a dim viw of this. If I employed someone who wasnt fit for work on mondays due to playing rugby (just an expample) then the employemnt wouldnt last long. Not saying dont do it, I'm sure most of us have ( I know I did) but just be aware that its not good form.

You are probably being asked to do work for friends and family because they want it doing on the cheap. Point them in the direction of the company you work for, get your boss to quote for it and then send you to do the work. That way your freinds and family are helping you stay in employment (which is what good friends and family should do). The alternative is to price it up yourself and get sacked pretty quickly from your job. If you feel you have what it takes to set up on your own then go for it, leave your job and get started with these friends/family jobs but pricing up work while employed by someone else is the fastest way to have no work at all. Of course, as long as you dont mention it on a public forum you might just get away with it.

I think its great! Bid a pound, take the best wood and leave him with a right old mess! He cant actually make anybody clean up after the job as he's not a customer, quite the opposite, he's taking money (hopefully no more than a pound) and so he has no rights to dictate how the work is done. He cant even demand payment is completed after the work is done to his satisfaction because you could do half of it (take the wood) and then if he's not happy dont pay him! Would be great fun if anybody had the time to wind him up! He is setting himself up for some proper troubel if you ask me, but in the past these things have never sold as far as I know. Some windblown trees were up for sale once, and again the seller demanded all the debris is cleared but as he is selling not buying he has no bargaining power at all.

I rent a lock up for all my work stuff and there is an extra room which I use for camping gear and spare furniture etc. There is an rsj beam in the ceiling so I can hang bikes from their saddles. I can keep some at home and then swap them as required. Have nine at the moment!!

Sounds like you'll be ok. Fitness is more important than tree biology..!!

Good work. Do yo ahve different tyres for different things? I used to change tyres all the time, then I got spare wheels so that I can change wheels instead of tyres, and now I just change bikes! Going to mountain mayhem this weekend, Im racing in a ten man team so will probably only do two laps so only taking taking two bikes, took five last year!

In the winter, just have shorter lunch breaks, other than that its the same but you wear a coat. Having said that I wore a coat all last year!!

I don't think plant biology and all that stuff it's any use really, it's good for your interest but if you want to work for a company doing tree work then there is no need for it, only a need to work hard. Tree surgery is more about logistics and moving stuff. What you could be doing now is going to the gym, unless you're already well fit?

Ok. Peter, can't wait!. never drank coffee, tried it twice, can't do it. I don't have family so I should have the time but there are better things to do in the evenings.

Good plan. The difficult bit might be "get relevant job". Even with the short course under your belt you just might not be the person that someone wants to employ. There's no measure for that, some just won't get a job. I hope you do though. You r volunteer work is good, but don't for a second think that the pace of work in commercial tree work is going to be as easy as in a country park. I would try and get experience before the course of I was you. Of course tree companies need labourers, I'm always struggling to find good ones. I get people with chainsaw tickets and even climbing tickets but no one who's actually got a days work them.. Of you did a volunteer day for someone and they ask you back for more days paid, then.you know you are possibly of the right stuff. Chainsaws etc can wait,there's lots that any able bodies person can get on with if they are keen. Driving license is far more useful than anything else on your list. Without that your chances of employment are low. Proclimber training will be very good, but also "arborventure" are very near you, and they do tree work, maybe get a days experience there too. Oh. And why would you need insurance?

Yes sometimes I get more done in half an hour at 6am ish than I would in a while evening, but generally I'm not great in the morning until about 10. If I was better in the morning then I would prefer to go running than office work anyway, and that in turn would make me even better by 10.

Im just finding my brain will not work at 7-9pm when I usually try and do office stuff, plus I dont want to working that late anymore, ive had enough of it! There has to be a way of integrating it all into the work day, using wi fi was one thought i had but its minor really, the wifi isnt the issue, I guess its having decent enough people workign for you so you can take half hour out in the day and the work doesnt gring to a halt. I've found before that if I stop and do some paperwork type stuff that the chipper goes off and everyone has a fag break! Thats down to man management I suppose, I'll get, just thinking out loud, thats what the forums for.

Sorry, getting used to Swype keyboard on my phone so spelling gone bad!!

I'll probably carry on as I am but idea good to hear opinions. I agree brew time is brew time but I often sit in the car and make phone calls, that's still work and I expect the others too carry on working. I think the best advice so far is to send the emails and let them sit on end outbox until Wi-Fi is available.. Ftr my quotes are pdfs of my letterhead so a bit more data than just an email. It's the time to write them that's important, when I get home there are too many distractions so half an hour's work can take all evening.

Just seeing what the current view is. The idea was to get some work done at lunch time off while the others are working, in order to lessen the time in the office at home. I'm doing quotes after work at the moment and finding that when I get home I've had enough. I'm fresher in the morning so taking a break, while the others are still working would be a great time to get quotes written up and sent. As I don't own a laptop yet this is all speculation. I'm sure your all ok making use of the customers kettle.

Well I don't actually have a laptop at the moment so this it's all theory. Also my data allowance on my phone is low as I don't use it much except when on Wi-Fi Another thing, you could sit in the car and type out quotes and email to the client before you leave. Then, if you get the job, you have their password to use when your there doing the work. Basically feed up of spending an hour in the office every night so thinking about a laptop.

I use a Samsung galaxy s3 at the moment and it's ok for emails on 3g and I guess it will get better. Was thinking of a laptop though so office work can get done at lunch time. But as said the issue has not come up yet. I doubt it would be often if I did ask, and they can only say no. (Or don't know the password).

Washing up! I don't think she even implies anything else, it's up to the buyer to think about it I guess.

My neighbour sells her used marigold washing up gloves for £20 a pair, go figure!!!

This has not happened yet but I feel its only a matter of time, as i do more and more work emails on my phone while also on site doing tree work, a wifi connection would be great. Just wondering if anyone has asked the customer of the day if they can log on to their wi-fi while working for them?? If so how do they take it? Is it considered rude? I am sure it would depend on the customer and how you asked them, and I would only ever ask if its important but could it be seen as an invasion/intrusion to ask? I am not sure. It would be great to sit on the front door step with a laptop and get some of the evening emails done in your lunchbreak! And you could emial the client the bill when your done!! Of course 3g is getting better so maybe it will never need to happen, just wondering if any has asked?

Dynamic will have very little use in arb work, hopeless beyond hopeless for zip lines or pull lines. As a rigging line it would be funny!! Best use would be, let me think, a fall arest line maybe? Like a rock climbing rope becuase that is what rock climbing rope is, its a fall arest line!

Thinking about it, the insurance might be fine, your grounds man is there for your safety so not really relevant to the safety of the public. I think they might look at the competency of how the work was done more than CS units. So any companies around you sending climbers out without rescue cover are more in breach of their employment liability insurance than public liability. But if you have a turnover of 10k then most insurance companies seem to have a minimum turnover bracket of 50k so you would be paying the same premium as someone with a 50k turnover, and getting £1M cover for liability to the public and accidental damage cover that you will never use as the excess is higher than any likely damage, unless you like taking big risks!! I'm not saying don't have insurance, I'm not saying anybody should not have insurance, but just be sure of what it's actually for.

This kind of sums up my issue with insurance companies, they use terms like bona fide but they don't explain what they mean. If they work WITH you then their PL is worthless. They are covered by yours if you have it. But when I say covered I mean covered for any damage to a third person not covered for injury to themselves that you are liable for. If they are working FOR you but on there own (you send them off to do a job) then they could be bona fide sub contractors if they have their own PL. Yes, it is legal for you to pay someone UN qualified to work with you but you are liable for their safety, hence EL insurance which is actually a legal requirement. (If they are helping you make profit then you have a legal duty to look after them and this means not asking them to do things that are not trained to do) As long as their lack of experience/qualifications isn't the cause of any damage to property then kit shouldn't be a factor in any claim but this would depend on the insurance companies small print. For a claim from a third party. i.e. a passing car full of kids gets hit by a falling branch and they sue you for stress, whip lash etc. Then you would be "liable" so you had better have followed industry best practices to the letter. So your unlikely to be covered if your on your own or with someone not qualified. But damage to a client's property would be covered by an accidental damage policy (should be part of most PL policies) but it's not a legal requirement. Most household policies would cover any small damage anyway. You won't get paid of course if you damage something and your reputation is on the line so most and just pay for repairs or fix things themselves if necessary. It's all a bit of a mine field really but as far as being legit it's concerned being honest to clients about what's actually covered or not is better than having cover that s not valid.

Correct, but I think I may have gone off on the wrong foot. Having someone with you is not really relevant when looking at claims to property. It's only really a requirement when a company sends a climber out to work, they then have a duty of care to provide rescue cover to that person. The rescue cover can be a self employed person but they are still not classed as sub contractors and never will be. But that's all a bit irrelevant to this thread. The original poster, Jake, is allowed to climb and work on his own if he wants but does need to make sure any insurance company knows that.

Can I just be a pain and ask again, what is it you want to be covered for? A second climber is for your safety not for clients or for the general public. So that factor on its own does not effect the policy if your claiming for damage to property.