kevinjohnsonmbe

Neighbour had this one down last week. Pigs were lucky! I can ask what he wants to do with it iffum you'd like??

That sounds rather Cornish! I like it.... "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book."

Don't be tempted to cut corners and try and save a few squid on the subsidence report. It might be the best piece of bad news you've ever paid for!

I'm not sure it would escape building regs Chris - wouldn't approved document A section 1 structural work of timber apply? Plus maybe being a structure >300mm above ground? I have experienced a complaint against a tree house and, whilst technically it was found to have been required to have planning and building control sign off, it had already been installed and LA (Cornwall) found, after months of correspondence, that it wasn't in the public interest to take enforcement action. It wasn't something I'd installed or been directly involved in but I kept an interest in how in proceeded.

Brilliant! I had the same this afternoon! Was waylaid by having to go out for roast dinner. Can't face book diving and a sleepless night so going to blank it out of my consciousness!!

agreed! It's the time that's being bought as well as the activity.

Interesting question.... If it were possible to demonstrate that the tree had not been "wilfully damaged", perhaps it would not be a prohibited activity? If might require building regs / planning permission depending on how the LA classifies the tree house.

Ha, ha! It's not a very substantial veneer Gazzer but I do try - just a slight tempering over the years of a deeply engrained bullish and uncompromising determination! I'm mellowing (slightly) with age but the mean streak bubbles to the surface when my guard is down....! Can't help but think the neighbour might be justified in presenting a case of actionable nuisance which could??? empower him to take unilateral action to remove overhead branches regardless of TPO status and without recourse to LA for approval. I wish somebody would at some point soon if only to answer the question once and for all. Now there's a potential de-rail and a can of worms opened.....

Any seagulls in the area Gary? A daily fistful of mackerel guts (from the tree owner) and the van roof would look like a welders bench after a week! Kind of make the odd twig an inconsequence!!

Or this one if amended to show arb consultant v arb contractor....

It's a very good point.... But I have to agree..... I know it's plumbers v electricians but, this always cracks me up! There must be a decent computer geek that can make a tree ape v gardener version??? On reflection, probably not since why would a half decent computer geek be reading a forum for hairy tree swingers when he could earn 5x as much sitting in an aircon office with views over the river, surrounded by perfume and lipstick, having lunch in a Michelin star restaurant before driving home in a flash car?

It's an interesting question. I'm not certain, but I was lead to believe a couple of the larger companies locally pay an allowance and expect the user to buy and own their own saw. I'm sure there was a thread previously that talked about this and a comparable example of grass mowers was offered - in that case (from memory and only retelling what I can recall of what was told before) the company owned the mowers that were used by the employees. There was a ridiculous maintenance bill annually because nobody really took care of the kit. Then the company allocated specific mowers to specific staff and told them that after a certain period of time (value write down period I presume) they would be eligible to buy the mowers at written down value. Suddenly, the maintenance bill miraculously tumbled because individuals started treating the kit with respect as they stood to take ownership after it had been written off by the company. I've seen the state "communal" chainsaws are left in. One of the companies I delivered training to had a shared kit policy. The user drawing the saw from stores collected it pretty much in the condition the previous user returned it - fairly consistently appalling. As an aside, it also indicated a shortcoming in the maintenance and PUWER attitude of the storekeeper/maintainer as well as the company because they were issuing kit that was unfit for use. If you add to that the gadgety/personal nature of chainsaw users, it perhaps wouldn't be such a bad idea to pay an allowance and ask employees to buy from a pre-decided range / spec appropriate to the work being undertaken. Then it's their saw, they get the allowance on a set timeframe, they are the only user of the saw, they look after it and make it last as long as possible so that if they don't need to spend the allowance on a new saw they get to keep the cash? Assuming all users are suitably qualified in basic maintenance, and perhaps there is a time specified workshop inspection, that could satisfy PUWER too. There's only 1 person I would ever lend or borrow a chainsaw to / from - the very thought of "shared" saws makes me very unwell!

Bent over?

Loving it!

Completely...

Thanks Felix & Jon...

Sounds like a reference to: ISO 9000 quality management - ISO

That does make a refreshing change once in a while!

Mmmmmmm, OK......

I've been desperately trying not to jump in...... But it's beaten me... I give in to Arbtalk! I'll start with a scene setter: Cornwall is officially the poorest area in the UK | West Briton So, as the snarling badger intimated earlier, you might expect wages to be lower than anywhere else in the UK? Maybe... As the Roman Emperor says - does friendship count for nothing? And isn't there an element of working hard but enjoying the company? And as Joe replied - not in business.... I'm leaning more towards Vesp's angle. Business is business, but GOOD business leaves everyone feeling good no? Mark Bolam's suggested "additional benefit" almost made my dinner reappear and offers a stark example of how the thoughts above might be fatally flawed though... I allocate £150/day for the bloke I work with. That's usually 9-3ish on-site which kind of equates to £25/hr. Worth every penny. Might it be that pricing jobs needs to take account of this? £80/100/125 - that's shelf stacking money.... Without being too melodramatic (for fear of causing outraged indignation from Skyhuck) we trust, and spend much of our lives with the people we work with.... Surely that counts for something???

It's on ebay.... Someone will buy it! Maybe life really is that simple and working is for fools???

Hold on, hold on...... I'd DO IT for £2055, not pay £2055 for doing it! It's all just too confusing....:confused1: I'm off to put the kettle on and work out what someone will PAY ME for doing all the jobs I've got booked in! Maybe that's where we've all been going wrong - we need to get other people to pay us for doing nowt! (oh, hold on, that idea has already been used successfully in agriculture.......)

Have you been watching Dragon's Den? I can't match that.... My £2055 was excluding stumps treatment / removal

I had to look it up to see for myself: WoodLots What a plonker! I'll start the bidding at £2055