Pro-active Tree Inspections Demonstrate Your Duty of Care

As a commercial property owner, you have a legal duty to make sure the trees on your land do not pose unreasonable dangers to people or property. But how exactly can you reduce the liability risks associated with aging, damaged, or diseased trees? The answer lies in professional tree risk assessments.

A tree risk assessment entails a thorough inspection of every tree on your property. A certified arborist inspects for signs of:

Decaying trunks or branches

Cracks

Weak branch unions

Dead limbs

Root damage

The arborist may use tools like resistance drilling, tomography scans, or a root collar excavation to identify issues not visible externally. Each tree is rated based on the likelihood and impact of failure.

With this data, the arborist can advise you on mitigation options to reduce risks. This may involve:

Pruning or cabling certain limbs

Removing trees that present irreversible hazards

Developing a schedule for continual monitoring and maintenance

Most importantly, a detailed risk assessment shows you took reasonable steps to identify and resolve potential tree hazards. This diligence helps protect you against premises liability claims, especially compared to doing nothing.

Without evaluations, you may have dangerous trees on your property and not even know it! You can't eliminate risks you don't identify. Tree assessments empower you to be proactive.

If a tree does fail and cause damage, you can produce documentation showing the tree was regularly inspected by a qualified arborist. This demonstrates you exercised proper duty of care as a landowner.

Don’t wait until it’s too late - contact a certified arborist like Tree Risk Advisors today to schedule a comprehensive tree risk assessment. Reduce your liability exposure and protect people on your property from hazardous trees.