Who to hire for a dangerous tree branch

Short answer

A qualified arborist, urgently, if a limb is cracked, hanging or has dropped. Keep people and cars out from under it in the meantime. Emergency removal of an immediately dangerous limb is generally exempt from council permit requirements, but the exemption is narrower than people assume and it is worth photographing the hazard before the work.

Treat as urgentThis is one to act on now rather than book for next week.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Arborist.

  • your council

    the tree is on public land or overhangs a footpath or road. That is the council's to deal with and they have crews for it.

  • your electricity distributor

    a limb is near or on power lines. Do not approach it and do not let anyone else. Distributors have vegetation crews and attend this.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Cordon the area underneath. A limb that has partially failed can drop hours or days later with no further warning.
  2. Photograph it from a safe distance, including the crack or the tear, and note the date. If a permit question arises later, this is your evidence.
  3. Move cars, bins and outdoor furniture out from under it.
  4. If it is over a footpath or road, ring the council. If it is near power lines, ring the distributor.

What to ask when you book

  • Can you attend today, and what is the make-safe versus the full job?
  • Do you have the insurance and accreditation for work near power lines, if that applies?
  • Will you assess the rest of the tree while you are here, and give me a written hazard assessment?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Urgency and time of day.
  • Height and access, and whether an elevated work platform is required.
  • Whether the whole tree needs work or only the limb.
  • Traffic management.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Not licensed as a trade; qualification and insurance are what matter. Council permit exemptions for dangerous trees are specific and usually require evidence.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a dangerous tree branch
A qualified arborist, urgently, if a limb is cracked, hanging or has dropped. Keep people and cars out from under it in the meantime. Emergency removal of an immediately dangerous limb is generally exempt from council permit requirements, but the exemption is narrower than people assume and it is worth photographing the hazard before the work.
Do I need a permit to remove a dangerous limb?
Most councils have an exemption for work necessary to remove an immediate risk to people or property, and most require you to be able to demonstrate that the risk was real. Photographs taken before the work, and an arborist's written assessment, are what turn that exemption from an argument into a record.

Find a Arborist near you

918 arborists in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.

Businesses that say they take emergency callouts

Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.