Tree Safety Surveys are typically carried out by Arboricultural Consultants or by suitably trained tree inspectors. These people will visit the tree, carry out the inspection and record the results using the Tree Survey (Android) application (on their mobile phone or tablet), or the data can be noted down and later entered directly into the OTISS website.
The table below lists the data that is recorded for each tree inspection. All trees must have a reference, a valid location, and be assigned to a survey – all the other fields can be left blank or a ‘Not Recorded’ value entered.
Suggested features for future versions of OTISS may include:
- allow you to customise the fields stored for each inspection,
- cater for BS5837 surveys,
- allow you to decide which fields are mandatory and which are optional.
| Field Name | Description |
| Survey & Site/zone | Each inspection is carried out within a Survey. The Survey dictates the site/zone for this tree. (required) |
| Location | The location – stored as longitude/latitude in the GIS database. Also displayed as national grid references. (required) |
| Reference | A reference name or number. e.g. T002, G023. (required) |
| TPO Reference | A TPO reference (if applicable). |
| Species | A species selected from a list of tree species. |
| Variety | A variety or cultivar (text).In the Estate->TreeSafety page, the user can customise this field. The list of most common varieties can be updated. This list will appear on the inspection forms on the website and the TreeSurvey Android application. |
| Description | A detailed description of the tree. For example: its general structure, its location, potential targets at risk, etc. This information tends to be unchanging between inspections. |
| Date Inspected | The date on which the tree was inspected. |
| Inspector | The name of the inspector. |
| Survey Notes | Detailed notes of what was seen during this inspection. |
| Inspection Cycle | How long before this tree should be inspected again, e.g. 1 Year, 2 Years, 5 Years, etc. |
| Condition | A summary of the overall condition: good, fair, poor, dead |
| Height | A measurement or estimate of the height in metres. |
| DBH | A measurement or estimate of the DBH in centi-metres. DBH means the diameter at breast height 1.5m. |
| Crown Radius | A measurement or estimate of the average crown radius in metres. |
| Age Class | One of:: Newly Planted, Young, Early Mature, Mature, Over Mature, Veteran. |
| Life Expectancy | Estimate life expectancy in years:, e.g. 10-15 years. |
| Landscape value | A guide to the value of this tree in the overall landscape of the surrounding area. On scale of 1-4. |
| Wildlife value | A guide to the value of this tree in terms of the wildlife that it supports. On scale of 1-4. |
| Recommendation | A set of recommendations for maintenance work or further inspections required. |
| Time scale | A timescale for these recommendations, e.g. Urgent, 6 months, 1 Year, 2 Years, etc |
