A tree survey report has no official template, but every credible BS5837:2012 report follows the same skeleton: a written report, a tree schedule (one row per tree), and scaled drawings — and the parts a template cannot give you are the professional judgements that make it valid for planning.
If you are searching for a "tree survey template", you are really asking one of two things: what should a good report contain? or can I produce it myself? This page answers the first properly, so you can judge whether a report you have been handed is fit to submit — and shows you where a template stops and a qualified arboriculturist has to take over.
The three components of a BS5837 tree survey report
A report prepared to BS 5837:2012 (Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction – Recommendations) is a package, not a single document. At minimum a planning-grade report contains:
- The written report — context, methodology, findings and recommendations.
- The tree survey schedule — the tabular record of every relevant tree.
- The plans — a Tree Constraints Plan, and for a live application an Arboricultural Impact Assessment and Tree Protection Plan.
Remember that BS5837 is a British Standard — recommendations, not law. It becomes effectively compulsory only because your local planning authority requires it on its validation list or imposes it as a planning condition. That is why the format is flexible but the content is not negotiable: the tree officer is checking for specific data, in a form they can cross-reference against a scaled plan.
It also helps to know which document belongs at which stage, because a "template" for one is useless for another:
| Deliverable | What it is | Planning stage |
|---|---|---|
| Tree survey + schedule | Systematic record of every relevant tree | Pre-design / pre-submission |
| Tree Constraints Plan (TCP) | Survey data plotted to scale — position, crown, RPA | Pre-design / pre-submission |
| Arboricultural Impact Assessment (AIA) | Assesses the proposed layout against the trees | Submitted with the application |
| Tree Protection Plan (TPP) | Barrier fencing, exclusion zones, ground protection | With application, finalised at discharge |
| Arboricultural Method Statement (AMS) | The "how" — no-dig, hand-digging, phasing, supervision | Usually a pre-commencement condition |
The full document stack explains how these sequence together. The point for template-hunters: the survey and schedule are the pre-permission record, while the AMS and final TPP are post-permission documents discharged as conditions — no single form spans them.
The tree survey schedule — the columns that must appear
This is the part people picture when they think "template". Every row is one tree (or group), and the standard columns are:
| Column | What it records |
|---|---|
| Tree ref (T1, G1, H1…) | Unique ID, cross-referenced to the plan |
| Species | Common and/or botanical name |
| Height (m) | Approximate |
| Stem diameter (mm) | Measured at 1.5 m above ground (DBH) |
| Crown spread (m) | In four cardinal directions (N/E/S/W) |
| Crown clearance / height of canopy | For engineering and shading judgements |
| Age class | Young / semi-mature / mature / veteran |
| Physiological condition | Vitality |
| Structural condition | Defects, decay, form |
| Estimated remaining contribution | Years of useful life expected |
| BS5837 category | A, B, C or U — plus subcategory 1/2/3 |
| Root Protection Area | Calculated from stem diameter |
| Recommendations | Management, retention or removal |
For a fuller field-by-field walkthrough, see what's inside a tree survey schedule. Two columns do the heavy lifting and are the most common sources of a rejected report.
The BS5837 category (A, B, C, U)
Every tree is graded into one retention category:
- U — unsuitable for retention (dead, dying, dangerous or so defective it cannot reasonably be kept; typically lost within ~10 years).
- A — high quality, retention worth ≥40 years.
- B — moderate quality, retention ≥20 years.
- C — low quality, ≥10 years, or young stems under 150 mm.
A subcategory records why it has value: 1 = arboricultural, 2 = landscape, 3 = cultural/conservation. So "A1" is a high-quality tree valued arboriculturally.
A common error in templates and older guides is a "Category R" for removal. That is legacy 2005-edition wording — BS5837:2012 uses U, not R. A schedule that says "Category R" flags an out-of-date author, and a tree officer who spots it will read the rest of the report with suspicion.
The Root Protection Area (RPA)
The RPA is the below-ground rooting area you must safeguard. The formula is straightforward:
RPA radius = 12 × stem diameter (measured at 1.5 m), capped at 707 m² (a 15 m radius) for very large trees.
So a tree with a 500 mm stem diameter has an RPA radius of 12 × 0.5 = 6 m (about 113 m²). Veteran and ancient trees get an enhanced RPA of 15 × stem diameter (or canopy + 5 m, whichever is larger). This one figure per tree drives the entire constraints plan — get the Root Protection Area wrong and every downstream drawing is wrong too.
The written report sections
A well-structured report reads in this order:
- Introduction & instructions — site, client, proposal.
- Methodology — that the survey follows BS5837:2012, survey date, limitations (e.g. visual tree assessment from ground level, no aerial or below-ground inspection).
- The site & trees — summary of what was found.
- Findings / discussion — category breakdown, notable constraints, off-site and neighbouring trees whose RPAs cross the boundary, and any TPO or Conservation Area status.
- Recommendations & conclusions.
- Appendices — the schedule and the plans.
A credible report also names the author and their qualifications and confirms professional indemnity cover. There is no statutory register of arboriculturists, but LPAs give the most weight to reports from an Arboricultural Association Registered Consultant or an ICF Chartered Arboriculturist.
Worked example: reading a report before you submit it
Say you have been handed a report for a rear extension where a neighbour's mature oak overhangs the boundary. What should you find in it? The oak should appear in the schedule with its own reference even though it is off-site, because its RPA extends into your site. Its stem diameter (say 650 mm) gives an RPA radius of about 7.8 m — and if your proposed foundations sit inside that, the report should not go silent: it should flag the incursion and point toward a no-dig or engineered foundation solution in the Arboricultural Method Statement. If the oak is missing, shown with no RPA, or graded down to justify the design, the report is not ready.
What a template cannot give you
Here is the honest limit of any downloadable template. A blank grid can hold your data, but it cannot supply:
- Condition assessment — reading vitality and structural defects is a trained judgement.
- Category grading — an optimistic "A" that the tree officer downgrades sinks the report.
- RPA plotting as a polygon — where rooting is asymmetric (constrained by a building or road), the RPA is re-shaped while preserving its area. That is a professional call.
- TPO / Conservation Area screening — missing a protected tree turns a planning problem into a criminal one.
- Weight with the LPA — a report signed by a suitably qualified and experienced arboriculturist is the thing the validation checklist actually wants.
This is why "filling in a template yourself" almost always fails at validation. The framework is the easy 10%; the survey judgement is the 90% that gets an application registered.
Requirements are set locally — check your own council
There is no national tree-survey form, and just as importantly, no national validation checklist. What a report must contain to be accepted is set by each local planning authority through its own validation list, and enforced in practice by that council's tree officer. Two neighbouring councils can ask for different levels of detail at submission: one may accept a survey and Tree Constraints Plan up front and condition the rest; another may want a full AIA and Tree Protection Plan before it will validate at all. Trigger wording, distance thresholds and the local density of TPOs and Conservation Areas all vary.
Before you rely on any template or report, read your council's current validation requirements. You can see live tree-related planning activity for your area through PlanWatch — start at the tree surveys hub, then check example authorities such as Leeds, Manchester or Bristol to see how local requirements and caseloads differ. Note too that BS5837 is UK-wide as a Standard, but the statutory framework differs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — this guidance is England-centric, so verify locally if you are elsewhere.
Use the framework, then get the real thing
Treat the structure above as a checklist for reviewing a report you have been quoted or handed — if the schedule is missing RPAs, uses "Category R", or ignores neighbouring trees, it is not ready to submit.
If you need a report that will actually pass validation:
- Start with the money page: Tree Surveys for Planning.
- Understand the full document stack in What a BS5837 Tree Survey Includes.
- Learn to interpret a finished report in How to Read Your Arboricultural Report.
- Check likely fees on the tree survey cost page.