A Tree Protection Specification, or TPS, sets out the measures that protect retained trees through demolition, construction and landscape works, states who is responsible for each one, and says when it has to be in place. AS 4970:2025 names the document at clause 2.2.6. It is the specification the tree protection plan and the permit conditions point back to when they call for a fence, a sign or a method.
Why it exists and when we use it
AS 4970:2025 sets out what a Tree Protection Specification has to do at clause 2.2.6: describe, as a logical and sequential process, how retained trees are protected and managed through the works; state the prohibitions that apply where detail or documentation is missing; and record the critical stages. A responsible authority, usually a Council, commonly requires one as a permit condition where trees are kept close to works. Its value is that it takes the guesswork off the site. Where a services plan does not exist, trenching in the Tree Protection Zone is prohibited rather than left to a judgement call, so the absence of information triggers a clear instruction, not a gamble on a tree that cannot be replaced.
What it specifies
The specification runs the full works lifecycle, from site establishment through demolition, construction and landscape to final sign-off. On measures, it covers the protective fencing and its type, signage, trunk and ground protection, working around roots, how a service can cross a root zone, scaffolding, and keeping the zone maintained through the project. On process, it sets one induction and five supervised stages, each with hold points where the project arborist inspects and a certification outcome that has to be met before the next stage starts. It names who holds each responsibility. And it works with the two documents it depends on: the Arboricultural Impact Assessment, which assesses the works and determines each Tree Protection Zone, and the Tree Protection Plan, the scaled drawing that shows those zones and where every measure goes. The specification is the written detail those two point to; it does not repeat the assessment or the plan.
What it is built on
It is built on AS 4970:2025: clause 2.2.6 for the document, Section 4 for the protection measures, and Section 5 for supervision and certification, together with the standards that sit under it, AS 4687.2 for temporary fencing, AS 1319 for sign lettering and AS 4373 for pruning. The standard is written around outcomes and leaves the construction-method detail open, which is deliberate. Where it is thin, on fence types, ground protection build-ups, no-dig surfacing and footings near trees, we fill the detail from BS 5837 and the arboricultural research and say plainly where that detail comes from, rather than dressing it up as the Australian standard. The five supervised stages and the three certification outcomes are the system Arbor Survey already issues, so the specification drives a process we already run.
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