A tree survey is a report by a qualified arboriculturalist rather than a tree surgeon, and it is a different service from a quote for work.
What it costs
MyJobQuote puts a tree survey at £300 to £600 for domestic work. Larger sites and reports supporting major planning applications cost more.
When you actually need one
Applying for consent on a protected tree. If you want to fell or substantially reduce a tree with a TPO, the council will usually want evidence rather than an assertion. A survey setting out the tree's condition, any defects and the arboricultural justification for the work is what turns a refusal into a consent.
Planning applications. Where development is proposed near existing trees, councils commonly require a survey to the relevant British Standard, identifying which trees are retained and how they will be protected during construction.
Subsidence claims. This is the common South London case. Where an insurer attributes movement to a tree, the claim proceeds on arboricultural and engineering evidence: root identification, soil analysis, and monitoring. This work sits well beyond a tree surgeon's quote.
Buying a property. A large mature tree close to a house is worth understanding before exchange, particularly on clay.
What you should get
A written report identifying each tree by species, with measurements, an assessment of condition and structural defects, an estimate of remaining contribution, and clear recommendations.
Where the survey supports a planning or TPO application, it should be written to the standard the council expects and reference the relevant British Standard.
Who should write it
An arboriculturalist rather than a tree surgeon. Look for professional membership such as the Arboricultural Association, and a qualification in arboriculture rather than only chainsaw certification.
There is an obvious conflict of interest where the person recommending the work is the person who will be paid to carry it out. For a straightforward reduction that hardly matters. Where a survey is being used to justify felling a protected tree, or to support an insurance claim, independence matters, and councils are alert to reports written by the contractor who stands to fell the tree.
What it does not cover
A survey is a report, not consent. It supports an application; it does not replace one. You still need written council consent for TPO work, or a six-week section 211 notice in a conservation area.
Nor is it a quote. Expect to commission the survey first, then get quotes for whatever work is approved.
When you do not need one
For routine work on an unprotected tree in your own garden, a survey is unnecessary. A competent tree surgeon will assess the tree as part of quoting, and for a straightforward crown lift or deadwood removal that assessment is sufficient.
Reserve the survey for cases where someone else, a council, an insurer or a planning officer, needs to be persuaded.
Timing it properly
Commission the survey before you do anything else. It is the document that determines whether the work is possible, what form it can take, and whether the council will agree to it.
Homeowners frequently do this the wrong way round: they collect felling quotes, choose a contractor, and only then discover the tree is protected and the application needs arboricultural evidence. The quotes are then months out of date, and the survey may conclude that felling is not justifiable and a reduction is the realistic outcome.
Allow time in the sequence. A survey takes a couple of weeks to commission and write up, and a TPO application typically takes around eight weeks for a decision after that. If you want the work done in winter, start in early autumn.
A note on tree condition reports
A survey supporting a felling application and a general condition inspection are not quite the same product. If you simply want to know whether a large tree near your house is safe, say so, because that is a shorter and cheaper piece of work than a full report written to satisfy a planning officer.
Be specific about what the report is for when you commission it. An arboriculturalist who knows the audience will write to that standard, and a report written for the wrong purpose may have to be redone.