Skip to content
Request a quote
About

An independent arboricultural consultancy, deliberately small.

Rainfords Arboriculture is based in Rainford, St Helens, and has been trading for over a decade, with more than thirty years of arboricultural experience in the business. Surveys are carried out in house wherever possible, by qualified arboriculturists working to the same method, and every report is checked before it is issued.

Consultant on rope access fitting tomography sensors to a stem

Evidence first, opinion second.

A great deal of tree work is commissioned on the strength of a hunch. We would rather measure. Where a visual assessment cannot resolve the question we escalate to instrumentation, using sonic tomography, resistograph drilling and aerial inspection, and let the data set the recommendation.

That approach cuts both ways. It has removed trees that looked sound, and it has retained a great many that a cautious eye would have felled. Both outcomes are defensible because both are written down with the measurements attached.

Reports are written to be read by people who are not arborists: planning officers, asset managers, governing bodies, and occasionally a court.

Where we have proved it.

Four kinds of instruction that shape how the practice works.

Programme scale

Large scale survey programmes

Multi site inventories run as a rolling programme rather than a one off, with consistent data capture so year two builds on year one instead of replacing it.

Utilities

Substation and infrastructure estates

Operational sites with access constraints, permit regimes and vegetation clearance requirements alongside ordinary tree safety duties.

Housing

Regional housing stock

Dispersed trees across hundreds of addresses, surveyed into a structure that maps onto asset systems and planned maintenance programmes.

Diagnostics

Aerial tomography in difficult positions

Evidence gathered where a ground based scan cannot reach, putting instruments on unions and upper stems so a retention decision rests on measurement.

Accreditation

Credentials

AAProfessional Member of the Arboricultural Association
LANTRALANTRA qualified Professional Tree Inspector
QTRAQTRA Registered User, Quantified Tree Risk Assessment
ISAISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ)
BScLevel 6 BSc (Hons) Arboriculture, Principal Consultant
Method

Standards and instrumentation

BS 5837:2012Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction. The framework for all planning work.
BS 3998:2010Tree work recommendations. Every specification we write is expressed in its terms.
QTRA and ISA TRAQQuantified risk, so the decision rests on a number and a target rather than an impression.
NTSG guidanceThe proportionate approach to tree safety management endorsed by the HSE.
Sonic tomographyFakopp Arborsonic 3D. Internal condition mapped without cutting into the tree.
RTK GNSS and GISEmlid Reach RS3 positioning to within half a metre, captured in TreePlotter and delivered as usable data.
For procurement

Insurance, compliance and supplier onboarding.

Everything a framework or procurement team normally asks for, in one place. Certificates and policy documents are issued on request.

Request our documents
Legal entity Robert Rainford Limited Trading as Rainfords Arboriculture. Company number 16025599, registered in England and Wales.
VAT VAT registered VAT number 478 3465 48. Invoices issued with full VAT breakdown.
Insurance Public and professional indemnity Certificates of currency issued on request. Cover levels confirmed at quotation and can be reviewed against your framework requirement.
Competence Qualified and accredited consultant Level 6 BSc (Hons) Arboriculture, LANTRA Professional Tree Inspector, QTRA registered user, ISA TRAQ certified.
Site working Risk assessments and method statements Site specific RAMS provided ahead of attendance. Permit to work, induction and escort requirements accommodated on operational sites.
Data GDPR compliant handling Survey data, imagery and personal data held and shared in line with our privacy policy. Data can be issued in your preferred GIS format.