The crew arrives to prune the trees beside a loading area. Nobody has marked which trees are included, and the site supervisor wants another limb removed while the lift is set up. Arborist commercial contracts should stop this argument before the truck leaves the yard.
Treat the contract as a control system. The standing agreement sets the rules. Each work order authorizes a defined tree job. A written change order controls anything added on site.
Build arborist commercial contracts around a document chain
Do not make one document carry every instruction for every property and visit. Separate the commercial relationship from the work being released.
A clean document chain looks like this:
- Standing commercial contract
- Customer purchase order, where required
- Tree work order
- Crew and safety records
- Change order, if the scope changes
- Completion record
- Invoice and job-cost record
Give the chain one shared job reference. Put that reference on the crew sheet, change order, completion record and invoice. Accounts payable should not have to guess which visit your invoice covers.
Put standing terms in the commercial contract
The standing contract sets the ongoing rules between your business and the customer. Use it for terms that apply across properties, visits and tree work orders. Use a work order for the particular site task.
| Put in the standing contract | Put in each tree work order |
|---|---|
| Parties, covered properties, contract term and renewal | Property, work zone and tree identification |
| Request, quote, spending and emergency authority | Approved treatment and required result |
| Pricing methods, GST/HST treatment and payment terms | Approved price or pricing basis |
| Invoice disputes, suspension and cancellation | Access, equipment and site controls |
| Insurance documents and notices | Debris, wood, stump and restoration instructions |
| Customer-caused delay and rescheduling rules | Customer preparation duties and stop conditions |
| Change-order process and document precedence | Named approver, timing and completion evidence |
State how notices must be sent and when a renewal, cancellation or suspension takes effect. Set the process for disputed charges without turning the crew into the collections desk. Say who carries the cost when the customer fails to provide agreed access, vehicle clearance or site controls.
Record the insurance documents each party must provide under the agreement. State how GST/HST is shown on quotes and invoices, then check registration and account questions with the Canada Revenue Agency (opens in a new tab). Do not copy tax terms from another contract.
Have local counsel review the standing terms before you issue them. Arborist commercial contracts can cross contract, property, insurance and liability questions that depend on the province or territory and the deal you are signing.
It should also state which document controls if the contract, purchase order and work order conflict. Do not let a general purchasing note silently replace a tree-specific scope.
Record how emergency calls are requested and approved. State whether a phone instruction can release a dispatch and how that instruction will be confirmed in writing.
Put the actual tree job in a work order
Tree work orders authorize specific work. Name the property, work zone, trees, treatment, access plan, debris instructions, price basis and approver.
A work order saying “prune trees beside loading area” is too loose. Identify the trees by asset number, tag, map reference or a physical description that a new crew member can follow without asking the customer to reinterpret the scope.
If the job is a removal, build the scope and price with the arborist tree removal quote guide. The quote can become the pricing attachment to the work order once the customer approves it.
Set request and approval authority before dispatch
Commercial sites have property managers, tenants, security staff, site supervisors and accounts teams. They do not all have the same authority.
Write down who can report a problem, who can request a quote and who can approve spending. One person may perform all three roles, but do not assume that from a phone call.
Use an authority schedule
Put names and contact details beside each decision. Replace the role when the customer changes staff.
| Decision | Named role | Record before acting |
|---|---|---|
| Request an inspection | Site contact or property manager | Site, reported condition and requested timing |
| Approve quoted work | Contract approver | Quote and work-order references |
| Approve spend up to the customer’s own limit | Delegated approver | Customer-stated limit and written approval method |
| Authorize emergency dispatch | Emergency contact | Work released: inspection, temporary controls or specified tree work |
| Approve a change order | Change approver | Changed scope, price effect and timing effect |
If the named person cannot be reached, do not treat the nearest supervisor as a substitute. Follow the escalation contact in the standing contract. If nobody with authority responds, secure only the actions already authorized, record the condition and stop.
Separate reporting from approval
A tenant can report a hanging branch. A caretaker can send photographs. That does not mean either person can approve a removal.
Record the reporter’s name and the condition reported. Then route the decision to the named approver. If the customer wants several people to approve work, list them and state any limits placed on their authority.
Set paths for routine, urgent and emergency work
Routine commercial tree maintenance can follow the normal quote and release process. Urgent work may need a faster inspection and approval path. Emergency work needs a named person who can authorize dispatch when the usual office contact is unavailable.
Define what an emergency instruction authorizes. It might release an inspection, temporary site controls or specified tree work. Do not treat “go take a look” as permission to perform every task the crew thinks may help.
Record site contacts without handing them the scope
The person opening a gate or moving vehicles is a site contact. That role does not automatically include approval authority.
Put both names on the work order when they differ: the site contact for access and the commercial approver for cost and scope. The crew then knows who can clear a loading area and who can approve another limb.
Write the arborist contract scope tree by tree
The arborist contract scope must tell the crew what to do without relying on an unwritten conversation. Walk the site before pricing work that depends on tree condition, access, equipment position or debris volume.
Mark each included tree on a plan or photograph. If you use a group description, draw a clear boundary and state how many marked assets are inside it without turning an entire property into open-ended scope.
State the treatment and required result
Use a specific treatment. Record the parts of the crown, deadwood, clearance target, removal limits, stump instruction or inspection task covered by the order.
Avoid loose phrases such as “make safe,” “tidy trees” or “prune as needed” unless the contract defines exactly what those instructions mean. A broad phrase pushes the final scope decision onto the crew.
If the condition cannot be confirmed from the ground, separate the inspection from the later work. Price and authorize the next stage after the condition is known.
Define access and site controls
Record where the truck, lift, chipper and crew may operate. Note gates, surface limits, overhead restrictions, loading times and areas that must stay open.
State who controls parked vehicles, pedestrians, occupants and deliveries. If the customer must clear the drop zone, put that duty and its deadline on the order.
Decide what happens if the zone is blocked when the crew arrives. The order should say whether the visit is paused, rescheduled or changed in price through the agreed approval process. Do not promise free waiting time by leaving the issue blank.
State debris and restoration duties
Say whether brush is chipped, hauled or left in a nominated place. State what happens to logs, wood, grindings and stumps. Name any surface protection or basic cleanup included in the price.
Do not write “all cleanup” when the customer expects soil repair, planting, fence repair or removal of unrelated debris. Name the finish you priced.
List exclusions and stop conditions
Exclusions protect the quote from work you could not inspect or did not agree to perform. Record concealed obstacles, unmarked services, restricted access, occupied work zones and customer delays where they affect the job.
A stop condition tells the crew when not to improvise. Examples include an unidentified tree, an unavailable drop zone, changed site conditions or a request outside the work order. Stop. Photograph the condition. Call the office.
Use a copy-ready tree work order
Keep the form short enough to use and specific enough to control the cut.
TREE WORK ORDER Contract / purchase-order / work-order references: [references] Property and work zone: [address and precise location] Access contact: [name and contact] Scope and change approver: [name and contact] Tree identification: [tag, map reference or physical description] Approved treatment and result: [scope] Equipment and access: [plan] Site controls and customer duties: [details] Debris and restoration: [instructions] Exclusions and stop conditions: [details] Approved price or pricing basis: [details] Timing limits: [details] Completion evidence: [photos, notes and asset status] Change-order references: [references or none]
Price the authorized scope before promising the visit
Price the work order after the inspection and scope. Start with cost. Then add overhead and markup.
Keep the cost buckets boring:
- Crew labour, including loading, travel charged to the job and site time
- Equipment assigned to the order
- Materials and consumables
- Subcontractors
- Disposal and hauling
- Traffic or pedestrian control
- Overhead allocated under your normal costing method
Apply markup to the total cost to reach the quoted price. Markup and margin are not interchangeable. Markup is profit divided by cost. Margin is profit divided by selling price.
Use your own records rather than a copied rate. Equipment condition, disposal arrangements, access and crew composition belong to your business and this site.
Price each planned maintenance visit
For recurring commercial tree maintenance, build each planned visit from its crew labour, equipment, hauling, disposal, subcontractor and allocated overhead costs. Add markup after the visit cost is complete.
Then state how that price is released. The contract may authorize a fixed visit scope, require a new work order for each visit or allow releases against an agreed pricing schedule. The crew still needs a site, tree list and task list for every dispatch.
If pruning cycles or site conditions change, re-scope the affected visit. Do not spread an unpriced tree across the rest of the contract and hope the account absorbs it.
Separate emergency work into priced stages
Price emergency work in stages the approver can release: dispatch or inspection, temporary controls, authorized tree work and follow-on work. Build each stage from its own labour, equipment, hauling, disposal, subcontractor and allocated overhead costs, then add markup.
Record which stage the emergency contact approved. An instruction to inspect or install temporary controls does not release the removal or later restoration.
Price access failure and added work through the contract
Parked vehicles can block the agreed drop zone. A loading dock can stay active after the customer promised closure. These conditions consume crew and equipment time.
State the process before they happen. Record the condition, tell the approver what changes, and get written authority before accepting added waiting, remobilization or another access method.
Arborist commercial contracts work when the price follows the authorized scope. They fail when the crew performs a favour and the office tries to price it later.
Release the work order only when the site is ready
Call the site contact before dispatch. Confirm the gate, parking controls, work zone, occupants, deliveries and equipment position. Ask whether anything has changed since the inspection.
If the answer changes the plan, update the order before loading the crew into the truck.
Split site responsibilities before dispatch
Require the customer to supply known site hazards and access information. Name who clears vehicles and occupants from the agreed work zone, and set the time that area must be ready.
State who arranges traffic or pedestrian controls. Record who confirms available utility information and who starts the official utility-locate process for the site when ground disturbance or the planned work calls for it.
The arborist controls the crew’s work method, equipment use and stop-work decision. A customer contact can describe the requested result. That person cannot direct the crew to use an unsafe method or continue after the crew stops.
Use the arborist hazard assessment process to build the crew briefing. Where the job requires a tree removal safety plan, attach it to the same work-order reference rather than storing it as an unidentified site form.
Customer instructions do not replace the crew’s safety decision. If the approved work cannot proceed under the conditions found, stop and route the issue back through the contract process.
Check each Canadian duty with the right official body
Check occupational health and safety duties with the official provincial or territorial occupational health and safety regulator for the site. Check worker coverage with the provincial or territorial workers’ compensation board.
Ask the applicable trade or professional regulator whether the planned work requires a licence, certification or regulated professional role. Do not assume every province or territory assigns the same arborist work to the same body.
Check municipal tree, street, traffic and road-use rules with the municipality where the property sits. Use the official utility-locate process serving the site before work that may affect buried infrastructure.
A customer onboarding checklist does not settle these duties. A municipal business licence does not replace a safety, worker-coverage, professional, tree, road-use or utility-locate check.
Turn site instructions into controlled change orders
The lift and chipper are set up. A site supervisor points to another limb and says, “Take that one while you are here.” That sentence is a request, not approved scope.
Compare the request with the tree work order. If the tree, treatment, debris or access requirement falls outside it, stop before cutting, rigging or loading anything extra.
Write the added or removed work. Record the effect on price and timing. Name the person who approved it. Give the change order its own reference and attach it to the original order.
Do not rely on a crew member’s memory at invoice time. A photograph shows the condition. It does not show commercial approval.
Worked example: control the change before finishing
This electrical job is the house example. All figures are sample currency units, not an arborist rate card.
At 14 Oak Street, quote Q-1847 covered a bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights for 1,105. The ceiling was lined, and the quote excluded chasing. Extra cable and chasing were approved on site as a 160 change order. Invoice INV-1847 was then 1,265.
The original job cost was 850. Measured against the original quote, profit was 1,105 − 850 = 255. Margin was 255 ÷ 1,105, or about 23%. Markup was 255 ÷ 850, or 30%.
The costs of the 160 change are not given. Do not calculate profit using the 1,265 invoice and the original 850 cost. Attach the added costs to the change before judging the final job result.
The same rule applies when a commercial tree crew adds a limb, another tree, extra rigging, added disposal or waiting time. Write the change order first. Then continue.
Close each work order before billing the account
Record which trees were completed and which were not. Add completion photographs, debris status, site condition and unresolved items. Do this before the crew loses the detail of the visit.
Match the invoice to the contract reference, customer purchase order, tree work order and every approved change. The arborist tree removal invoice process shows how to keep extras and final billing visible.
Do not combine unrelated orders into one vague line unless the customer has agreed to that billing format and can still match each charge. A useful invoice line names the property, order reference and completed scope.
Keep cost tracking on the order that caused it
Post crew time, equipment, disposal and subcontractor costs to the individual work order. Do not leave a chipper day or disposal receipt against a general commercial account when one visit caused the cost.
Use the arborist job-costing method to compare the approved price with actual cost. Review each order on its own before looking at the account as a whole.
For recurring sites, inspect open items before releasing the next visit. Arborist commercial contracts stay controlled when a tree added to the inventory, a blocked access route or a changed cleanup instruction goes into the next order or a contract amendment, not a crew member’s memory.