Your rights · Victoria · Cardinia Shire

Warranties on tree work in Victoria, and exactly what to do if it goes wrong

Tree work is not domestic building work, so there is no builder’s warranty insurance behind it and Victoria does not licence arborists. What protects you is the Australian Consumer Law, which guarantees the job is done with due care and skill and in a reasonable time, plus the written workmanship warranty on the invoice, typically 12 months. Public liability cover of $10 million to $20 million is what pays if a section goes through your roof. Start any dispute with a dated written defect notice and give 14 days to respond.

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Almost nobody reads this page before they book a job, and almost everybody who needs it wishes they had. Below is the honest map of who covers what on tree work in Victoria, how long each cover lasts, what a defect actually is, and the order to escalate a problem so that you are taken seriously. It applies whether the work was done by us or by someone else in Pakenham, Officer or Berwick. Choosing well in the first place is still the best protection: see how to choose an arborist.

What is covered, by whom, and for how long

Three different things get called a warranty and they behave completely differently. This is the reference table worth keeping.

Cover	What it covers	Who provides it	How long	What it does not cover
Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law	Services supplied with due care and skill, fit for the purpose you told them about, and delivered within a reasonable time. Goods, including plants and mulch, of acceptable quality	The contractor, backed by law. Enforced through Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal	No fixed expiry. What is reasonable depends on the price and nature of the work: months for finish quality, longer for a major failure	Damage you caused, work you insisted on against written advice, and natural outcomes such as an old tree declining
Written workmanship warranty	Redoing the physical work: a stump not ground to the agreed depth, roots not chased where the quote said they would be, a pruning cut in the wrong place, clean-up not completed	The contractor, in writing on the quote or invoice	Typically 12 months	Anything outside the written scope, which is why the scope matters more than the warranty
Stump regrowth cover	Suckering and resprouting from a ground stump	The contractor, and only if it is written down. Many exclude it entirely	Commonly 3 to 6 months where offered	Suckers from roots beyond the grind radius, and known resprouters like privet, willow and camphor laurel unless specifically named
Planting establishment warranty	A replacement tree that dies inside the cover period	The nursery, or the contractor who supplied and planted it	3 to 12 months, almost always conditional on an agreed watering regime	Drought stress from missed watering, mower and whipper snipper damage, and stock you supplied yourself
Public liability insurance	Damage to your house, roof, fence, pool, driveway, car or a neighbour’s property caused by the crew or the work	The contractor’s insurer. Standard cover in this trade is $10 million to $20 million	Against the policy that was in force on the day the work was done	A tree failing later from natural causes, and anything at all if the operator was uninsured
WorkCover and workers compensation	Injury to the crew while they are on your property	The contractor’s insurer. Compulsory in Victoria for employers	For the duration of the work	Nothing protects you if the operator carries neither WorkCover nor personal accident cover, which is a genuine exposure for the homeowner
Arborist report or assessment	A professional opinion on the tree as at the inspection date, used for permits, insurers and disputes	The consulting arborist, who should carry professional indemnity cover	Councils and insurers commonly treat a report as current for about 12 months	Anything that changes after the inspection, including storm damage the following week

The escalation ladder, in order, with realistic timeframes

Skipping steps weakens your position. Tribunals and conciliators want to see that you gave the contractor a fair chance to fix it, in writing, with a deadline.

Step	When	What you do	Timeframe to allow
1. Raise it at the final walk	On the day, before you pay	Point at it while the crew and the gear are still there. Take photos before anyone leaves	Most things are fixed the same hour
2. Phone call plus photos by email	Within 7 days of noticing	Ring, then email dated photographs with the invoice number so there is a written trail	A response within 2 business days is reasonable
3. Written defect notice	Within 14 to 30 days	Email listing each defect against the written scope, with the remedy you want and a deadline	14 days to respond and act
4. Letter of demand	If the defect notice is ignored	State the amount or remedy sought, refer to the consumer guarantees, set a final date and say what you will do next	14 to 21 days
5. Consumer Affairs Victoria	Still unresolved	Lodge a consumer and trader dispute. Conciliation is free and often moves a contractor who has stopped answering the phone	Several weeks, depending on their queue
6. VCAT civil claims	Last resort	Apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Application fees scale with the amount claimed and you do not need a lawyer	Usually months from lodgement to hearing
7. Insurance, running in parallel	Any time property was damaged	Claim against the contractor’s public liability policy and notify your own insurer as well	Weeks. Do not clean up before the photographs

If a tree came down in a storm rather than through a contractor’s error, the path is different: see the tree damage insurance claim guide.

Want the warranty in writing before you book?

Our quotes carry the scope, the GST inclusive price, the insurance details and the workmanship warranty on the same page. Ask and we will send a sample.

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The Victorian framework, in plain words

Consumer law. Tree work is a supply of services to a consumer, so it sits under the Australian Consumer Law. That law gives you guarantees that cannot be contracted out of: the work must be carried out with due care and skill, must be fit for any purpose you made known, and must be supplied within a reasonable time. Consumer Affairs Victoria administers it in this state and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hears the disputes. Those guarantees sit behind every quote, whether or not the word warranty appears anywhere.

Building law, and why it does not apply. Victoria has a domestic building framework that requires a major domestic building contract above a set dollar threshold, and domestic building insurance above a higher threshold, with builders registered by the state building authority. Stand alone tree removal, pruning and stump grinding is not usually domestic building work, so none of that machinery applies, there is no warranty insurance policy sitting behind the job, and no state registration to check. Where clearing is part of a house build the position can change, because the clearing may sit inside the builder’s contract instead. If your job is a site clearance ahead of construction, read block clearing before building and ask the builder in writing which contract the tree work belongs to.

Qualifications, since there is no licence. Victoria does not licence arborists. Three credentials are worth asking about: a Certificate III in Arboriculture for anyone climbing and cutting, a Diploma level qualification for anyone writing a report a council or insurer will rely on, and the specific training and authorisation required for work near electricity network assets. Ask which, and ask to see it. It takes thirty seconds and it is the single best predictor of how the job will go.

Standards. Two Australian Standards do the heavy lifting in this trade. AS 4373, pruning of amenity trees, defines the pruning types and the cuts, and it is what a written scope should reference so that topping cannot be passed off as pruning. AS 4970, protection of trees on development sites, governs how trees are protected during building work. If a quote or a report names neither, that tells you something.

What documentation to keep, and for how long

The written quote with its scope. This is the single most important document. Every dispute we have ever seen turned on what the scope said, not on what anyone remembered saying.
The certificate of currency for public liability, with the expiry date visible. Get it before the work, not after. A certificate that expired last month is not cover.
The tax invoice showing the ABN and the GST. Without it you have no clean paper trail for an insurer, a tribunal or a future buyer.
Before and after photographs, dated. Take your own. Ten photos on a phone before the crew starts costs nothing and settles arguments.
Any planning permit and its conditions. Keep these with the title documents permanently, because replacement planting conditions can be enforced years later and the next owner will want them. See the Cardinia permit guide.
The arborist report, if there was one. Councils and insurers generally treat a report as current for about 12 months.
Text messages and emails agreeing any change. A verbal variation on the day is the most common source of a dispute. Confirm it by text before the saw starts.
Proof of payment. Keep the lot for at least seven years, and keep anything property related for as long as you own the place.

Defect or fair wear? The honest dividing line

These are the things we would fix without argument:

A stump ground shallower than the depth written in the quote, or surface roots not chased when the quote said they would be.
Grindings or brush left on site when the quote said they would be carted away.
A broken fence panel, cracked paver or damaged gutter caused by a dropped or swung section.
Deep ruts in a lawn where the quote said we would board out or use a mat.
A pruning cut made into the branch collar or a stub left long, contrary to AS 4373.
A tree or limb that was in the written scope and simply was not removed.

These are normal outcomes, not defects, and no contractor should be paying for them:

Lawn compaction and yellowing that recovers over 6 to 8 weeks.
A stump grind hole settling 30 to 60mm over the first winter as the grindings compost down.
Sawdust in nearby garden beds and a strong fresh timber smell for a day or two.
A shrub bruised inside a drop zone you agreed was expendable.
Resprouting from a species you were told resprouts, where regrowth cover was not purchased.
The remaining trees dropping leaves or minor deadwood after a reduction, which is a normal stress response.

The grey zone in the middle is almost always about depth, extent or finish, and it is almost always resolvable by looking at the written scope together. That is the whole argument for getting the scope right, which is the next section.

Most disputes are prevented by the quote, not by the warranty

We have never had a dispute over a job where the scope named everything. A scope worth signing identifies each tree by photograph or tag rather than by description, gives the approximate height and species, states whether the stump is included and to exactly what depth in millimetres, says what happens to the timber and the chip, names which plants under the drop zone are expendable, describes the access route, sets the make-good standard in words you could hold someone to, gives a date and an arrival window, states the price as GST inclusive, sets the payment terms, and states the warranty period. That is a dozen lines. It is the cheapest insurance in the trade.

Two more habits that prevent trouble. Never pay in full before the work, because a modest deposit with the balance on completion is normal and full prepayment removes your only leverage. And put every variation in a text message: if the crew finds a second dead tree and you want it gone, agree the price by text before it comes down, not afterwards. For what those prices should look like, see the pricing guide and the budget removal tiers, and if you are still choosing between quotes, what happens on the day sets out the standard a good crew works to.

What no warranty can cover

Being straight about this matters more than sounding reassuring. A tree is a living thing in weather. A correct reduction to AS 4373 lowers the risk that a limb fails, it does not remove it, and no honest arborist will warrant that a pruned tree will not drop something in a serious storm. Nobody can warrant that the tree next door stays standing either. What a proper job buys you is a tree with less sail area, no obvious defects left in place, and a written assessment you can hand an insurer.

There are also two things we deliberately do not warrant, and we say so on the quote rather than in fine print. We do not warrant regrowth on known resprouting species unless you have specifically paid for that cover, because privet, willow and camphor laurel will come back from root fragments no grinder can reach. And we do not warrant the long term survival of a retained tree after a heavy reduction requested against our advice, because that is your decision and we will have put our recommendation in writing first. If a tree is showing warning signs right now, do not wait on a warranty question: read the signs a tree is dangerous and call us on (03) 9003 0108.

Frequently asked questions

Do arborists need a licence in Victoria?

No. Victoria does not licence or register arborists the way it registers builders and electricians. The qualifications that actually mean something are a Certificate III in Arboriculture for the crew doing the climbing and cutting, a Diploma level qualification for anyone writing a report you will rely on, and specific training and authorisation for work near powerlines. Ask which of the three the person quoting you holds.

Is tree removal covered by Victoria's domestic building warranty?

Generally no. Victoria's domestic building framework requires a major domestic building contract above a set dollar threshold and domestic building insurance above a higher one, but stand alone tree work is not usually domestic building work, so there is no builder's warranty insurance behind it. Your protection is the Australian Consumer Law plus the written workmanship warranty on the invoice. Where tree clearing forms part of a build, it can instead fall inside the builder's own contract.

How long is a tree work warranty in Victoria?

A written workmanship warranty is typically 12 months. Planting establishment cover is usually 3 to 12 months and conditional on an agreed watering regime. Stump regrowth cover, where it is offered at all, is commonly 3 to 6 months. Behind all of that, the consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law have no fixed expiry date: what counts as a reasonable period depends on the price and nature of the work.

What should a defect notice for tree work actually say?

Send it by email so there is a record. Include the property address, the date the work was done and the invoice number, then list each defect separately with dated photographs and what the written scope said should have happened. State the remedy you want, whether that is a return visit, a partial refund or the cost of another contractor, and give a reasonable deadline of about 14 days. Keep it factual, because that email becomes your evidence.

Is a settling stump grind hole a defect?

Usually not. Grindings are wood, and as they compost over the first winter the backfill drops 30 to 60mm, which is normal and easily topped up. A genuine defect is a stump ground shallower than the depth in the quote, surface roots left when the quote said they would be chased, or grindings left on site when the quote said they would be carted away. The written scope is what decides which one you have.

Who do I complain to if the contractor will not fix it?

Work up the ladder. Raise it on the day, then phone and email within seven days, then send a written defect notice and allow 14 days, then a letter of demand with a 14 to 21 day deadline. If it is still unresolved, lodge a dispute with Consumer Affairs Victoria for conciliation, and if that fails apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, whose application fees scale with the amount you are claiming.

Get a price

Get a quote with the scope and the warranty on it

Send the details and we will come out and put the scope, the insurance, the GST inclusive price and the warranty period in one written quote, usually within 1 business day.

Left with half a job by someone else?

We will look at what was quoted against what was done and tell you honestly whether it is a defect. See stump grinding and pruning for what a finished job looks like.

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