Contractors support revisions to AA Approved Contractor scheme

For the past six months the Arboricultural Association has been considering the best way to develop its Approved Contractor scheme (the AAAC scheme).  These considerations have been informed by an industry-wide consultation that took place at the end of 2009, subsequent negotiations with TreeCareApproved (which operates a TrustMark approved arboricultural contractor scheme) and a consultation exclusively with existing AAACs this month.
 
The two most significant aspects to address have been identified as

• accessibility of the scheme to contractors and
• promotion of the scheme to prospective clients.

A range of options have been considered that could address these issues.  These include

• modularisation (breaking down the assessment into more manageable-sized portions)
• revising the fee structure to reflect business size
• revising the technical standards to reflect business size (e.g. as the Health and Safety Executive already does with health and safety policies etc.)
• developing some form of relationship with TreeCareApproved and thereby linking with TrustMark's national marketing initiatives.  Various options were discussed ranging from independence with mutual respect through to complete alignment of standards with dual accreditation.

At the end of July the AA Board decided it would progress all these initiatives and that the relationship with TreeCareApproved's TrustMark scheme would be one of respect but with no formal link.  The AA is keen to stress that the independence from TrustMark does not imply any form of competition: indeed one of the AA's core objectives is to work with any organisation contributing to its charitable objective of advancing the science of arboriculture for the public benefit.

Speaking after the Board meeting AA Vice Chair Peter Holloway said, "The AAAC brand is widely recognised as the icon of best practice in arboricultural contracting work.  The AA recognised TrustMark as another useful standard in identifying credible tree care professionals.  The AA is keen to make the process of entry to its own scheme more straightforward and to encourage progression and retention.  The plans we have will be implemented in the second half of this year and will be rolled out in 2011".