HOURLY RATE JOBS: The billable time for “Hourly rate” jobs will commence when our vehicle(s) and equipment arrive at the front or drive past the job address. For example, if the North Brisbane Trees crew arrive at the job address at 8am and there is no parking available requiring the Tree Crew to drive around to find parking and do not physically arrive at the job address until 8.20am, the billable time will be charged from 8am. It is for this reason that it is in your interest to reserve sufficient parking outside of your property for our vehicle(s) and equipment. As a guide a standard truck and chipper is approx. 10m in length. The billable time stops when the North Brisbane Trees vehicle leaves site.
STUMP GRINDING: Stump Grinding is charged at either an hourly rate or at a quoted price. The hourly rate is charged in 15- minute increments. Billed time commences upon arrival at the site, at which time the operator will immediately start to unload the stump grinder and proceed to the stump. Time to remove any obstacles, ornamental lighting, watering systems, etc. or time to construct ramps in order to gain access to the stumps is included in the billed time. Time spent removing pavers, hammering concrete edging and/or time spent replacing pavers upon completion if discussed etc. is included in the billed time. If any stumps we are grinding contain any hard-foreign objects within the stump that may damage the machine (e.g. star pickets, hard rocks, metal pipes etc.), or the stump is growing onto, through or near other objects such as fencing, paving, edging, driveways or any other object that may damage our machine, North Brisbane Trees (NBT) reserve the right to cease grinding the stump.
Our operator will endeavour to grind as close as possible to these objects. Unless otherwise stated in the quote, the stump grinding does not include every single root attached to the stump. Grinding only refers to grinding the actual stump itself. Should you require more extensive grinding please contact the office with details in order to modify your quote. NBT will NOT be held responsible for any damage to underground utilities, i.e. power, phone, water etc. NBT will not be held responsible for damage associated with flying rocks and debris etc. to your property or your neighbour’s property whilst in the act of grinding. The operator reserves the right to cease grinding if there is a risk of damage occurring to person or property.
NBT recommends that all vehicles and any object(s) of value near the grinding site that can be removed, is removed to prevent any possible damage. NBT will not be responsible for cleaning walls, houses or any structure that may become soiled through the grinding process, as this can result in grindings or mud/dirt being flicked up onto said structures. Stump grinding can sometimes create massive volumes of dust in the air which can affect your property and neighbouring properties. It is impossible to predict if this will occur as it’s dependant on the type of soil and how moist the soil is at the time of grinding. One way to dramatically reduce the amount of dust generated is to use water sprayed directly onto the area being grinded. If you are concerned about this, it is the customer’s responsibility to carry out this watering and to supply a hose, nozzle capable of spraying 15m’s, as this is the minimum safe distance permitted to the grinder. Should you decide to carry out the watering whilst grinding, please inform the office when scheduling in the works so that we can supply the waterer with the appropriate PPE. Alternatively, we can supply a staff member to carry out the watering and we can quote on supplying this service for you.
NBT encourage you to notify all neighbours that will be affected by this noise and possible dust prior to the works being completed, so neighbours can close their windows, remove pets from the area and let you know of children or the elderly that may be sleeping during the day, etc. Throughout the course of stump grinding, a sawdust like material known as grindings can fall into your or your neighbour’s pools / ponds etc. NBT recommends that you cover your pool/pond with a cover or large tarpaulin, and advise any close neighbours to do the same, as we will not be held responsible for the cleaning of grindings from pools and ponds. Upon completion of grinding, grindings will be left on site in situ, unless otherwise stated in the quote. Our largest machine (which is capable of a 500mm grinding depth), can disperse huge quantities of stump grindings/soils/etc. and on occasion it is necessary to use a bobcat and tip truck to dispose of these grindings, please contact the NBT office to enquire about our stump grindings removal service as this is not included as part of our standard stump grinding service.
Please note the property owner is required to be onsite whilst grinding occurs to ensure the work is completed to their satisfaction. Once grinding is complete, it is the responsibility of the property owner to inspect the property to ensure all stumps have been grinded and none have been missed. If the property owner is not able to attend the property whilst NBT is on site, we will not be held liable, nor return to the property if a stump has been missed. NBT can usually dispose of removed pavers / concrete – just ask the operator for a price when nearing the end of the job. Billed time stops when the grinder is back on the truck and the area is left clean / blown down, however you reserve the right to end billed time when the grinder is back on the truck, but before the site has been cleaned (i.e. you may decide to clean the site yourself). NOTE: Stump grinders are extremely dangerous and can cause serious injury or death. It is your responsibility for you and your family, friends and pets to remain well away from the grinder at all times!
STUMPS TO BE CUT JUST ABOVE GROUND LEVEL AND POISONED: Our staff will cut the stump as low as we can, but we cannot risk our saws coming in contact with soil / earth as this will dull the chains instantly. Smaller stumps are typically cut about 30mm-120mm above ground level while large/very large stumps are typically cut from 300mm up to 1m above ground level, depending on the gradient of the earth surrounding the stump. Some stumps can contain foreign objects that the tree envelopes as it grows. These items include, but are not limited to, star pickets, metal fence posts, bricks, rocks, concrete and chain link wire fencing. All of these objects will damage chainsaws when contact is made and can make the removal of the stump to your desired height extremely time consuming and costly due to damaged / dulled chains. If a foreign object as outlined above is found within a stump, NBT will not be responsible for cutting the stump to the desired height. In this instance the stump will be cut at a height just above the foreign object. NBT can provide you with a quote to remove the stump containing the foreign object, but please note this work will more than likely need to be carried out at another time as specialised tools will be required to complete the work. NOTE: The poison used by NBT is undiluted Glyphosate, i.e. Roundup or Zero.
When a stump is poisoned the chemical will be absorbed down throughout the root system which can then in turn spread to surrounding trees via translocation resulting in the death of surrounding trees. North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible for the accidental poisoning of any other surrounding vegetation. It is the customers responsibility to either make a determination as to whether or not there is a risk of accidentally poisoning surrounding vegetation, or to contact the office and seeking the advice of the North Brisbane Trees Director – Craig Bauer. The advice and/or actions of North Brisbane Trees regarding stump poisoning is not valid and North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible for any negative consequences that occurs through the actions or advice of North Brisbane Trees staff. The only exception to the above is if a customer specifically enquires about a potential concern of accidental poisoning and the North Brisbane Trees Director Craig Bauer investigates and offers written advice specifically regarding accidental poisoning of a specific stump and in following this advice it is proven that accidental poisoning has occurred, then this would be the ONLY circumstance upon which North Brisbane Trees would be held responsible for an accidental poisoning. If a stump has been poisoned on the top by North Brisbane Trees and the stump sends up suckers to the side top or along the ground we are unable to return to site to poison again at no charge.
ROOT BALL REMOVAL: NBT or any sub-contractor provided by NBT, will not be held responsible for any damage caused to underground utilities or disturbance to survey pegs that may take place during the works. It is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure the following items including, but not limited to, all site pegs, utilities, fencing and sundry items have been identified and bought to the attention of the NBT operator / sub-contractor prior to the commencement of works.
GENERAL TREE WORK: NBT will not be liable for any cracked tiles or damage to the roof or gutters or houses, sheds, carports of any structure we are walking on to get to a roof in order to carry out any tree trimming. It is the customers responsibility to advise our office in writing i.e. via email if you prefer that the tree work is to be completed without accessing any roof structures, in which case the job may need to be requoted. It is the customers responsibility to ensure that all vehicles, trailers, caravans, etc. are not parked anywhere close to where the tree work is to occur. If it is deemed that a vehicle, trailer, caravan, etc. is parked too close to the tree work and there is a risk of damage to the vehicle trailer or caravan and it’s not able to be moved, then North Brisbane Trees reserves the right to not carry out some or all of the work. In this situation the customer would be liable for the costs associated with rescheduling work and returning the staff and equipment back to site. These costs could range from $175 Inc GST for a 1-man crew, $350 Inc GST for a 3-man truck and chipper crew and up to $3000 Inc GST for an 8-man crew with cranes, bobcats, EWP’s etc. If a NBT employee is giving a direction by the customer or someone on site and because of following that direction there is damage cause, NBT will not be held liable for this damage. An example of this would be where a customer tells an NBT employee to drive the truck and chipper down the driveway and around in to the back yard and in doing so, the tyres from the truck or chipper damage the driveway and leaves ruts in the lawn. In this and any related example, NBT will not be held responsible for any damage.
North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible for damage to anything underground, covered over by plants or mulch or that cannot be easily seen. Examples include, irrigation, pipes, cables, garden ornaments etc. It is the customers responsibility to inform our Site Supervisor about any such items that cannot be easily seen or are covered and we may then agree to accept responsibility for any damage that occurs but this will need to be agreed prior to works commencing
CHIPPING: NBT has two sizes of chippers. Please contact our office to obtain prices and discuss the right size chipper for your job. Please note that billing time commences when the operators arrive on site and ceases once the operators leave the site. There are additional charges should the customer wish to keep the mulch on site – please phone the office if you wish to retain the mulch and we will send through a revised quote. When tipping off mulch on site, NBT will not be held responsible for any damage that occurs because of tipping the mulch, For example damage to concrete edging, damage to pavers, ruts in the lawn etc. The customer will be held responsible for any foreign material that is processed through the chipper and causes damage. The costs associated with repairing the chipper, replacing damaged knives and/or bolts, and any associated travel time with regards to repairs will be charged to the customer.
GUTTER CLEANING: NBT will not be liable for any cracked tiles or damage to the roof or gutters or houses, sheds, carports of any structure we are either cleaning or walking on to get to a roof to be cleaned which may occur whilst cleaning gutters. NBT will not remove any gutter guard to access the gutters. If “Do It Yourself” gutter guard is installed and is not required due to ineffectiveness, we can price to remove this from the gutters prior to cleaning. Please note we do not reinstall or install gutter guard. When cleaning the gutters, leaf blowers are used to remove the leaf material. As a result of using leaf blowers to clean the gutters, leaves will be displaced onto the ground below and additionally walls, windows, tiles, driveways, pools, etc. can become dirty. NBT will not be responsible for cleaning or washing the house and surrounding areas. NOTE – We do NOT use a Gutter Vacuum system.
POOLS / PONDS: Throughout the course of tree pruning or removals, leaves, sticks and especially sawdust can fall into your or your neighbour’s pools / ponds etc. We have had instances in the past while removing larger trees where sawdust has entered neighbouring property’s pools, two and even three houses down. While we will remove larger sticks and branches from your and your neighbour’s pools and ponds, NBT will not be held responsible for removing smaller items such as saw dust and other items that are unable to be easily retrieved. It is the customer’s responsibility to inform neighbouring properties if you feel their pools / ponds may be affected by the tree work.
PROTECTED VEGETATION: Property owners may require a permit to undertake vegetation clearing, removal of selective trees/plants or even pruning of protected trees. Some developments also have specific development covenants or conditions of approval, such as building envelopes. Each council area will have wildlife corridors, koala conservation areas, protected remnant vegetation etc. that may restrict vegetation clearing or tree/plant removal. Property owners proposing to clear vegetation or remove trees/plants or even prune protected trees are required to contact their council to ascertain what orders are in place on their property. NBT will not accept liability and/or fines issued as a result of removing vegetation from a property where prior approval has not been sought from council or we have not been notified in writing of any special conditions/restrictions with regard to the removal of vegetation. If the property owner does not carry out the necessary checks with council or advise NBT of any restrictions on the property prior to the commencement of work, NBT will seek to recover the cost of any fines incurred, or the recovery of any lost time from “stop work” actions being applied. This will be charged at $450/hour up to the total value quoted. By accepting any quote, you are legally advising NBT management that you have contacted all relevant authorities and found there to be no vegetation protection in place at the address or addresses where the work associated with the quote is to take place. You are also indemnifying NBT against any fines or legal action associated with the removal or pruning of protected vegetation. If the property owner does not carry out the necessary checks with council and/or fails to advise NBT of any restrictions on the property / protected vegetation that requires a permit prior to the commencement of work, the customer will be 100% liable for any fines incurred by NBT. Failure to pay any fines issues to NBT will result in the below weekly admin fees along with the below mentioned interest rates stipulated in the “Late Payments / Overdue Payments” category below.
FAUNA SPOTTING: Some tree works require a Fauna Spotter to be present. It is the customers’ responsibility to arrange a Fauna Spotter to be present if required. North Brisbane Trees will not be held liable and responsible for any fines or any legal action because of conducting tree works / earthworks. If the property owner does not carry out the necessary checks with council and/or fails to advise NBT of any restrictions on the property / protected vegetation that requires a permit prior to the commencement of work, the customer will be 100% liable for any fines incurred by NBT. Failure to pay any fines issues to NBT will result in the below weekly admin fees along with the below mentioned interest rates stipulated in the “Late Payments / Overdue Payments” category below.
STAND DOWNS / STOP WORK ORDERS/WORK UNABLE TO BE COMPLETED: If for whatever reason NBT are directed to by council, government body or any other stakeholders to stop work or stand down, or the location of bees or wasps in a trees an additional hourly rate will apply. These rates are calculated based on the number of men on site and the equipment on site and would start from $325.00 Inc GST per hour for a 3-man truck and chipper crew up to $600.00 Inc GST and hour with a 6- man crew will multiple pieces of equipment. Exact rates can be supplied upon request.
If work is unable to be completed in full due to a stop work order, stand down notice or ANY other reason that is out of the control of North Brisbane Trees, the customer will be liable to pay the costs associated with re-scheduling the works and the travel component to get the men, trucks and machinery back to site. This includes cost to pick up or have a bee suit delivered for bee/wasp removal from the depot. Likely costs to return to site can be found in “GENERAL TREE WORK” category.
If work is unable to be completed in full due to a stop work order, stand down notice or ANY other reason whatsoever that is out of the control of North Brisbane Trees and for whatever reason is out of the control of North Brisbane Trees the works are unable to be completed, even at a later time, the customer will be liable for work already completed and these costs would calculated as per our rates and NOT as an estimated percentage of work completed. For example, if North Brisbane Trees completed approximately 50% of the work associated with a job as per the supplied quote, and the works are permanently / indefinitely halted for whatever reason, the customer would be liable for an amount far more than 50% of the cost of the quoted job. The reason for this is due to the high costs associated with quoting and scheduling jobs along with the costs associated with getting trucks, machinery and employees to site. If in the above example the job was quoted at $3,000.00 inc GST and was estimated to take 2 hours on site for a 6-man crew with a large amount of machinery whose cost is calculated by North Brisbane Trees @ $750.00 inc GST per hour. The total amount the customer would be invoiced for would be $2,250.00 inc GST.
If there was only an estimated 15 minutes left to complete the above hypothetical $3,000.00 job, the total amount owing would be $2812.50 inc GST.
North Brisbane Trees management will be solely responsible for calculating the estimated time left to complete the work as quoted and by accepting this quote the customer waives the right to disagree with or argue about the amount of time left to complete the work.
FIRE ANTS: Some sites in South East Queensland are in designated Fire Ant Zones. It is the customers’ responsibility to ascertain whether or not you are in the Fire Ant Zone. If so it is the customers’ responsibility to advise us in writing i.e. via email of this and to take necessary precautions as per government requirements. North Brisbane Trees will not be held liable and responsible for any fines or any legal action that occur as a result of conducting earthwork/ tree works.
SAFETY: Tree work can be extremely hazardous. While there is an NBT employee at the location where work is being conducted, this location is to be considered a work site and must be treated as such. It is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that all people and pets remain inside the house or building while our staff are on the work site. If it is not practical to remain within the house, for example when on large acreage property, a 50m buffer away from the work site is to be maintained at all times. Only NBT staff are to enter the work site. If you fail to follow the instructions of NBT staff to remain outside of the work site and you, any other person or pet is injured as a result North Brisbane Trees will not be held liable.
INCLEMENT WEATHER: Rain does not often affect work carried out by NBT. If the customer advises that work cannot be completed after a period of rain, the impacted job will be automatically postponed, and every attempt made to notify the customer accordingly. Should a customer advise that work can be completed after a rain period, NBT will not be held liable for any damage caused to the ground whilst work is being carried out on that job site. It is the customers responsibility to advise NBT if work need to be postponed, if they have concerns about damage to their grounds and lawn areas with machinery being used on site, or foot traffic, etc. NBT will not be responsible for rectification works to repair grounds due to damage caused as a result of the ground being sodden.
EARTHWORKS / STUMP/ROOTBALL REMOVAL: It is the sole responsibility of the customer and/or property owner to check for any underground utilities prior to earthworks commencing and to notify the North Brisbane Trees office of any underground utilities that may be damaged during the proposed Earthworks and/or stump removal. If during the Earthworks or stump/root ball removal an underground utility is damaged North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible for this damage including any damage that may occur to neighbouring properties. If after the customer conducts the appropriate searches i.e. “Dial Before You Dig” and it is found that there is an underground utility that may be damaged, t is the customers decision as to whether or not we proceed with the stump removal/earthworks. If the customer decides to proceed and there is damage North Brisbane Trees will not be responsible. If the customer does not choose to proceed and the job has been quoted on a fixed price, North Brisbane Trees will provide a revised reduction on a pro rata basis. It is the customer’s responsibility to erect silt fencing throughout the perimeter if required. It is also the customer’s responsibility to arrange for water trucks to wet the site if required in order to control dust. North Brisbane Trees will not be held liable or responsible if there is any damage to your property or any neighbouring property relating to dust. North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible for any damage that occurs as a result of stormwater being redirected as a result of earthworks or stump/root ball removal. North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible for any damage that occurs as a result of getting the machine on to site. This may include but is not limited to damage to driveways, roadways, edging, concrete edging, lawn, garden edging, septic systems and other underground items.
DAMAGE TO PROPERTY: In situations or circumstances where NBT staff are performing work for hourly rate jobs and/or additional work that has not been quoted on prior to attending and where an NBT employee outlines the cause of action that they recommend be taken but highlights that the fact that there may be damage to property and the customer agrees (verbal or written) to this course of action, NBT will not be held responsible should any damage occur. Where a customer asks the NBT tree staff to carry out a certain action for example: directionally fell the tree towards the back fence, tip off mulch in a certain spot (leaving ruts in the ground/damage to driveway etc.) and NBT staff have carried out that action as stipulated by the customer, NBT will not be held responsible for any damage that may occur, simply as a result of following specific instructions from the customer.
DOG FAECES: It is the property owners responsibility to ensure the dog faeces are removed from all areas that NBT will be working. Failure to pick up dog faeces will incur additional costs to cover any time associated with either waiting for the property owner to pick up the dog faeces or time that NBT staff spend picking up dog faeces. These rates will be charged at the same rates as for tree work.
LATE PAYMENTS /OVERDUE PAYMENTS: A payment is considered to be overdue when an invoice has been issued for a job and payment has not been received within 7 days of the invoice date. The payment terms are on the quote. If payment is not received within 7 days, you will be required to pay interest at the rate of 25% per annum but compounding WEEKLY along with a weekly administration fee of $24.50 Inc GST.
CUSTOMERS PRESENT DURING THE WORK: Customers must be present during the work. If the customer chooses not to be present during the work, then North Brisbane Trees will not be held responsible if the wrong tree is removed or ifs the work is not completed to your satisfaction. We recommend the customer be present and also mark the tree/s clearly that are to be removed.
SIGNING OFF ON JOBS: We ask that our customers are present while work is being carried out in order to sign off on the job once completed. We understand that in some instances, this is not possible. While our employees always strive to complete work to the customer’s specifications, if you are not present upon the completion of the work, NBT will not be held responsible if you feel the job is not completed to your satisfaction. Please ensure you advise our office at the time of booking your work if you are unable to be onsite when work is being completed. Please also note that the estimator who quoted the work is generally not on site. The job is considered to be finalised/complete when a North Brisbane Trees employee approaches the customer at the end of the job to advise that the job is believed to be competed and the customer does not say otherwise. When the North Brisbane Trees employee approaches the customer at the end of the job, it is the customers responsibility to do a “walk around” with the North Brisbane Trees employee to check that no items have been missed and that the work has been completed to the customers satisfaction. If the customer either decides not to do this “walk around” or if the customer does the “walk around” and then realises that an item has been missed or not completed to the customers satisfaction after the North Brisbane Trees tree crew has left site, then North Brisbane Trees will NOT be held responsible for returning to site to attend to this missed item.
DELIVERIES: Payment for delivery of mulch, firewood, milled timber etc. is to be paid in full PRIOR to the delivery being scheduled. The only exception to this is if the customer chooses to pay CASH ON DELIVERY; if in this circumstance the customer changes their mind and decides to pay via direct deposit or credit card, an invoice will be sent out and an admin fee of $24.50 Inc GST and credit card surcharge if applicable will be added to the quoted price. If it is decided by the driver that it is either unsafe or too risky to tip off the material in the customers preferred location, the driver will suggest alternative options. If there are either no alternative options available the product can be returned to our depot and when the customer is ready to receive the material there will be additional fees in the form of a $24.50 Inc GST admin fee, a $40 load fee and of course there will be a re-delivery fee attached to this delivery.
NOTIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS REQUIRED/ INDUCTIONS:
It is the responsibility of the customer, client or company etc to notify North Brisbane Trees 24 hours prior to the scheduled day of works if any paperwork or documents are required on site – ie: Safe Work Method Statements, White Cards, induction paperwork , motor vehicle information etc. Failure to notify NBT would result in additional costs association with any time the staff has spent on site not being able to work.
In pricing works for any inductions required we accept and allow that this will take up to a total of 15 minutes on site. Any induction that exceeds 15 minutes, additional costs will be charged.
CANCELLATION OF SCHEDULED JOB: You will incur a charge of $250.00 Inc GST at the discretion of North Brisbane Trees for any jobs that a customer cancels that is within 48 hours of the scheduled start date/time.
By accepting this quote or any variation of this quote, you hereby agree to have read, understood and accepted the above Terms and Conditions.
For clarification on any of the above Terms and Conditions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Terms and conditions can also be viewed on our website at http://www.northbrisbanetrees.com.au/tcs
