What a BS 5837 tree survey report contains

A tree survey for planning includes a written report.² Councils ask for it to follow BS 5837:2012.³ Report layouts differ between consultants. This is the order of a Tree Atlas report:

1. Cover: the site, client, reference, revision, who signed it off and their qualifications, who surveyed it, the purpose of the survey, the weather and the date.
2. Tree Constraints Plan: one or more A3 sheets. Read what a Tree Constraints Plan shows.
3. Tree schedule: one row per tree.
4. Groups, woodland and hedges: when the site has them.
5. Photographs: when you choose to include them, up to four per tree, with the tag, compass bearing and date.
6. Appendix A · Method: how the figures were worked out, and the limits of the survey.
7. Appendix B · Revision record: sign-off, the revision history, issues and what changed.

Every page footer gives the reference, the revision and the standard. An unsigned report carries a DRAFT watermark.

BS 5837:2012 lists the information to record for each tree. Buy the standard from BSI for the full list.¹ These are the columns of the Tree Atlas schedule:

Under each row, the schedule shows the protection (TPO, Veteran, Conservation area) and your notes. Tree Atlas also exports the schedule as a CSV, one row per tree.

Appendix A · Method says how each figure in the report was worked out:

• Root protection area: the BS 5837:2012 clause 4.6 method, the formulas, a worked example from the site and rule_version: rpa-v1. Try the same calculation in the RPA calculator.
• Condition derivation: how the overall condition comes from the defects, condition-v1.0.
• BS 5837 category proposal: the category rules, bs5837-v1.0.
• Indicative risk band: a score from 1 to 5. The report says it is not a formal tree risk assessment.
• AI-suggested fields: which fields came from photos or speech, and which you kept or replaced. The category is never suggested by AI.
• Placement accuracy: how each tree was placed.
• Limitations: a visual inspection from ground level only, with no aerial inspection, decay detection or root excavation.

The rule version records which set of rules made each figure. Tree Atlas stamps it on every tree and every report. When you sign a revision, every rule version is frozen and listed in Appendix B. If the rules change later, a signed report still shows the rules it used.

Each issue of the report is a revision: R1, R2 and so on. The cover shows the revision and its state, such as R2 · ISSUED · signed off 30 Oct 2026.

Appendix B · Revision record has:

• the sign-off: name, job title, qualifications, date and the sign-off statement;
• the revision history, with each revision as Signed, Draft, Superseded or Voided;
• the issues: who received each revision, when and why;
• the changes since the last signed revision, tree by tree, marked + added, − removed or ~ changed;
• the rule versions frozen at signing.

In the schedule, + marks a new tree and ~ marks a changed tree since the last signed revision.

The sample report is a 10-page PDF for a made-up site with 18 trees, revision R2, issued. Tree Atlas made it through the same path as a real report.

• Page 1: the cover.
• Page 2: the A3 Tree Constraints Plan, at 1:500.
• Pages 3 and 4: the tree schedule, with categories from A1 to U and change marks since R1.
• Page 5: groups, woodland and hedges.
• Page 6: photographs.
• Pages 7 to 9: Appendix A · Method.
• Page 10: Appendix B · Revision record, with the changes from R1 to R2.

Tree Atlas writes the report from the records you make on site. You check it on the web desk, see what changed since the last signed revision, then sign and send it with the Tree Constraints Plan and the DXF.