National Joint Utilities Group (NJUG) Report on trees adjacent Utility Apparatus

Any company that repairs or installs utilities adjacent to trees within a highway should adhere to NJUG Guidelines for the Planning, Installation and Maintenance of Utility Apparatus in Proximity to Trees. These guidelines allow companies and operators to produce and implement a suitable scheme of works whilst safeguarding or minimising any long term detrimental effects to trees adjacent works.

If these guidelines are not taken into consideration at the beginning of any project it can have impacts on the works, including down time from non-completion or non-start of works, fines for causing damage to trees, or costs for removal, reinstatement and re-planting of damaged trees.

In order to minimise any issues, we can offer the following:

• A Report detailing DBH, canopy spread, tree height, Root Protection Zones etc with details on how to minimise disturbance
• A scaled drawing (where available) with Root Protection Zones plotted
• A Method Statement
• A short presentation on possible on-site issues and solutions (for operational staff)
• A short presentation on NJUG in relation to trees and how it can affect decision makers (managers)