Protect the trees before the equipment arrives.
Tree inventories, protection plans, and construction monitoring that keep valuable trees alive through development — and keep your project compliant with municipal ordinances.
Most construction damage to trees is invisible on the day it happens. A trencher cuts roots, equipment compacts the soil, grade changes bury a root flare — and the tree looks fine. Two to five years later it declines, and by then the builder is gone and the fix is expensive or impossible. The entire discipline of construction tree protection exists because prevention is cheap and cure mostly is not.
I provide pre-construction tree surveys and protection plans across the Kansas City metro, following the ISA best management practices for managing trees during site development and construction. For developers and builders, that means ordinance compliance and permit documentation. For homeowners building an addition or a new home on a treed lot, it means the trees that made the lot worth buying are still alive five years after move-in.
When you need a survey
You are planning a development, a new home, an addition, a pool, or major hardscaping near existing trees. Your municipality has a tree preservation ordinance and the permit requires an inventory and protection plan. A project architect or landscape architect needs tree data for site design. Or you simply have mature trees worth real money — see what trees appraise for — and want them alive when construction ends.
The right time is before site design is final. Once the plans are drawn and the pad is placed, most protection decisions have already been made — often badly.
What you get
A tree inventory covering species, size, condition, and preservation suitability for every relevant tree. A written protection plan: which trees to protect, which to remove, tree protection zone (TPZ) boundaries with fencing specifications, and requirements for work near retained trees — grading limits, trenching alternatives, root pruning specifications, and soil protection measures.
The plan is written to satisfy municipal requirements and to be enforceable on site: contractors get clear boundaries and clear rules, and you get documentation for permitting.
How it works
A site walkthrough, ideally with the project team and plans in hand. Inventory and assessment of all relevant trees. A written report with a site map, protection specifications, and construction guidelines. Optional monitoring visits at key phases — demolition, grading, trenching — when compliance matters most, and a post-construction assessment when the work is done.
Questions I hear a lot.
What is a tree protection zone?
A tree protection zone (TPZ) is the fenced area around a retained tree where construction activity is restricted — no equipment, no material storage, no grade changes, no trenching without specific measures. Its size is set per tree based on trunk diameter, species tolerance, and site conditions, following ISA best management practices, not a one-size-fits-all circle.
Does my city require a tree protection plan?
Many Kansas City metro municipalities have tree preservation ordinances that require an inventory and protection plan as part of development permitting, and requirements differ significantly between cities. Part of the survey work is determining exactly what your jurisdiction requires and producing documentation that satisfies it.
Can’t we just fence off the trees and build?
Fencing is necessary but rarely sufficient. The damage that kills trees during construction is usually root damage: severed roots from trenching, compacted soil from equipment traffic, and buried root flares from grade changes — all of which can happen outside a casually placed fence. A real plan sets the fence in the right place and governs the work that happens near it.
When should the arborist get involved?
During site design, before plans are final. That is when building placement, utility routing, and grading can still be adjusted to keep the best trees viable. An assessment after plans are fixed can still help, but the options narrow at every stage — and after damage occurs, the conversation becomes an appraisal, not a protection plan.
What happens if a contractor damages a protected tree?
Documentation from the survey establishes the tree’s pre-construction condition and value, which supports a damage claim under CTLA appraisal methodology. Well-drafted protection specifications also give the owner contractual grounds to hold contractors accountable. This is one more reason the plan is worth having before work starts.
Tell me about your situation.
Every assignment starts with a short conversation. Describe what's going on, and I'll tell you honestly whether you need this service, something simpler, or nothing at all.