What is Tree Safety Inspection (VTA)?

A Tree Safety Inspection (VTA - Visual Tree Assessment) is a visual inspection of trees to identify potential safety risks. Municipalities, companies and private tree owners are legally obligated to regularly inspect their trees under their duty of care — the responsibility to prevent dangerous situations.

During a VTA inspection, a certified tree inspector assesses the tree for visible defects such as dead wood, trunk cracks, fungal growth, root problems or unbalanced crowns. Based on these findings, the safety class is determined and any measures are recommended: from additional monitoring to immediate pruning or removal.

The most commonly used inspection standard in the Netherlands is the VTA method (Visual Tree Assessment). This method, developed by Professor Claus Mattheck, focuses on recognizing visual symptoms of structural defects without immediate invasive investigation. The VTA method is recognized in Handboek Bomen 2022 and forms the basis for professional tree safety inspections.

Every tree owner — whether a municipality, company or private individual — has a legal duty of care. This means you are responsible for the safety of your trees and can be held liable for damage or injury resulting from negligence.

You are liable for damage caused by your trees if you cannot demonstrate your duty of care. Regular VTA inspections are proof that you fulfill this obligation. Trees in high-traffic locations (schools, roads, parks) require annual inspection. Trees in less risky environments can be inspected every 2-3 years. Inspection results, photos and recommended measures must be documented. In case of an incident, you must be able to prove that you acted in time.

VTA inspections must be performed by certified tree inspectors with knowledge of the VTA method and Handboek Bomen 2022 guidelines.

Handboek Bomen 2022 is the leading standard for tree management in the Netherlands. This handbook contains guidelines for inspection, registration, risk classification and maintenance of trees. For municipalities and professional tree managers, compliance with this standard is essential to meet the duty of care.

Standardized inspection forms and data structures Safety classes (A, B, C, D) for risk categorization Guidelines for inspection frequency based on location and condition Mandatory registration of tree characteristics, defects and measures

Traditional inspection workflows with paper forms, Excel files and loose photos are error-prone, time-consuming and difficult to archive. Digital tree safety software brings the complete inspection cycle to a central app for fieldwork and back office.

Field workers perform inspections on smartphones or tablets, register findings directly in structured forms, take photos on site and synchronize everything in real-time to the back office. Software compliant with Handboek Bomen 2022 validates input, prevents forgotten required fields and automatically calculates safety classes according to official guidelines. No more duplicate work between field registration and office processing. Inspection results are immediately available, reports are automatically generated and history remains always accessible.

IDA is developed with and for tree managers who work with large tree inventories and cyclical VTA programs. The software integrates full compliance with Handboek Bomen 2022 with an intuitive mobile app for fieldwork and powerful back-office tools for project management and reporting.

Field workers use the IDA web app on any device. Inspections, photos and GPS locations are synchronized directly with the back office. All VTA forms, data validations and safety class calculations follow the official standard. IDA warns for missing or incorrect input. Every photo is automatically linked to the correct tree and inspection moment. This builds a visual history that is essential for liability and documentation.

Create VTA projects per district, street or tree group. Assign teams, track progress in real-time and see immediately which trees still need to be inspected. Export inspection results to Excel, PDF or GIS formats. Automatically generate overviews per safety class, district or inspection date.

With IDA, you not only digitalize your VTA workflow — you create a complete archive of every inspection, every measure and every decision. This gives you legal certainty, more efficient project execution and full control over your tree inventory.