ISA HK/China --- Qualified Arborist (QA) Credential

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*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***Dear Station Members,

Effective from Oct 1, 2010, we accept candidates to apply to become a Qualified Arborist (QA) of ISA HK/China in our territory of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China, if this candidate meets all of the following requirements:

1. Holding a degree of any discipline, or with a minimum of 10 years of Tree Work experience certified by a Government Department, or equivalent;

2. A current ISA Member and a current ISA HK/China Station Member;

3. An ISA Certified Arborist with over 3 years of certification and has re-certified;

4. Possessing a cumulative 80 CEU or more, in which at least 25% do not come from Tree Climbing alone, at time of application;

5. Has attended an ISA International Conference at least once with proof;

6. Passing the report-writing requirement of one Arborist Report submitted at time of application.

7. Passing the interview at the Reviewing Board.Please note the report-writing requirements for the QA credential are as follows:



1. A genuine Arborist Report of the candidate written in English but with fictitious names, place & date, etc. to hide all privacy.

2. The report must be at least 10 pages long in A4 size, with supporting information such as graphs, photos, charts, tables, etc. not to exceed 40% of total volume; i.e. 60% of the report must be in essay-writing.

3. No more than one grammatical, spelling or punctuation mistake is allowed in any page; i.e. if there is more than one such mistake is found in any page, this report will fail.

4. The report must contain basic elements such as Title, Date, Author, Client (fictitious), Location (fictitious), Contents (Introduction, Methodology, Observation, Discussion, Conclusion, Recommendation, etc.), and Supporting Information (Graphs, Tables, Charts, Photos, etc.). Arboricultural accuracy is not the only criteria.

5. The report can be in any format & binding.

6. There will be a Reviewing Fee of HK$1,600.00 for each report submission.

7. If the candidate fails in any report submission, the report will be returned to him/her with explanation by post. A new report of a different tree(s) is required to be submitted along with another HK$1,600.00 Reviewing Fee for a fresh review.

8. Any fee submitted for report-review is not refundable.

Please note the interview at the Reviewing Board will examine the followings:

1. Checking on the authenticity of the submitted Arborist Report for all its details. The candidate will be required to describe how the report was structured & presented with what observation.

2. Reviewing the oral communication skill  of the candidate in English to explain on the details of the Arborist Report submitted.

3. The Reviwing Board will consist of judges in singular number to vote on the success or failure of the candidate to become a QA. The decision is final & not subject to appeal. Candidate failing the interview will have to submit a new Arborist Report for checking & to attend a new interview for assessment. New fee will be provided to ISA HK/China for any re-application of assessment.

Please note the QA Certification Number is the date of passing the exam in 6 digits. The QA credential is valid as long as the ISA Certified Arborist credential is valid, and the QA stays current with ISA Membership and ISA HK/China Station Membership.

A Qualified Arborist certificate will be issued by ISA HK/China to any passing QA for practicing in our territory of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China.

Anyone becoming a QA may use the designation of 'QA no. (date of passing)' in their business card.

best regards,

Sammy Au
President (Station Manager)
Registered Consulting Arborist no. RCA#497 (http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2010/12/isa-hkchina-first-rca-in-asia.html)
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist / Certified Tree Worker no. HK-0174BT (http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2011/03/isa-hkchina-first-bcma-in-asia.html)
Independent Practicing Arborist no. IPA-010908 (http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2010/04/isa-hkchina-hk-tree-news-14410-report.html)

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