my largest competitor claims to be an aborist, but he's not listed

[maxburton]

I'd like to apologize for my making an accusation about a company in my last thread. It was censored for a good reason, I shouldn't have done that. Anyway, ISA certification is individual certification. Each person takes the test and gets his own number. TCIA certification is a company membership. If you just put the "certified arborist" logo on a truck or an ad without giving a number, you're not saying which member of the company is certified. It might just be the owner, which guarantees nothing about the knowledge or skill of the people who actually are doing the work.

As far as "dragging people down to your level," some people do it. Last year, I read about a company that helped to arrange a "sting" with a California police department. California requires state certification, so they lined up tons of estimates and shut down the companies that showed up without the paperwork. I'm not sure I'd do that myself, but people do.

 

[okietreedude1]

As for the ISA Certi., only the person is certified, not the whole company. The company cannot in their ad cliam to be ISA certified but they can claim to have an ISA cert arbo on staff.

Ive never seen the rules pertaining to having to list your cert number, but it makes sense. Helps people to find you on the isa site.

Now that I think about it, too bad the ISA's numbers werent universal. Instead, they have the stupid chapter designation in front. Makes for a long sub-title.

 

[pbtree]

why not take the ISA exam yourself? It is multiple choice, and one question usually will help answer another. The cost of the study guide and exam fee is nothing when it can help you obtain contracts.

Sounds like sound wisdom...

 

[jimmyq]

http://www.isa-arbor.com/members/resources/ISALogoGuide.pdf