Question for Oregon Arborists

[OregonTreeBeard]

Currently i am employed in home construction and remodeling, the pay is not too bad but 1/2-1/3 of what i could make working on my own.

Oregon requires CCB License, bond, and insurance for construction contractors as well as for Tree work.

My question is this: is there a bond and insurance that could work dual purpose if i wanted to do construction 4 days a week and climb a tree 1 day a week? if i hire a rope puller it would either be my brother (under his own license) or someone through a temp agency, so my coverage would only be for me

i have 10+ years doing construction, and worked in the tree service as a groundsman since i was a kid. my old boss started teaching me more about how to climb before i had to move, and my dad climbed for 20 years and taught me the basics when i was a teenager.

 

[Geordie]

I believe the bond is the same for both There's no specific tree work license and bond, we just use the general contractor one.

 

[CacaoBoy]

is there a bond and insurance that could work dual purpose if i wanted to do construction 4 days a week and climb a tree 1 day a week?

The best way to find out would be to ask a local insurance agent. While it probably is possible to get a single bond and insurance policy to cover everything you want to do, there may be some companies that would limit to one or the other.

if i hire a rope puller it would either be my brother (under his own license) or someone through a temp agency, so my coverage would only be for me

You need to be very careful about this notion if you are thinking that you might be able to avoid workers' comp coverage. If you are thinking that your insurance/bond would not need to cover liability for actions of your brother/temp employee, don't count on it.

 

[OregonTreeBeard]

Thanks for the replies, i just signed up for the ccb course and waiting for the book in mail.

i will update my findings here in case anyone else has wondered the same thing.

in regards to the insurance, when i do shop for insurance i will pass these questions by the agent and see what they have to say. I was asking here to see if anyone else has done tree work as well as other work.

as far as hired help i guess ill ask the insurance people that as well. the one ccb oficer i talked to in my lifetime made it sound like a temp agency is a viable option for hired help if you dont want to setup your own payroll and workmens comp (i guess as they pay for wc, etc ). then again he did lie about some other stuff as he was fishing at a construction site.

my idea is to continue in construction under my own license and do 1-2 trees or so a month. i prefer the tree work in many ways, but want to ease into it.