The verdict
Hire the removal when the tree can hit a house, a roof, a parked car, or a line, and the property is in North Carolina. The rule is local. North Carolina does not license arborists as a separate state trade. G.S. 89D-13(11)c exempts arboriculture, including consultations on pruning and removal of trees, from the landscape contractor statute.[1] Cities still demand a named credential when a protected tree comes down. Charlotte wants an ISA-certified arborist with the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification before a declining heritage tree is cut, and it wants that form before the saw starts.[2]
- Confirm the property is in North Carolina
- Confirm the tree is dangerous, not a prune
- Open the county note that matches the trunk
- Leave a phone and an email for a callback
What changes from one county to the next
Six places on this site publish a rule the next county does not share. Swap the town and the sentence goes false, which is why each one is its own path. Accessed 12 Oct 2026.
| Place | What makes the tree regulated | If you skip the paper |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte city limits | Native species at least 30 inches DBH at 4.5 feet, ash exempt. Imminent hazard: failure started or likely within two weeks. | Documentation within three days, or the manual points to permit fees, mitigation, and civil penalties. |
| Raleigh | Hazardous only if a certified arborist finds a defect, a 10-inch trunk or an 8-inch limb, medium failure potential, and a target. | Inside a tree conservation area, a permit and replacement trees. Priority removals cite 10 caliper inches of new shade trees. |
| New Hanover County | Live oak, pond cypress, or bald cypress at 36 inches DBH needs a Board of Adjustment variance. | Specimen cut with no permit: twice the mitigation fee. FY25-26 mitigation is $200 per caliper inch. |
| Buncombe steep slope | At or above 2,500 feet and 35 percent slope, dead or diseased trees may come out with hand tools. Healthy trees over 3 inches DBH stay. | A healthy trunk taken off the overlay is outside the exception. DBH here is measured at 4.0 feet on the uphill side. |
| Greensboro | A danger tree can fall into a utility line. Existing single-family houses are outside the conservation ordinance. | More than one-quarter of the crown in a year, or a tree the utility should have evaluated for removal. |
| Fayetteville | Southern yellow pine is exempt from preservation credit. Longleaf is not. A healthy tree at 30 inches caliper is a specimen on development sites. | Development removal of a specimen is $50 per caliper inch into the city tree fund. A dead public nuisance can become a lien under G.S. 160A-193. |
Open the note that matches the trunk: Mecklenburg heritage trees, Triangle hazardous trees, Coastal specimen oaks, Mountain slope removals, Triad danger trees, Sandhills longleaf pines. The index of those paths is Counties.
What failure looks like before the saw
Raleigh’s definition, in UDO Chapter 12, requires all four of these: a structural defect that predisposes the whole tree or at least one-fifth of the crown to failure; a trunk at least 10 inches DBH or a limb at least 8 inches; a failure potential of medium or greater in the ISA photographic guide that an accepted practice cannot fix; and a target under or beside the tree, including people, vehicles, streets, sidewalks, or buildings.[3] A lean with no target and no defect is not that definition. A 34-inch willow oak over a bedroom in Charlotte is a different test, because the heritage rule keys off species and diameter first.
New Hanover publishes dollars. The FY25-26 fee schedule lists a tree inspection at $45 USD and tree mitigation at $200 per caliper inch.[4] That is a county mitigation figure. It is not a price for the crane, the climber, or the haul-off. No state agency publishes a single crew price for this job. Ask the company that calls you back. Do not treat the ordinance fees as the invoice.
Checklist before the callback
- Name the county, and the city if the trunk is inside a city limit.
- Measure diameter at 4.5 feet, except on a Buncombe steep-slope overlay, where the ordinance uses 4.0 feet on the uphill side.
- Photograph the defect, the target, and the species. Ash is exempt from Charlotte heritage status. Longleaf is not exempt in Fayetteville.
- Say whether failure has started, or whether you are scheduling a tree that is dead and still standing.
- Leave both a phone number and an email. One without the other does not send.
Three short lists sit beside this job if you are still deciding what to photograph: seven signs the tree should come down, six questions for the crew, and five papers to have ready.
Questions people type before they hire
Does North Carolina issue one permit for every dangerous tree?
No. Chapter 89D of the General Statutes exempts arboriculture, including consultations on pruning and removal, from the landscape-contractor license. Cities and counties then write their own triggers. A 30-inch native tree in Charlotte, a four-part hazard test in Raleigh, and a 36-inch live oak in New Hanover are three different jobs.
Can I take the tree down the day it splits?
Sometimes, and the paperwork still follows. Charlotte lets an imminent hazard come down without a permit first, then wants an ISA arborist note or photos, video, and a witness statement within three days. Miss that window and the manual points to permit fees, mitigation, and civil penalties. Other counties do not copy that clock.
Is a healthy tree I want gone for a view the same job?
No. This desk takes a tree that is dead, split, uprooted, or leaning into a structure. Clearing a sound tree for a pool, a view, or a driveway is a different hire, and several of these ordinances charge mitigation when a protected healthy tree comes out.
Who signs if the tree is inside a city and the lot is also in a county?
Read the city rule first when the trunk is inside city limits, then the county rule if the lot is unincorporated. Charlotte’s heritage definition applies in the city at all times and in the extraterritorial jurisdiction at land-development permitting. New Hanover’s specimen rule and Wilmington’s 4-inch permit are not the same document.
References
- North Carolina General Assembly. “Chapter 89D. Landscape Contractors.” Current statute, G.S. 89D-13 exemption for arboriculture. Accessed 12 Oct 2026. ncleg.gov.
- City of Charlotte. “Charlotte Tree Manual, CTM 1.2,” 23 Apr 2024, heritage definition, hazard justification, and mitigation payments. Accessed 12 Oct 2026. charlottenc.gov.
- City of Raleigh. “Unified Development Ordinance, Chapter 12, Hazardous Tree.” Accessed 12 Oct 2026. udo.raleighnc.gov.
- New Hanover County. “FY25-26 Fee Schedule,” Planning and Land Use, Tree Inspection $45 and Tree Mitigation $200 per caliper inch. Accessed 12 Oct 2026. nhcgov.com.