This is the one to get right
Most bad outcomes in tree work are property damage. Electrical contact is the category that kills, and it kills quickly. On the Central Coast, where a great deal of mature canopy grew up around overhead distribution in the older suburbs, it is a live risk on a lot of ordinary suburban jobs.
Approach distances exist for a reason
Electricity does not need contact. At distribution voltages, an arc will cross an air gap to a person, a tool, a rope or a wet branch. That is why the rule is a distance, not "do not touch".
Approach distances vary with voltage and with the qualification of the person, and they apply to everything: the climber, the saw, the rigging line, the tip of an elevated work platform, and the branch being lowered. Anything and anyone inside those distances requires specific accreditation.
A branch is not an insulator. Wet foliage conducts. Sap conducts. A rope with any moisture in it conducts.
Who is allowed to do the work
Work near Ausgrid network conductors requires personnel with the relevant electrical safety accreditation, working under the distributor's requirements. In many cases that means an accredited service provider rather than a general arborist crew.
Where the tree cannot be worked safely at distance, the correct answer is a scheduled supply outage arranged in advance with the distributor, so the conductors are de-energised while the work happens. That takes lead time and it costs money, and it is what the job actually requires.
If a tree contractor offers to "just take that one out from the ladder", the answer is no. That is not a pricing decision.
Service lines are the common one
The line running from the network to your house is generally your responsibility to keep clear of vegetation, and it is the conductor most often contacted during private tree work — by a homeowner with a pole saw, or by a crew that did not identify it under the foliage.
It is lower voltage than the network mains. It is still fatal. It is still a job for someone accredited.
Storm situations
A limb resting on a line, a line down across a driveway, or a tree leaning into a span is not a tree emergency. It is an electrical emergency.
Keep everyone at least eight metres back, including from fences, gutters and anything metal in contact with the tree or the line. Assume the ground nearby is energised. Ring the electricity emergency number. Do not let any tree contractor near it, however confident they sound, until the network operator has attended and made it safe.
The what to do if a tree falls on your house guide covers the rest of the first hour.
Planning around it
On the older residential streets at Erina, East Gosford and through the Peninsula, and on the long private spans in the rural west around Wyong, overhead line is a constant constraint.
Identify it at quote stage. A quote that does not mention the line running through the crown has not accounted for what the job requires, and the price will change.
Planting matters too: putting a spotted gum under a distribution line creates a permanent, recurring, expensive problem for whoever owns the property in thirty years.
More on method in the techniques guide, and on the wider legal framework in the NSW tree laws guide.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the electricity distributor on the Central Coast?
Ausgrid operates the distribution network across the Central Coast, the Hunter and much of Sydney. That means the approach distances, the accreditation requirements and the outage process for work near network conductors are Ausgrid's, and any contractor working near lines in this region needs to be operating under those requirements.
Can a general tree crew prune a branch near a power line?
Not inside the approach distances. Work in the vicinity of live conductors requires personnel with the relevant electrical safety accreditation, and in many cases an authorised service provider. A general arborist crew, however experienced, cannot lawfully or safely work inside those distances. A contractor who offers to do it anyway is telling you something important about how they work.
What is the service line from the pole to my house — is that my responsibility?
The service line running from the network to your premises is generally the property owner's responsibility to keep clear, and that is the line most commonly contacted during private tree work. It is still live and it still kills. Arranging the work through the distributor or an accredited provider is the correct path, not attempting it yourself with a pole saw.
A tree has come down on a power line. What do I do?
Treat the ground around it as live, keep everyone and every animal at least eight metres away, do not touch the tree, the line, a fence or anything metal in contact with either, and ring the electricity emergency number immediately. Do not let any tree contractor near it until the network operator has attended and confirmed it is safe.