ISA TRAQ study plan

Define the three components of risk (likelihood of failure, likelihood of impact, consequences) and state how they combine into an overall risk rating

List the eleven ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification matrix ratings and order them from negligible to severe

Identify the difference between a limited visual assessment, a basic assessment, and an advanced assessment, and state when each is appropriate

Describe the role and legal limits of the assessor, including scope of work, client communication, and when to refer to a specialist

Explain how to define and document the target, including occupancy rate and protection status

Distinguish likelihood of failure timeframes (imminent, probable, possible, improbable) and assign each to three sample scenarios you invent

Describe how site factors such as soil, drainage, exposure, and recent construction change likelihood of failure

Practice writing a defensible scope-of-work statement for a residential and a municipal client

Identify external and internal visual indicators of defects on trunk, scaffold branches, roots, and crown

Explain how to perform a root collar examination and what a girdling root or decay conk implies for failure likelihood

Describe when sounding, probing, or increment boring adds value and when each is inappropriate or hazardous to the tree

Summarize how woundwood, reaction wood, and callus formation indicate tree response to injury

Compare static and dynamic load testing, resistograph, sonic tomography, and aerial inspection by purpose, cost, and limitation

State the training and credential boundaries that determine when an assessor must defer to a specialist

Explain how to record field data so another assessor could reproduce the rating

Draft mitigation options (pruning, support, exclusion, removal, monitoring) and match each to a defect type

Apply the full risk matrix end to end on five invented trees and defend each final rating

Practice translating a matrix rating into plain-language client recommendations with residual risk stated

Explain how risk tolerance differs among owners and how to document informed consent to retain a tree

Identify common assessor errors: target misidentification, overconfidence in decay estimates, and ignoring occupancy

Describe how to design and schedule a monitoring program, including re-inspection intervals tied to risk rating

Explain what changes during drought, storm damage, or construction that should trigger reassessment

Outline the elements of a tree risk management plan for a population of trees, including prioritization and recordkeeping

Distinguish mitigation of risk from elimination of risk in program language

Review the full assessment workflow from client request through report delivery and identify weak steps in your own process

Practice timed written responses to scenario questions in the style used on the qualification exam

Correct every error found in your week 5 reports and rewrite two of them to standard

Recite the matrix categories and assessment levels from memory without notes

Complete two full-length timed practice assessments under exam conditions

Review all corrected rules from weeks 1 through 7 and consolidate them into a single reference sheet

Rehearse verbal justification of risk ratings as required in the practical skills assessment

Confirm logistics: registration, identification, field gear, and any pre-course materials required