Do You Need a Chainsaw Licence in the UK?

There is no chainsaw licence in the UK. What exists is training and a certificate of competence — what the trade calls a chainsaw ticket — and for work the law asks that you are trained, not that you hold a card called a licence. Privately, on your own land, no training or certificate is required by law. If you plan to use a saw for work, this page explains what "a chainsaw licence" really is, in plain words.

What people call a chainsaw licence

When employers, groundcare firms and job adverts say "chainsaw licence", they mean a chainsaw ticket: a certificate of competence from a training provider, assessed under the City & Guilds NPTC or Lantra schemes. The current units are:

0039-20 — Maintain and operate a chainsaw (crosscut and stack): the ground-based first ticket, the old CS30.
0039-21 — Fell and process trees up to 380mm: the old CS31.
0039-22 — Climb trees and perform aerial rescue: the old CS38, the first climbing ticket.
0039-23 — Use a chainsaw from a rope and harness (sectional dismantling): the old CS39.

Our NPTC tickets guide explains each unit, what the courses cost and where to book them.

What the law actually asks

For work, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 require that you are adequately trained for the equipment you use (PUWER reg 9). HSE's chainsaw leaflet quotes the Approved Code of Practice: "Before using a chainsaw to carry out work on or in a tree, a worker should have received appropriate training and obtained a relevant certificate of competence or national competence award, unless they are undergoing such training and are adequately supervised" (INDG317); in agriculture, HSE says this applies only to first-time users.

Nothing in that requires a document called a licence. It asks for training, and a certificate is the normal way of showing it.

Do you need one on your own land?

No. Using a chainsaw on your own land, for yourself, is not work, so the work-equipment rules and the ticket expectations that come with employment do not apply. Many people still take the ground-based ticket first, and training providers will teach anyone who wants to learn.

If you are felling trees, other rules can apply whatever land you are on — a felling licence from the Forestry Commission in England, or checks for Tree Preservation Orders — and our guide to the licences tree surgeons need covers those.

What employers and clients ask to see

In practice, the ticket is what gets you on site. Employers ask which units you hold, and ground-based work usually starts with 0039-20. The old CS names are still what most of the trade says, so a CV or a TreeBay profile that names both — "0039-20 (CS30)" — answers the question before it is asked.

If you are paying for the tickets yourself, our guide to who pays for chainsaw and arb training sets out the funding routes.

Do chainsaw tickets expire?

The certificates do not expire: there is nothing to "renew" in the way a driving licence renews. HSE suggests refresher training every two to three years for occasional users and every five years for full-time users, and many employers ask when you last refreshed. What there is not, anywhere in UK law, is a chainsaw licence that runs out and has to be bought again.

Where to start

The usual first step is the ground-based ticket, 0039-20, then felling (0039-21) if the work needs it, then the climbing pair. Our NPTC guide lists the units in order with costs, and how to become a tree surgeon shows how they fit a career.