ARBOTAX™

Tree value at a mouse click

What is the value of a tree? How can damages of partial areas be calculated? These are the questions expert witnesses and courts often have to deal with. The most frequent causes requiring a valuation of trees or wood are damages caused by vehicle collisions, vandalism and unauthorized felling. ARBOTAX™ saves you valuable time and calculates the value of wood and partial damages in a matter of seconds. ARBOTAX™ is regularly updated and adapted to the FLL Guidelines.

Applications

• Tree value and tree damage calculation
• Determination by Koch’s method = FLL wood values 2002

Benefits

• Well-structured program using forms
• Easy handling
• Quick results
• Printable reports
• Interest rates and currencies can be selected

Determining wood values using Koch’s method

Koch’s method has for many years been recognized by the supreme courts as the valid basis for determining wood values. Helge Breloer summarized the valuation form for determining the value of wood as well as partial damages on one page, each.

You simply have to take the proper values from the integrated wood value tables and adjust them to the given situation using Koch’s method. You always maintain clear insight and full control over your form. The form can be printed or integrated into your word processor.

New supreme court rulings

The "Walnut tree judgment" of the Bundesgerichtshof (Supreme Court) dated Jan. 27, 2006 (case no. V ZR 46/05) resulted in a modification of the calculation of partial damages to trees. In the future, the reimbursement of partial damages will be subject to a comprehensible description of the lost value of the real property rather than the lost value of the tree alone. According to the new Supreme Court ruling, three items will be accepted in the calculation of partial damages:

• Lost functionality
• Cost of immediate measures
• Cost of follow-up measures

The Supreme Court refused to accept the calculation of a specific risk and stated the following with respect to a shorter remaining useful life: "The shorter useful life of a tree due to a damage as such does not result in a lower value of the real property."