NIGP 98802: Arborist Services

NIGP 98802 Arborist Services is an Item code under which state and local governments solicit tree care, assessment, and removal work—pruning and trimming to maintain clearance and health, disease and pest diagnosis, tree planting and establishment, risk evaluation, emergency response, and stump grinding. The work is solicited by cities, counties, school districts, airport authorities, and special-purpose districts across the country, with recent activity concentrated in Florida, Georgia, California, Colorado, Nevada, and the Northeast. Cities and counties dominate: the City of Orlando (RFP for arborist consulting and tree removal with International Society of Arboriculture certification requirements), the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (RFP for arborist services at Rawson-Neal Hospital in Las Vegas with four-year term starting November 2026), DeKalb County School District in Georgia (ITB for district-wide tree cutting and trimming across all facilities), and the Savannah Airport Commission (RFP for bi-annual palm-tree trimming and 24/7 emergency response across a 3,681-acre campus) are recent major solicitors. The City of Charlotte, the County of Orange in Florida, and the City of Albany, Georgia have also posted arborist-focused opportunities. Work is typically structured as unit-price or hourly-rate contracts with separate pricing for emergency and after-hours services, tree-removal categories by size, and crew configurations. Most solicitations require ISA certification, compliance with ANSI A300 and ANSI Z133 standards, and proof of professional liability and workers' compensation insurance.

Recent opportunities reflect both routine maintenance and specialized scope. The Nevada DHHS procurement (RFP 40DHHS-S3927, proposals due August 20, 2026) covers comprehensive tree maintenance, preservation, and removal at a hospital campus with evaluation weighted heavily on Qualifications and Experience (30 percent) and Cost Structure (30 percent), with Nevada-based vendors receiving a five-percent preference. The City of Orlando's grant-funded contract (RFP26-0203, proposals due May 21, 2026) focuses on tree inventory, health assessment, and removal on private property, with pricing tiered by service (arborist consulting at $300 per examination, crown pruning at $50 per hour, tree removal ranging from $20 to $250 per tree by diameter) and requires ISA Certification with Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. The Savannah Airport Commission's RFP (RFP 2026-0017, proposals due July 10, 2026, extended from May 29) seeks bi-annual palm-tree trimming for 162 trees with mandatory two-hour emergency response, a three-year initial term with two optional one-year renewals, and evaluation on Experience & Past Performance (30 points), Technical Approach (25 points), Cost (20 points), References (20 points), and Local/Small/Minority Business status (5 points). Collier County in Florida has posted multiple tree-service opportunities including tree maintenance and arborist services for parks (approximately $200,000 annual historical spend) and furnish-and-install tree services with 24-month establishment periods. M/WBE and local-vendor preferences appear frequently; several jurisdictions (Nevada, Savannah, Georgia) offer scoring incentives for designated vendors. Contract terms typically run three years with one or two optional renewal periods.