Winter Maintenance near you

Section 2 of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 sets the test for England and Wales. An occupier owes the same duty, the common duty of care, to all visitors, and that duty is to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe. The Act then adds circumstances that shift what is reasonable: an occupier must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults, and may expect a person in the exercise of their calling to appreciate and guard against special risks ordinarily incident to it. It also deals with two familiar arguments — a warning is not to be treated, without more, as absolving the occupier, and where damage is caused by the faulty execution of work by an independent contractor the occupier is not to be treated, without more, as answerable for it.

Scotland has its own statute to the same end. Section 2 of the Occupiers' Liability (Scotland) Act 1960 requires an occupier to show reasonable care so that a person will not suffer injury or damage from dangers on the premises, subject to any obligation modified by agreement, and provides that there is no obligation in respect of risks the person has willingly accepted. The Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 also extends to Northern Ireland's neighbouring tradition through its own legislation, so the safest statement is that the duty exists across the United Kingdom while the statute differs.

There is a separate provision for people who are not visitors at all. Under section 1 of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984, a duty can be owed to someone other than a visitor where the occupier is aware of the danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists, knows or has reasonable grounds to believe the other person is in the vicinity of it, and the risk is one against which they may reasonably be expected to offer some protection. The duty is then to take such care as is reasonable in the circumstances to see that the person does not suffer injury by reason of that danger.

Rock salt, sodium chloride, is the standard de-icer and it has a cost beyond the bag. Forest Research's pathology advisory note on de-icing salt damage to trees, published in November 2011 and adapted from Forestry Commission Bulletin 101, sets out how the damage happens: salt reaches trees through contaminated soil and through spray, is taken up by the roots and transported to the shoots, and in deciduous species accumulates in dormant twigs and buds with concentrations peaking just before budburst. The visible result in spring is buds failing to open so that branches come into leaf bare, or leaves that flush and then wither, a pattern known as post-flushing dieback, with the dead leaves often staying attached to the shoot.

The note also describes how the damage is distributed, which is what makes it useful for a household. Damage is most severe within 5 metres of the salted surface, with a distinct gradient beyond that and injury becoming minimal at about 30 metres, though roots that find a drain carrying salty run-off can be affected much further away. Trees on the downhill side of a road suffer more than those uphill, and trees sitting in a depression, or where the planting soil has settled around the base, suffer more than trees on raised ground. On fast roads the mechanism changes to spray, and the injury concentrates on the side facing the traffic and on the lowest branches.

Its conclusion is the practical one. Salt use on highways has fallen as storage and spreading have improved, and the main remaining risk of salt injury is in places where salt has to be spread by hand — which is precisely what happens on a domestic path. In those and other sensitive areas the note records that alternative de-icing materials such as urea and calcium magnesium acetate have been used to great effect to prevent damage to trees. Near a specimen tree, a hedge you value or a lawn edge, that is the trade worth considering.

The useful work happens before the cold does. Autumn is for clearing gutters, gullies and channels so that meltwater and rain have somewhere to go, for dealing with the moss and algae that make a shaded path lethal the moment it is damp, for cutting back anything that drips onto a walked surface, and for checking that external lighting works, because most winter falls happen in the dark. It is also the moment to buy and store salt, while it is available and before everybody else wants it.

Through the winter, the pattern is prevention rather than reaction: treat ahead of a freeze, watch the places that refreeze night after night, and pay attention to the thaw as much as the frost, because meltwater running across a path in the afternoon becomes ice on it at dusk. In spring, make good — wash down surfaces that have taken a season of salt, check the block joints and the tarmac edges for shovel damage, and look at planting near the treated routes for the delayed symptoms the salt note describes, which do not appear until buds should be opening.

A winter contract is priced on commitment more than on effort. What moves the figure is the number of surfaces in scope and their total area, how often the contractor has to attend or inspect, whether the trigger is a forecast or a call from you, the response time you want and where you sit among their other customers, who supplies and stores the material, whether treatment is by hand or by machine, and whether records are kept for you. A drive with a slope, a long path in shade, or steps that need doing thoroughly all add time out of proportion to their size.

Through LokalMatch you set the requirement out once — the surfaces, the trigger you want, the level of cover — along with your postcode, and contractors who work in your area come to you. It costs homeowners nothing; the professionals pay for the requests they receive. LokalMatch performs none of the work itself, takes no part in pricing, and does not vet, rank or recommend any business that gets in touch, so satisfy yourself on the response commitment, the insurance and what exactly is being treated before you sign anything for the season.