NCGS-M006 — Site suitability assessment against the safe-space criteria
- Code: NCGS-M006
- Version: NCGS-2026-09-22
- Approval status: Approved
A structured site visit and stakeholder interview in which an assessor scores the six safe-space criteria (water, caretaker, security, soil and ground, space and services, access) met, not met or unknown, each with a note and a photograph, and files a suitability determination derived from the scores.
underlying principles and assumptions
A tree survives only where water, a caretaker and security exist (the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s safe-space conditions). Assessment precedes planting. Every assessed site gets a record, suitable or not. A determination rests on complete criteria: any unknown blocks it.
methods and procedures
Visit the site; capture the site record (NCGS site-record data requirement); interview the site manager or landowner with consent; score each safe-space criterion with a note and at least one geotagged photograph; read the derived determination; file it, or as a supervisor override it with a written reason.
data requirements and inputs
A conformant site record; one criterion score per safe-space criterion; observer, observer role, observed-at, device location and capture channel; agreement status; the interview artifact when an interview took place.
calculation and transformation rules
Derived determination: if any safe-space criterion is not met, then suitable with conditions when at least one named condition is recorded, otherwise unsuitable remediable; if all criteria are met, suitable; if any criterion is unknown, no determination. Ecological criteria are scored under NCGS-M007 and take precedence. Counting for the indicators: (1) Deferral is not a determination: a filed determination of deferred agreement (det-deferred-agreement) does not count towards sites assessed with a suitability determination, because the site could not be assessed and an incomplete visit must not count. (2) Count sites, not assessments: sites assessed with a suitability determination counts each site once, however often it is re-assessed. (3) Uncooperative sites have no signed agreement: a site whose derived agreement status is uncooperative (agreement-uncooperative) is not counted as having a signed agreement, though its agreement document remains in force; the indicator reads the derived status (ADR-0019). (4) The latest assessment ignores restated records: for water access and an identified caretaker, it is the latest site assessment record by observedAt that no later record ncgs:restates, whether or not it filed a determination, and the criterion must be scored value-met with its evidence.
outputs and units of measure
One suitability determination per assessment from the suitability-determinations scheme; six criterion scores; feeds the indicators sites assessed with a suitability determination (count, unit NUM), and, from the agreement status and the water and caretaker criteria the assessment reads, sites with a signed site agreement, sites with a verbal agreement (provisional, counted apart and never added to the signed count), sites with confirmed water access and sites with an identified caretaker (counts, unit NUM).
validation and verification approach
Validation: a reviewer with knowledge in site suitability assessment checks that every criterion is scored, evidenced and consistent with the derived determination, and that any override carries a supervisor’s reason. Verification of the site’s later state happens under the monitoring methodologies.
limitations and applicability boundaries
A single visit; conditions such as water supply may change seasonally. Criterion scoring is a judgement; inter-assessor consistency depends on training. Does not judge ecological appropriateness, which NCGS-M007 covers.
rationale
The proposal’s Stage 1 (work package P01.02) is exactly this activity, and DFFE’s safe-space concept gives the criteria an external basis. Making the derivation explicit lets a reviewer see why a site was found suitable.
Applicability
- NCGS-M006: a safe-space assessment applies only where a landowner agreement, in force at the assessment, has been requested, agreed verbally or signed; otherwise file deferred, pending agreement (ADR-0019, ADR-0030).
- NCGS-M006: every safe-space criterion must be scored exactly once (six scores), unless the determination is deferred.
Indicators it serves
Activity types
- Site assessment
Knowledge domains a reviewer needs
- Field survey and data capture
- Site suitability assessment
Variables
| Variable | Role | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agreement status (A) | DerivedOutput | UNITLESS | The site’s agreement status in force at the assessment, derived from its agreement acts by the agreement transitions (ADR-0019); a precondition, never a criterion. |
| Derived determination (D) | DerivedOutput | UNITLESS | D = withheld if any ecological v_c is not met; else suitable with conditions if any safe-space v_c is not met and n_cond >= 1; else unsuitable remediable if any safe-space v_c is not met; else suitable if all v_c are met; undefined while any v_c is unknown. |
| Sites with a signed site agreement (|S_A|) | DerivedOutput | NUM | |S_A| = count of registered sites with A = signed and a signed agreement evidence item behind it: a photographed site agreement, an on-screen signature or a recorded consent. A is the derived status (ADR-0019): a site whose status is uncooperative (agreement-uncooperative) is not counted, though its agreement document remains in force; a site agreed verbally is not counted (ADR-0030). |
| Sites with a verbal agreement (|S_V|) | DerivedOutput | NUM | |S_V| = count of registered sites with A = agreed verbally, apart from |S_A| and never added to it (ADR-0030). |
| Sites with an identified caretaker (|S_C|) | DerivedOutput | NUM | |S_C| = count of sites whose latest assessment scores v_caretaker = met (value-met, with its evidence). The latest assessment is the latest site assessment record by observedAt that no later record ncgs:restates, whether or not it filed a determination. |
| Sites with confirmed water access (|S_W|) | DerivedOutput | NUM | |S_W| = count of sites whose latest assessment scores v_water = met (value-met, with its evidence). The latest assessment is the latest site assessment record by observedAt that no later record ncgs:restates, whether or not it filed a determination. |
| Agreement acts | MeasuredInput | UNITLESS | The landowner’s agreement acts at the site, as observed: request, signature, refusal, access denied or restored, withdrawal, reinstatement (ADR-0019). |
| Criterion value (v_c) | MeasuredInput | UNITLESS | Met, not met or unknown for each of the eight suitability criteria. |
| Named conditions (n_cond) | MeasuredInput | NUM | Conditions recorded for a suitable-with-conditions determination; their presence decides between suitable with conditions and unsuitable remediable. |
Monitoring requirements
- Re-assessment after remediation: A site determined unsuitable remediable, or suitable with conditions, is re-assessed under NCGS-M006 before any planting plan is signed off; the re-assessment is a new site assessment record for the same site.