Glossary

Technical terms explained

Attestation (inspection-round attestation): A time-bounded summary with a checksum over the underlying events, produced from an inspection-round history — issued by a named person with stated qualification, under a stated ruleset version. Not a legal document with independent evidentiary force, but a structured, verifiable summary of an already-existing event history.
Bitemporal: A property of a data model that attaches two independent timestamps to every event: the real-world time (when something actually happened) and the recording time (when it was captured in the system). Important for offline capture, where the two can diverge significantly.
Biodiversity Index (urban trees): A metric from the SWILD/Grün Stadt Zürich 2021 publication that measures a tree species' ecological value for insects, birds, and small wildlife. Since 2026 a prioritisation criterion of the BAFU Adapt+ funding programme.
Exculpatory evidence: Evidence by which a property owner demonstrates, within the free evaluation of evidence (Art. 157 ZPO), that reasonable care was exercised — e.g. through a documented inspection routine. Not an automatic legal mechanism such as a reversal of the burden of proof.
Inventory ≠ formal inspection: A principle from the technical review of tree-inspection practice: an inventory (what stands where?) is technically distinct from a qualified formal inspection under the Swiss tree inspection guideline (is the tree safe for traffic?). A system that conflates the two can create a false sense of safety.
Event store (append-only): A data store that records state changes exclusively as new, immutable events instead of overwriting existing records. The foundation for a fully traceable history.
EPPO code: A unique, internationally standardised short code for plants, pests, and pathogens, assigned by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (gd.eppo.int).
FrSV (Release Ordinance): Swiss ordinance on the handling of organisms in the environment (SR 814.911). Regulates, among other things, the handling of invasive alien species; since the revision of 1 September 2024, distinguishes between Annex 2.1 (handling ban) and Annex 2.2 (trade ban).
Hash chain: A mechanism in which each new event contains the cryptographic hash value of its predecessor, making any later change to a prior event visible. Proves integrity only from the start of the chain onward, never retroactively.
Inspection round: A regular, documented walkthrough to check an inventory (e.g. trees, paths) for recognisable defects — the basis for later exculpatory evidence, provided it is logged without gaps.
Proof of Care: A term for the approach of not merely claiming diligence, but making it demonstrable through a complete, timestamped history of actions actually taken.
QRR reference number: The 27-digit reference number (26 base digits + 1 recursively calculated modulo-10 check digit) of the Swiss QR-bill, mandatory when using a QR-IBAN.
Duty of care for public safety (owner liability): A property owner's duty to maintain installations (including trees) such that no avoidable danger arises for third parties. In Switzerland primarily grounded in Art. 58 OR, Art. 41 OR, and Art. 679/684 ZGB.