Structural Engineer Expert Witness for Negligence Claims

If you are dealing with a property dispute caused by construction defects, poor workmanship or defective materials, you may need a structural engineer expert witness for negligence claims. Our chartered engineers provide impartial, CPR-compliant reports and clear evidence to support solicitors, barristers and their clients in litigation.

Faulty diagnosis

There may be cases where a faulty diagnosis of a structural defect has been given to the owner or manager of a building or structure. This diagnosis may have been accepted by the owner and with that reassurance, normal use of the structure may have resumed. It may have then failed or collapsed because the diagnosis was incorrect. This may have caused costly repairs, loss of revenue or even personal injury, resulting in litigation. In such cases, please call us at Abbott Holliday Partnership so we can investigate the structure, produce a CPR-compliant report that can be used in court by your solicitor, attend mediation sessions, and act as an expert witness for poor workmanship and negligence during mediation or in court.

Inadequate design

When inadequate design leaves a customer with a building or structure that is not fit for purpose, our chartered structural engineers can help. We provide comprehensive documented analysis of design inadequacies, prepared in line with Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). This ensures your solicitor can present our findings to the court with confidence.

Alongside expert remedial design solutions, we also provide independent structural negligence expert witness services for mediation and court proceedings.

Incorrect setting-out

Often a building firm may incorrectly measure dimensions from a plan when building structural elements such as foundations or the perimeter of the walls. They may also get the levels wrong, so that one part of the building ends up being higher than another, when it is supposed to be level. This can obviously have catastrophic issues for the building, which are often not noticed until much more of the structure has been completed. You may have taken the contractor or the architect to court, as one or both of them may have failed to check the setting out, or checked it and proceeded despite errors. If this has happened to you, please contact us to provide expert witness for your case by way of a report, mediation or giving evidence in court.

Litigation on poor workmanship and defective materials

If you are taking legal action against a designer or builder as a result of negligence or poor workmanship, we will assist with your case. After inspecting the structure and the defect in question, we will list our findings in a report that will be compliant with CPR (Civil Procedure Rules). This format of report can be used by your solicitor. The report will state our findings and professional opinion about whether the design or construction was faulty and that the defects were a result of these shortcomings. Furthermore, we can attend mediation sessions with your solicitor and if required, we can also give evidence in court for your case, (expert witness). All our engineers are Chartered. Chartership is the hallmark of quality and professional excellence amongst the Structural Engineering community, meaning you will have the very best chance of winning your case. Please call to discuss your own situation and we will give you a quote for the initial stages of the proceedings.

Professional negligence

Many separate people and organisations are responsible for the planning, design, construction, repair and ongoing maintenance of the buildings in which we live and work. There are plenty of risk areas for professional neglect and as the occupier or owner of the building, you’re the one they will impact but they will rarely be your fault. In cases such as these, you will need evidence to back up your claim of professional negligence. Please call us to discuss whether or not we can provide you with this evidence in the form of a CPR-compliant report and independent expert witness services. There’s every chance that we will be able to pin-point the cause of the issue as negligence in design, construction or maintenance, and we can be clear about this in our report, which may be of critical importance in your case. We can also accompany you to mediation to provide our professional opinion on the defect in question.

Poor street maintenance and pot holes

If you have had an accident on a public road or pavement, or as a result of poor street maintenance, please contact us to discuss it. In the past, we have helped claimants win in cases like these, by providing a professional assessment of pot holes, trip hazards on pavements, oversized speed humps causing damage to vehicles and broken road surface incidents. We will visit the site of the incident, take measurements and photos, monitor for movement where movement is suspected and provide a CPR-compliant report for your solicitor to present as part of the case. We can also provide expert witness in court if the case progresses that far.