Despite the best efforts of all involved, accidents and performance failures will continue to happen. It is important for the responsible parties to be identified and liability to be established.
Forensic engineering is the application of engineering principals to the investigation of failures and other performance problems. In some cases, forensic engineering will provide evidence that is used in a court of law to assist in ruling on disputes involving engineering questions.
When instructed to provide forensic engineering investigations, we start with the end in mind, beginning by identifying the real issues involved before assigning the investigation to the best qualified engineer to oversee the process. Our experts ensure that the investigation remains up to date with the latest engineering standards.
We gather information through inspections, surveys, and by interviewing witnesses, to ensure we have sufficient data to analyse when we proceed with the investigation. We secure relevant evidence and preserve it until such time it is feasible to conduct additional testing and analysis. Relying on our many years of experience, we identify missing information and follow up from the beginning to ensure it is not permanently lost.
We take steps to ensure that all our work is done in accordance with the accepted and recognised guidelines for each situation. On many occasions, we coordinate with other experts representing other parties to ensure that our investigation does not compromise the ability of other stakeholders to review and analyse the evidence.
The wide range of expertise that we have available in our group of experts allows us to thoroughly investigate all aspects of an incident, thereby ensuring that we are not limited in our approach to an investigation.
Our experts’ knowledge of the latest engineering and scientific standards allows them to thoroughly examine available evidence and conduct engineering tests that will provide results used to perform analysis and formulate opinions supported by facts.
We carry out forensic engineering investigations to assist insurers and reinsurers in various ways, including:
- Establishing policy coverage liability
- Determining policy warranty compliance
- Identifying triggers of any policy exclusions
- Identifying third party liability
- Supporting recovery and subrogation
Over the years, we have worked with insurers, reinsurers, loss adjusters, solicitors and other clients around the world to assist in determining the root cause of accidents and failures. Our specialists are recognised as experts in their fields by courts in many jurisdictions and have been relied upon to present difficult and complex engineering issues in ways that assist the court in deciding disputes.
When we are asked to present evidence in a court of law, we do so in a manner that simplifies the issues and ensures better understanding by the court. Even when dealing with the most complex engineering questions, our experts work to provide clear and comprehensible evidence that can be easily understood by barristers, solicitors, and judges with limited or no technical background.
