Buildings and construction processes are complicated and multifaceted. There are many rules and laws governing how things should or should not be built. It may be an issue of general safety or issues concerning boundaries or planning permissions.
With every step of the building process needing to adhere to rigorous rules and regulations, there are unfortunately many ways in which disputes can arise over a construction project. These disputes can depend on very technical, specialist construction knowledge, both practically and legally. This is where a construction expert witness can help to resolve such a dispute as smoothly as possible. If you have some concerns with a construction or a construction dispute, it might be worth
hiring an expert to help and advise you.
In this article, we explain what exactly a construction expert witness is, what they can help you with, and all the resultant benefits of using one.
What is a Construction Expert Witness?
An expert witness is simply someone with specialist knowledge in a given area, that is therefore able to give the most relevant, impartial, and expert assessment of a situation. They are often used to settle disputes either in or out of court, but may serve other purposes too. For example, a construction expert witness could evaluate properties and information before you invest in them, or save you from entering into an inadvisable dispute in the first place. With the information they provide, you can make the best decisions either way when it comes to property and construction.
The construction expert must be just that, an expert. Somebody highly trained, qualified, and established in the relevant field. Anyone not meeting these criteria, even if they have some experience, will not serve appropriately to perform expert witness duties.
What Can a Construction Expert Witness Help With?
A construction expert witness can help with a variety of issues. As mentioned above, construction can be a complicated topic with many layers and legal ins and outs.
Some common affairs a construction expert witness can help you with include:
Insurance Claims
Whether to check what insurance you are due or what you are liable for with a construction project, this is a classic area in which having a construction expert witness can help.
Boundary Disputes
Boundary disputes including
party walls are some of the most common construction disputes. An expert construction witness will be able to tell you exactly what is and isn’t within your rights, and the details of why - as well as state your case to official bodies, such as the courts.
Planning Permission Conflicts
Planning permission legalities and rights can become very complicated. A construction expert witness will know all the relevant details regarding your planning permission case and assist you in reaching the desired outcome effectively, if possible.
Design Evaluation
When designing a construction or determining the information of an existing one, a construction expert can help you wade through the evaluations to clarify what should and shouldn’t be, and who may be liable for what.
Health and Safety Concerns
It is imperative constructions adhere to health and safety regulations, to be sure whether they do or do not, expert assessment and advice are key.
Construction Expert Witnesses Save You Time
One major benefit you gain from using an expert construction witness is time. Less time spent on disputes, more time on what matters - like moving into your new property, or living in a home with no dangerous issues. Without expert assessments and advice, muddling your way through a construction-related dispute could take a long time, as you will have to find things out as you go. This can result in a lot of surprises as each stone is overturned and a new issue arises that sends you back to the drawing board.
With a
construction expert guiding you from the start, the whole process will be streamlined as effectively as possible.
Provide Peace of Mind
It goes without saying that a drawn-out construction dispute doesn’t just drain your time but causes stress. The longer it goes on, the longer you have to endure generally stressful circumstances. Furthermore, each time you have to determine a new piece of information without specialist knowledge it can be daunting, and leave a lot of room for uncertainty as to whether you’re making the right decision.
Using a construction expert witness gives you peace of mind, as they will concern themselves with all of the nitty-gritty, and make it as plain as possible for you what’s happening and what you should do. You therefore can rest assured that circumstances are being attended to as well as possible, without having to take full responsibility and learn all the mechanics and proceedings from scratch.
Prevent Much Bigger Expenses
Without an expert on hand, it goes without saying that it’s easier to make mistakes on matters in a specialised field. Without a very in-depth knowledge yourself, you can be caught out of the blue by technicalities and legalities that backfire on you. When it comes to property and construction, a lot of investment is being made. Whether you’re buying a property, having work done on one, or entering into a legal dispute, big money is at stake.
Any mistake made in these situations, any legal dispute lost or construction project prohibited, can wind up costing you big time. By comparison, it could be a small expense to hire an expert witness, who’s highly professional and specialised and therefore unlikely to make any mistakes in the matter. To avoid entering an ill-advised dispute and losing out, or from failing where you shouldn’t with similar financial results, it’s advisable to hire a construction expert witness.
Give Clarity
Dealing with construction legalities and processes can sometimes feel like entering a labyrinth of complicated jargon. Being unsure of the terminology or the practices governing the details and larger concepts of a dispute makes it much harder to make decisions and take appropriate action. With an expert, you will be told as clearly as possible all the ins and outs concerning your particular case. Without having to learn all the background knowledge, the construction expert witness can relay to you everything you need to know in simple, clear layman’s terms. This will enable you to make sure decisions every step of the way.
Inform
The information you learn through your expert witness could go on to guide you in future endeavours as well. Whereas without them, you might still miss certain key pieces of information throughout proceedings that could have helped. Information that could continue to help you in the future, should you encounter similar circumstances again.
Inspire Confidence
It’s not just emotional and practical components a construction expert witness helps you with. It’s entering into a case or dispute in the first place. Without a specialist backing you, and all the information and support they can provide, or guidance throughout the process, it can be easy to be put off entirely. Thinking about contending with such high-stakes scenarios without personal expertise may cause individuals to pull out of disputes they should have won. To know one way or another, and have confidence in your side of things, you may need the support and insight provided by the professional. Avoid losing out unnecessarily or feeling insecure throughout a dispute by hiring an appropriate
construction expert witness.
Keep Things Professional
Either party in a dispute can hire an expert witness. This is not to say the expert witness will take their side only. In fact, it is a construction expert witness’s role to remain impartial and simply supply the hard facts and information. Because of this impartiality and expertise, hiring a witness makes any dispute much more professional and organised. With the appropriate external assistance beside either one party or both parties, disputes are much less likely to become messy or emotionally fraught.
It provides some distance between the disputing parties, which can be helpful for a number of reasons, from diffusing tensions to streamlining the whole experience for everyone involved.
Construction Dispute Advice from Simon Levy’s Construction Dispute Consultants
If you’re looking for any help with a construction dispute, be it simple advice or an expert witness,
get in touch with Simon Levy. Contact our administration services today for help with boundary disputes, construction planning matters, project management services and more. We’re always happy to help.
