Expert Witness
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An expert witness, professional witness, judicial expert (or “skilled witness” in Scotland) is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill or experience, is believed to have sufficient expertise in a particular subject to advise the court. As such, they possess sufficient knowledge that others may officially and legally rely upon that witness’s specialised opinion about key evidence or facts at issue within the scope of his expertise. This is referred to as the “expert opinion” – an assistance to the fact-finder.
A surveyor’s primary duty in creating an expert witness report is not to a particular client, but to the tribunal. Our surveyor’s primary duty to that tribunal is to ensure that the expert evidence provided is, and must be seen to be, an independent and unbiased product, falling within their expertise, experience and knowledge. It must state the main facts and assumptions it is based upon, and not omit material facts that might be relevant to the conclusions.
We do not stray from the duties of an expert witness by acting in a partial, misleading or untruthful manner.
Do you have a problem with your property that requires our expert opinion?
We have experience of inspecting a wide range of property defects including:
- Dampness and water ingress.
- Cavity wall tie failure.
- Cavity wall insulation failure.
- Building movement.
- Crack monitoring and assessment.
- Timber decay and beetle infestation.
- Concrete defects.
- Concrete floor slab failure.
- Roof spread.
Before undertaking an inspection we will discuss the problem with you so we can better understand the situation. This will allow us to advise you of the possible issue and all works required to fully address the issue. This will include any invasive inspections or destructive testing required to allow us to reach our conclusion.
On completion of the investigation and inspection, we will provide you with a fully compliant Civil Procedures Rules 35 Report.