The Building Forensic Partnership:
Solving latent defect challenges for our clients
We have identified a growing need for rectification of latent defects in buildings and have established a strategic alliance to satisfy this client need, The Building Forensic Partnership.
The Building Forensic Partnership has been established to resolve the defects and maximise the recovery of costs on behalf of our clients.
While there has been a drive for zero defects at handover, there has been little monitoring or focus on latent defects. Typical issues we encounter are defects in M&E installations, problems with district heating, overheating in corridors and fire stopping.
Resolving defects in buildings can be a ‘Cinderella role’ in organisations, often passed to a technical officer who has other roles to deal with. There is a tendency to avoid looking to recover costs from the original contracted party who may be responsible for the defect with a typical response being that it is only £5,000 of work for example, and it is easier to keep the residents/tenants/internal client happy by dealing directly. Also, the original contract documentation is often not readily available.
Using the combined experience of the team, we have developed a process for managing the rectification from the initial notification of a defect to resolving it and recovery of costs
- Survey the property to correctly identify the defect(s)
- Review the original contract documentation
- Provide a report of our findings
- Receive further instruction from the client
- Review and investigate notifying parties
- Provide solutions
- Monitor rectification works
- Issue documentation, certificates, warranties and operational manuals
This process includes engaging with the following to maximise the recovery of costs:
- Any warranty providers
- Designers / consultants (directly contracted and via collateral warrantees)
- Contractors and sub contractors
- Insurers
We also facilitate workshops with client development and property maintenance teams to promote collaborative working, reduce unnecessary maintenance costs and improve resident satisfaction.