Expert Triage expert witness assessment in complex legal cases Defects: Forensic Analysis: Complex Problems related to Construction and Property Development Interface
Dr Jonathan Drane is a recognised expert in design and construction processes as they relate to property development and construction in the Australasian building industry. Jonathan is available as an expert witness and for advisory forensic analysis of complex construction and development problems.
Jonathan currently advises legal, industry, academic and government on the systemic breakdown in design a construction processes resulting in defects in the multi-apartment dwelling sector. See his current project and article : The Defects Dilemma.
Methods Used
Dr Drane uses research and analytical processes to re-create events that can support legal and court processes. This includes:
– The recreation of construction events in cases where this is inadequate information using interview, content analysis and case study methods.
– Timeline re-construction.
– Forensic analysis of the causes of Building Defects and Construction Impacts.
– Design and Construction (D&C) complexities.
– Contractual deficiency.
– Document collection, databasing, content analysis to support evidence creation.
One Page Flyer: What We Do
Projects:
Jonathan has worked on projects in an advisory, research and client representation capacity.
For projects that Jonathan has worked on please refer to his Linked In Profile
Jonathan’s Linked In Profile
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Conference Paper
The Defects Dilemma
A little history of private property development and its effect on defect levels in Australia.
By Dr Jonathan Drane 2015
Defects have plagued buildings for decades if not centuries, and no more so than in the post war era of the private developer and with the emergence of the ‘design and construct’ project- the sister act of development as a private system of creation of our titled buildings.
Although many D&C projects are created with minimal defects, the practice of D&C and its evolution out of the previous Architect and Master Builder era, has a large part to play.
This paper takes us through a brief history lesson including the emergence of private property development and D&C in the post-WWII era, and the associated vulnerability of standards of construction across professions and regulatory systems. The erosion of the regulatory process, both professional and authority-based, is also revealed in the emergence of private certification and the dilemma of the slippery deal. The end product of such a system is illustrated with a ‘horror’ case example of one of its offspring.
Finally a ‘Defects Scenario Matrix’ is put forward for ways to keep a handle on defects on the D&C project based on a review of the horror case example and then a case example with a low defects regime.
Read Jonathan’s paper: