Practical, substantive articles on forensic investigation, expert witness practice, construction management and the state-specific law that shapes both, written by PCC's own team.
Mold in a newer California home is a water problem first. How an investigator traces the water to a window, deck, roof, shower pan, plumbing or slab, separates construction causes from occupant use and maintenance and documents it. Then how the Right to Repair Act treats the damage.
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A construction expert's opinion holds up when the investigation behind it does: inspecting before the evidence is gone, testing to recognized standards, a real sampling plan, alternative causes ruled out and every conclusion tied to observations and data.
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A house that did not burn can still be contaminated in the attic, the wall cavities and the HVAC. How smoke gets into a building, what testing should cover before and after cleaning, how to scope clean versus replace and what AB 1795 changes starting January 1, 2027.
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A CGL policy sorts construction defect cost into categories, but only if the repair estimate is built that way. How a construction expert separates defective work from resulting damage, prices access, code upgrades and betterment and dates when damage began.
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The balcony inspection is done. Now what? How California boards and building owners read the report, handle an immediate threat, meet the SB 721 repair deadlines, fund the work and document completion so buyers and lenders can see it.
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What actually sets the cost of a construction expert, explained from the expert's side: inspection days, testing, destructive openings, access, subconsultants, reports and rebuttal, plus the controls that keep the budget where it belongs.
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What a structural integrity reserve study and milestone repair program involve on site, what Florida condo boards should keep on file and the deadlines and reserve rules now in place under HB 913 and a 2024 records law.
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What PCC recommends for a consulting engagement versus a testifying engagement: scope, site notes and photos, drafts, communications and the report, plus what the client should decide before the first site visit.
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A late project is a claim, not evidence. Forensic schedule analysis under CPM shows whether a specific delay moved the completion date, who was responsible and whether it is excusable, compensable or both.
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A leak someone suspects and a leak documented under a named, repeatable test method are different things in a dispute. The ASTM standards behind envelope, waterproofing, coating and mold testing and why they carry weight.
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A no-damages-for-delay clause turns delay into a cost the contractor carries. Where agency and owner delays come from on real projects, how to price that exposure before signing and how to keep the project record every delay argument depends on.
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California's Zone 0 rule is not yet in effect, but for a common interest development the five feet it would govern is often common area. Here is what a Zone 0 retrofit would do to the building envelope and what boards should document about their buildings now, before any crew touches the base of the wall.
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California's Zone 0 regulation was filed with OAL as an emergency regulation and withdrawn on September 8, 2026. It is not in effect. Here is what the Board's proposed five-foot ember-resistant zone would require and why a landscaping-only retrofit can cause more damage than it prevents.
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A construction expert's conflicts sit in project history, not in a law firm's conflicts database. Here is what PCC checks, what we need from you and why no case facts should be sent until the check is cleared.
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A damages figure built from invoices alone is a record of what happened. The harder, more defensible question is what should have happened under the contract and code. The analysis lives where the two diverge.
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Five checks from the builder's and investigator's side for reading any forensic construction report. Not whether the conclusion is right, but whether the report shows its work well enough for a reader to tell.
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Not the GC, not the architect, not the property manager. What the owner's representative role covers on a rebuild, what drives its cost and how it differs from a construction manager.
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A settlement answers the legal question. It doesn't answer whether the repair work is actually done correctly. What post-settlement oversight covers, from mold clearance testing to leak-path verification to California's balcony inspection laws.
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A patent defect is one a reasonable inspection would reveal. A latent defect is one it would not. In California that line separates the four-year limit in CCP 337.1 from the ten-year limit in CCP 337.15. How a forensic investigator documents what could be seen and when.
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When a worker falls from height or a load drops on a New York site, Labor Law 240(1) is part of the conversation. How it applies is for counsel. What the jobsite looked like is a construction question: the task, the device, its condition, who directed the work and the records that show it.
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FISP, still widely known as Local Law 11, requires NYC buildings over six stories to have facades inspected every five years. What the inspection and report document, what Safe, SWARMP and Unsafe mean for the wall and how to plan the repairs.
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Before a California construction defect claim goes forward, the forensic investigation should establish five things: what is physically wrong, when it was built and completed, whether it was observable on reasonable inspection, who built it and whether the evidence is preserved.
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