Building Services
Building Services are in almost every building and are designed to create an environment that supports maximum comfort and productivity.
These services include heating, ventilation, air conditioning (or HVAC), power, lighting, data and communication systems, domestic water systems, public health services, and many more.
Hawkins investigates failures in plant and equipment such as boilers, air handling units (AHUs), chiller, heat pumps, building management systems (BMS), and switchgear. Whether the issue arises from design, installation, commissioning, or maintenance, we can help.
Building services installation range from small domestic systems to multi floor, multi-tenant office buildings, as well as complex and mission critical infrastructure. We can investigate issues across all settings, from hospitals to homes, wherever building services problems occur, Hawkins can assist in identifying the root cause.
WHY APPOINT A FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR?
Our extensive experience across a wide range of building services, covering different types, complexities and scales, enables us to provide clear, reliable insight when you need it most.
With expertise spanning design, construction, commissioning, and maintenance, we can support you at every stage of the building services lifecycle.
We have in-depth knowledge of the relevant standards, regulations and best practices that should be followed.
We review working practices, designs, and installations to identify high-risk areas.
We offer guidance and/or help you define and develop robust procedures and practices to reduce the likelihood of incidents occurring.
We provide the clarity you need to understand why an incident occurred and to support informed decisions regarding repudiation and recovery.
Our experts have proven experience across a broad range of failures and can investigate all aspects of building services.
We help you determine whether an incident could have been prevented.
We support subrogation and recovery claims.
We assist you in assessing where legal responsibilities and liabilities lie.
We help defend wrongful claims.
We prepare reports suitable for Court and litigation.
We provide consultancy to help prevent similar incidents in the future.
Where risks cannot be removed entirely, we advise on steps to mitigate them and reduce potential damage.
We provide guidance on servicing, maintenance and repair regimes.
We have detailed knowledge of policy cover, liability and warranties to support effective decision making.
Examples of Typical cases
- Building design and performance issues
- Maintenance and operational failures
- Plant failure and associated damage
- Energy efficiency issues and high operational expenditure
- Electrical system failures, including switchgear, generators, UPS systems, lighting and lighting controls
- Security systems failures including CCTV, access control and intruder alarms
- Heating system failures or escapes of water
- Water tank defects causing escapes of water
- Boiler failures, ranging from domestic combi boilers to large steam boilers
- Drainage and public health system issues, including hot and cold-water systems and rainwater recycling
- Wet and electric underfloor heating system failures
- Fan coil units failures
- Issues with commercial and industrial chillers
- Failures in boilers from domestic combi boiler to a steam boiler
- Investigations relating to water source, ground source or air source heat pumps
- Catastrophic failures of air handling units
- Insufficient ventilation leading to contamination
- Review of commissioning, system balancing and water treatment procedures
If you would like more information or to discuss a specific incident, you can contact us for a free consultation.
HOW DOES HAWKINS INVESTIGATE A BUILDING SERVICE FAILURE?
1
Consultation
We begin with an initial discussion to understand your requirements and review any available information, such as service records, witness accounts, and photographs. At this stage, we can also provide a cost estimate for the investigation.
2
Inspection
With your agreement, we carry out a site visit to examine the failure and its surrounding context. This includes collecting evidence, reviewing documentation and retaining faulty components for laboratory analysis. Where facts are unclear, we provide informed and professional opinions based on our expertise.
3
Conclusion
We present our findings and prepare a detailed report outlining our investigation, conclusions, and recommendations. Our reports are CPR-compliant and suitable for both claimant and defendant instructions.
SPEAK TO ONE OF OUR EXPERTS
Principal Associate, Managing Director (Acoustics)
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Related areas of expertise
Built Environment
Our team of built environment experts includes a core group of civil and structural engineers together with experts in architecture, geotechnical engineering, flooding & hydrology, fire engineering, and acoustics.
Building Defects & Regulations
A building defect can be described as any deficiency or shortcoming in the performance or function of a building that prevents it from satisfying statutory or user requirements. Building defects fall broadly into three categories:
Fire Engineering
The potential consequences of decisions regarding fire protection design, construction and management have been highlighted by recent fires in high-rise residential buildings in the UK, as well as the rest of the world. Insufficient consideration of fire safety management and protection provisions can have massive financial implications and could lead to civil and/or criminal proceedings.
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