Image via Wikipedia Although most people associate the word forensics with legal issues, usually criminal proceedings, the word actually has a broader meaning. In my opinion, the role of forensics in the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industry is to apply scholarly and/or scientific methodology and norms to understanding the underlying facts regarding the built environment. (See AECForensics: About.) During on-site inspections, we are looking at multiple conditions in exacting detail, collecting and analyzing tremendous amounts of data, and trying to distill the observations into something meaningful. Typically this means taking a lot of pictures and writing down lots of notes, filling in checklists, drawing on and annotating plans, details, etc. I personally have around 10 pieces of paper I’m working off of at a a single unit during visual inspections. Constant flipping back and forth through several pages, reviewing documents, making notes – it is easy to become distracted [Continue Reading...]

Below is a quote from the announcement at AECForensics.com: After a lot of work behind the scenes, I’m proud to announce that AEC Forensics is now fully operational. I have scoured the internet and continue to do so daily, selecting and curating the content that appears here. Since no other website has risen to the challenge of compiling news about our industry (construction defect litigation, construction law, bad faith, green forensics, etc.), I have thrown my hat in the ring. Those of you that know me personally are aware that I am a full time employee and shareholder of KPA Associates, Inc., a San Diego-based architectural firm that provides expert witness testimony in construction defect matters, in addition to ADA compliance and residential/commercial/institutional design services. In other words, this website is an avocation for me and something I pursue solely because of my passion for this industry. Admittedly not everything [Continue Reading...]

You don’t have to be a fan of me either. Due to Facebook’s privacy issues and other concerns, I’m disabling the Facebook page for BLHill.net. But if you like what’s here, please by all means head over to BLHill.net’s Facebook page. (And yes, I like Wolfe Law Group and I’m a fan.) When I logged onto the Wolfe Law Group page on Facebook this morning, I was greeted with a message that the page would no longer have “fans,” but instead would invite users to “like” our practice. It’s an effort to be more “lightweight” to users, and hopefully, increase a pages fan base. It just might work too. Before logging into our admin page, I stumbled upon another businesses FB page and saw the “become a fan” button replaced with “like.”. It confused me for a few seconds, but then I just passed it off as someone knowing a [Continue Reading...]

In a previous post, I discussed the iPad’s potential for use in construction field inspections. Already less than one week after the official release of the iPad, a new app has been released for use by the architectural, engineering and construction industry. The company behind this product is Vela Systems, who has developed a suite of applications for Windows-based tablet PCs since 2005. Their software includes applications that address the needs of AEC firms in the field including, but certainly not limited to: Issues & Punchlists Field Reports/Daily Logs Access to Construction Documents including CAD and BIM QA/QC Checklists (they propose that their product might even help to minimize construction defect claims) Materials Tracking Clearly Vela gets it when it comes to equipping the people behind the built environment to effectively and efficiently manage the complexities of large projects. By embracing the iPad at launch, Vela is sending a message. [Continue Reading...]

Kevin O’Keefe deserves more credit than anyone else for igniting the legal blogging revolution through his venerable Lexblog service based on Moveable Type. To understand what a feat this is, consider a recent post at the Legal Water Cooler Blog, Marketing to Marketers and Lawyers, exploring the difficulty of selling services to attorneys. Why is it so hard? Because they are attorneys. Law school (not to mention years of practice) creates a strong skeptical perspective, that together with strong research skills, makes for a very difficult demographic to market to. I think the same is true with my colleagues in the architecture, engineering and construction forensics industry. I’ve spoken to and corresponded with Kevin and his staff in the past. The key point that I think makes his firm successful is by emphasizing that blogging is all about giving a voice to someone with particular expertise, and the basic function [Continue Reading...]

As mentioned previously, I am a construction defect investigator. That means that I often perform inspections on properties that are involved in various stages of litigation. This type of inspection is a little different than the typical home inspection service performed as part of a real estate transaction that most people are familiar with. A home inspector is performing due diligence in a sense, and the end result is to give the purchaser of a property additional information to consider in their decision and possibly a bargaining tool. When investigating construction defects as part of a litigation process, the end result is that the inspector’s documentation and photographs usually become evidence, possibly even at trial. Common to both pre-purchase inspections and construction defect inspections is the need to carry around quite a few tools and gadgets. And most of us look like dorks in the process… I have been considering [Continue Reading...]

If Billy Mays© is selling it, it must be good. Perhaps. I don’t know how practical this will be for construction defect investigators or home inspectors, but I’m sure there is a use somehow. Keep your tools and parts within reach. The Tool Band-It™ patented design is rugged, lightweight and flexible. It easily fits either arm. Powerful Space Age Magnet Technology securely holds everything from screws to wrenches. A job for two people can now be done by one. Link to Tool Band-It

“This morning at 7am we awoke to find the inner pane of our patio door shattered. When we went to bed at 10pm the window was still fine. We live on the third floor and there is no access to our patio. Since only the inner pane was damaged, it couldn’t have been caused by something from the outside. The area that was damaged is not easy to get to, and I can speak with certainly that we didn’t hit or strike it. There were no earthquakes (we live in SF), but the temperature did vary from 49 degrees at 9am…reached 70 degrees by 3pm…and then back to the 40′s in the early morning hours.” [ Flickr link, from Boing Boing ]