Construction Articles

Accurately estimating construction costs requires a thorough understanding of project specific criteria, including the scope of work, project plans, applicable specifications, scheduling, project phasing, site-specific restraints, and construction methods. Based on the complexity of the process and the value of construction projects, these estimates are frequently disputed.

In this article, Civil Engineer Michael Tuttman discusses the key criteria considered when forensically investigating a construction cost dispute.

Land development can be described as a process of altering land uses and/or physical conditions of real property. Site Construction, also commonly referred to as “Civil” or “Heavy” Construction requires a developer to navigate a complex landscape of planning, entitlements and approvals, design development, and permitting processes. Missteps along this process can result in damage, injuries, adverse environmental impacts, and/or significant financial losses and exposure.

This article highlights some issues, challenges, and hazards that are typical of Site/Civil/Heavy Construction work and common to our forensic investigations.

Drums, cones, tubular markers, vertical panels and barricades are all channelizing devices used on and around roadways during construction, maintenance and utility projects. The Highway Construction Experts at Robson Forensic are often tasked with determining whether or not a project’s Temporary Traffic Control zone was proper or in violation of the standards, and whether an improper TTC zone was causative to incidents such as vehicle collisions and pedestrians/workers being struck.

In this article, Civil Engineer & Highway Engineering Expert, Kevin Gorman, P.E., CCM, provides an overview of the typical construction drums being used during roadway construction projects, and the standards of care for their use and maintenance in TTC zones.

Architects are tasked with providing a solution to their client’s unique building requirements. This demands an open and transparent interaction between the client and architect, particularly given the various influences that come to bear and the large amounts of capital at risk. Misunderstandings, miscommunication, and/or confusion over the responsibilities of all involved parties can lead to failures during the design phase of a project, resulting in costly and disputed consequences.

In this article, Architect and Construction Expert, Scott Klimek details the phases of project design, the responsibilities of the involved parties, and questions to consider when investigating a dispute.

Trench and excavation mishaps comprise a significant portion of the construction injury and property damage cases investigated by the Civil Engineers at Robson Forensic. This webinar examines three aspects of construction excavation that are commonly associated with injuries and other loss claims: trenching, excavation support systems, and excavation near underground utilities.

Related to each topic, attendees receive an overview of the issues that commonly contribute to mishaps, the standards and best practices that are designed to promote the safety of workers and the protection of property, and advice from our experienced experts on vetting the technical aspects of each case.

In this webinar video, a cross functional team of construction experts will discuss processes, procedures, and pitfalls associated with the shop drawing process. Framed within the context of construction claims investigations, the discussion covers the importance of shop drawings and the responsibilities of the various parties throughout the construction process. The impact of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on the shop drawing process is also explored.

In this article, Civil Engineer, Highway & Bridge Engineering Expert, Michael Tuttman, P.E. discusses the unique challenges involved in performing construction projects in a busy metropolitan area with a complex infrastructure. New York City and the surrounding Metropolitan area include more than 6,000 miles of roadways that interconnect via an overlapping system of bridges and tunnels. The engineers at Robson Forensic regularly provide expert witness investigations involving construction claims and injuries.

In this article, Civil Engineer and construction expert Michael J. Tuttman explores how the essential questions of “Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How” are as important for construction projects as they are for newspaper stories. They are needed to establish the scope of the work involved, and to estimate its cost. When the unexpected happens, resulting in a construction claim, you also have to know how to deal with the “How About.”

In this article, architect and construction administration expert, Anthony Shinsky discusses the purpose and importance of the submittal process. Tony and the other construction experts at Robson Forensic are frequently retained to provide expert witness investigations relevant to a broad range of construction claims.

In this article, architect and construction expert, Will Martin discusses the role of “transitions” in the investigation of construction claims. Will explains how shortcomings at the physical transitions as well as transitions across construction teams within the jobsite are frequently the cause of failures.

In this article, experts from the architectural practice at Robson Forensic provide an overview of error and omissions change orders. The discussion includes an explanation of change orders, the difference between errors and omissions, as well as what is reasonable to expect from architects and project owners.

In this article, Forensic Document Examiner, Mark Songer discusses the role of document examiners within the context of construction disputes. The article highlights examples of “cut and paste” forgeries and provides background into the processes and techniques utilized as part of the investigation.


Mark conducts document analysis involving a wide range of cases stemming from various industries. Please contact Mark to discuss your case and how he can assist.

This article provides an introductory lesson on building enclosures, including the components of the enclosure, common defects, and how forensic experts investigate these issues.

This presentation, developed by civil engineer, Gregory Pestine, P.E. discusses the importance of deploying a well-defined quality control program on construction projects of all sizes. Greg provides specific examples of construction defects along with information on why the defects developed and insight on what should have been done to prevent the problems from occurring in the first place.


Gregory originally presented this information to the Litchfield Cavo firm in December of 2014. If you are interested in having a similar presentation delivered to your firm or legal organization, please contact us for details. Greg, or another of our construction experts, can often accommodate speaking requests from law firms or legal organizations that are interested in the content.

In this article, architect and construction expert, Bruce Corke, AIA provides an introduction to BIM and discusses how this relatively new technology is likely to affect the landscape of construction litigation in years to come.

In this article, the Architecture and Construction Experts at Robson Forensic provide an introduction to submittals and their importance in the construction process.

This article focuses on the role of developers, designers, builders and others involved in the creation of communities and infrastructure that support human and environmental health, safety and welfare. We highlight some of the elements that are commonly encountered in the course of our forensic investigations with a focus on the problems and how professionals address them. At the end of the day, few things will have an effect as profound on people as the creation of the places where they live, work and play.

The complexity of Professional Ethics and Standard of Care claims typically grows as additional parties are named in a lawsuit and when the nature of the relationships between named parties is increasingly intertwined. In determining liability and causation, it is important to first understand fundamental concepts from the world of architecture and construction; when armed with this knowledge, it is possible to systematically evaluate the performance of each party against relevant contract requirements, construction documents, building codes, industry standards, and the Standard of Care.