You’re the expert and should know how to accurately estimate the cost of your work, you say.\u00a0 But we don’t know in every instance, and for\u00a0every investigation and task.\u00a0 We know a lot in our respective fields but we don’t know it all.\u00a0 There are just too many unknowns.<\/p>\n
Similar, would be counsel’s difficulty estimating the cost of the role of the expert\u00a0at the different stages of the civil litigation process (Ref. 3 and 5\u00a0to 14).\u00a0 These costs are quite separate from\u00a0the cost of the steps in the\u00a0forensic engineering investigative process.<\/p>\n
Accurately estimating the cost of forensic engineering investigation is difficult because:<\/p>\n
1. Identifying all the investigative tasks at\u00a0the start of the process is difficult, occasionally impossible:<\/p>\n
2. The unknown magnitude and complexity of some of these investigations and tasks<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0The possibility of changed conditions.\u00a0 For example, in the office, an unknown research question or, in the field, changed foundation soil conditions.<\/p>\n
4. Some tasks depend on the data from previous tasks and we don’t know the nature of that data until we gather it.<\/p>\n
5. Some investigations\u00a0and tasks are carried out well in the future when circumstances\u00a0may have changed.<\/p>\n
The following is a detailed\u00a0explanation of\u00a0why we have difficulty accurately estimating the cost of\u00a0each task in\u00a0a forensic engineering investigation.\u00a0 I have included some examples in the following.\u00a0 There are other examples in the Appendix.<\/p>\n
The main reasons are in a bulleted list.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0elaborate a little on the list in accompanying text.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0explanation is based on my engineering experience investigating the cause of failures in the built and natural environments, and the cause of accidents resulting in property damage,\u00a0personal injury, and\/or death.\u00a0 My\u00a0experience\u00a0is\u00a0in Atlantic Canada,\u00a0northern and western Canada, the Caribbean,\u00a0and overseas in Australia and the U.K.<\/p>\n
Previous blogs described the different\u00a0steps in a forensic engineering\u00a0investigation (Ref. 4) and the degree of difficulty<\/strong> <\/span>estimating their cost (Ref. 15).<\/p>\n The\u00a0main sections\u00a0in the following, 1., 2.,\u00a03…,\u00a0<\/strong>are the main tasks\u00a0in a forensic engineering investigation.\u00a0<\/strong> The\u00a0sub-sections,\u00a02.1, 2.2, 2.3…<\/strong>,\u00a0are a\u00a0breakdown of these tasks.<\/p>\n Easy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s easy to accurately\u00a0estimate the cost of this initial task because:<\/p>\n Estimating the cost of this initial step in the process\u00a0is easy because you have the documents in front of you –\u00a0they have been given to you by counsel.<\/p>\n For a\u00a0simple reading you can count the pages and estimate time according to your reading rate.\u00a0 Then apply the appropriate fee to get an estimated cost.<\/p>\n Actually studying the documents – as compared to a simple reading –\u00a0abstracting data, and making notes\u00a0would add a level of\u00a0difficulty to accurately estimating costs.\u00a0 Still, this step is relatively easy.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, I recently read the documents\u00a0on an accident.\u00a0 They consisted of the lengthy transcripts of the testimony of the three parties involved.\u00a0 I read them to get a feel for the situation preparatory to a possible site visit.\u00a0 Two transcripts were easy to read.\u00a0 One was difficult which reduced the accuracy of my cost\u00a0estimate a little –\u00a0a difficulty I\u00a0did not know about at the start, but still the estimating was fairly easy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A visual assessment can involve the following three main tasks:<\/p>\n Fairly easy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Accurately estimating the cost of this task is fairly easy\u00a0because:<\/p>\n Estimating the cost of this task is fairly easy\u00a0because you know\u00a0where the site is located and the time to get there.\u00a0 You also know you are simply walking around and looking – picking up visual impressions, making notes on what you’re seeing, and identifying future tasks.\u00a0 There is some difficulty because you don’t always know what you’re going to see, particularly with a catastrophic failure.<\/p>\n Fairly easy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Estimating the cost of this task is fairly easy because:<\/p>\n This task is also fairly easy to estimate particularly when the type of photograph\/video is distant and middle distant, rather than a lot of close-ups, and the intent of the photographs is to refresh the memory of what was seen.<\/p>\n There’s difficulty, however, when labelling the photographs, putting captions on them.\u00a0 These must be carefully and\u00a0accurately worded in a forensic investigation and that takes time – the picture may become an important\u00a0document at a later date.<\/p>\n Difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Accurately estimating the cost of this task is difficult because:<\/p>\n The difficulty estimating the cost of this task\u00a0is real easy to understand.\u00a0 It’s difficult because you don’t know how many witnesses\u00a0there will be, the difficulty locating them, and the duration of the interviews.<\/p>\n Any number of different field investigations might be carried out depending on what failed and how – inadequate performance of a structure,\u00a0a damaged but still serviceable structure, or complete collapse of a structure, or the type of accident that occurred.\u00a0 The following investigations are an almost\u00a0certain requirement:<\/p>\n Fairly easy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Estimating the cost of this task is fairly easy because:<\/p>\n The documents usually contain a description, so, you would just read the existing description.\u00a0 This means estimating the cost of\u00a0this investigation\u00a0would be fairly easy.\u00a0 However,\u00a0the description must be confirmed in\u00a0the field\u00a0and add detail by examining the failed structure further.\u00a0 Some measurements might be taken.<\/p>\n Fairly difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Accurately\u00a0estimating the cost of this investigation is fairly difficult because:<\/p>\n It\u00a0is fairly difficult to\u00a0estimate the cost\u00a0of this investigation because it often involves a\u00a0lot of measuring then plotting the data.\u00a0 This takes time and you don’t know what you’ve got on your hands until you get into it.<\/p>\n Carefully plotting the data is often quite important in a foundation failure where the structure is damaged but hasn’t collapsed completely.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, the plot can quantify and characterize\u00a0the magnitude and location of the damage, particularly if the latter is only slight.\u00a0 The plot sometimes\u00a0can actually give an indication of\u00a0the cause of the failure.<\/p>\n Easy to difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The effort in estimating the cost of this task can be quite variable, from easy to difficult,\u00a0because:<\/p>\n Estimating the cost of this task is easy, if there are construction or as-built drawings available.\u00a0 You gather the drawings together and have them readily available for reference during the analysis of the cause of the failure.<\/p>\n The estimating\u00a0gets difficult if there are\u00a0no drawings or if the\u00a0structure is old.\u00a0 It’s also difficult if the structure is said to be constructed one way and turns out to be different.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, – this is quite an example<\/span> –\u00a0I investigated the construction of a structure one time that was said to be uniformly supported on a concrete floor\u00a0slab.\u00a0 It was also said\u00a0to have been temporarily supported on concrete columns\u00a0on a\u00a0five foot\u00a0grid during underpinning work.\u00a0 The cost estimate here would seem to be for a simple confirmation of what was said to be case.<\/p>\n Problems started as soon as a precise\u00a0elevation survey\u00a0found the supposedly level structure was sloping and off level by one\u00a0foot from one end to the other.\u00a0 Turns out\u00a0–\u00a0well\u00a0along in\u00a0the forensic engineering investigation, that\u00a0it had been built that way.<\/p>\n Then\u00a0it was found that the columns were separated at random distances of two to seven feet rather than on a five foot grid.\u00a0 And that some of the columns were steel jack-posts, and that some of these were supported on rotting timber.<\/p>\n Finally, it was found that the ‘temporary’ columns were actually the permanent support of\u00a0the structure, and that it was\u00a0not a uniformly supported concrete floor slab\u00a0–\u00a0information that\u00a0guided the original cost estimate.<\/p>\n Needless to say,\u00a0my cost estimate to investigate construction of this structure was very inaccurate.<\/p>\n Very difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Estimating the cost of this investigation is very difficult because:<\/p>\n Estimating this cost is very difficult because site conditions include, in addition to the surface terrain, which you can see, the nature and\u00a0condition of the underlying soils, rocks, and groundwater, which you can’t see.<\/p>\n How do you estimate the cost of investigating something the nature of which you can’t see?\u00a0 Except\u00a0to know a little\u00a0in the most general way based on published information.<\/p>\n Very difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s very difficult to estimate the cost of these investigations because:<\/p>\n These investigations are very difficult to estimate costs for\u00a0because they depend on the findings – the evidence from\u00a0your previous investigations, particularly materials from the damaged structure and the terrain beyond.<\/p>\n Research can involve a lot of investigative work the nature of much of which just wouldn’t be known until other investigations are completed.\u00a0 Hence estimating research costs at the start of a forensic engineering investigation is generally difficult.<\/p>\n A lot of the unknown investigative work\u00a0would fall under the catch-all task of desk studies.\u00a0 The need to research the codes and the standard of care in connection with an engineering failure or an accident is an almost certain requirement.<\/p>\n Difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s difficult to estimate the cost of these studies because:<\/p>\n The cost of these studies\u00a0is\u00a0difficult to estimate because in some cases you just don’t know what they are until you are well along in a forensic engineering\u00a0investigation.\u00a0 Or\u00a0if you know that a certain study will follow from previous investigations – certain standard\u00a0follow-up studies, you may not know the magnitude or complexity of the particular study.<\/p>\n For example,<\/span> I found during one case that I had to investigate the\u00a0shrinkage and fluid properties of a construction material used in\u00a0the underpinning of a structure.\u00a0 This involved literature and internet searches – desk studies, and interviewing suppliers of the material – leg work.\u00a0 I did not know there was such a material at the start of the forensic investigation.<\/p>\n Fairly difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s difficult to estimate the cost\u00a0to identify codes and guidelines because:<\/p>\n Estimating the cost to identify and study the applicable codes and guidelines is fairly difficult, particularly guidelines.\u00a0 Codes we know about; they’re usually\u00a0issued by national and\u00a0provincial bodies and large organizations.\u00a0\u00a0Useful guidelines are less well known and can vary for different components of a structure, therefore difficult to estimate costs to identify.<\/p>\n Fairly\u00a0difficult to very difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n To summarize, estimating the cost to assess the standard of care\u00a0can be\u00a0difficult because:<\/p>\n The difficulty\u00a0in estimating the cost to identify the standard of care is closely related to\u00a0how well defined the industry is that\u00a0developed the structure, or the component that failed or didn’t perform as required, and how many parties\u00a0comprise the\u00a0industry.<\/p>\n Assessing the standard of care involves gaining a very good\u00a0understanding of the industry, the parties comprising the\u00a0industry,\u00a0and how\u00a0they interact and work together.\u00a0 Difficult sometimes, easy other\u00a0times.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, sometimes it’s fairly easy to estimate costs as in the case of the design and\u00a0construction\u00a0industry.<\/p>\n Then once you know the industry,\u00a0identifying the standard of care involves interviewing representatives of the different parties involved in the industry and in development of the\u00a0structure or component that failed,\u00a0as to their work\u00a0practices.\u00a0 You interview\u00a0until you\u00a0feel satisfied you\u00a0understand the average<\/em>\u00a0practice<\/em> (Ref. 16) for each\u00a0party and from that the average practice for the industry as a whole – the standard of care<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sometimes\u00a0it’s difficult to estimate costs as in a poorly defined industry.\u00a0 How such an industry\u00a0works only comes\u00a0into focus\u00a0after you interview a number of representatives of different parties that seem to have\u00a0a role\u00a0in the industry.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, I assessed the standard of care\u00a0in one case earlier this year.\u00a0 I soon learned that the\u00a0industry was poorly defined\u00a0resulting in\u00a0the difficulty outlined above.\u00a0\u00a0At one point, I\u00a0identified 11\u00a0parties comprising this industry.\u00a0 In addition, there were a number of codes and guidelines to be assessed as to their relevancy.<\/p>\n Interviewing\u00a0one to three\u00a0representatives of each party resulted in\u00a015 to 20\u00a0interviews and e-mail enquiries in an effort to be satisfied I\u00a0understood how the industry worked and its average practice.\u00a0\u00a0It’s very difficult to\u00a0accurately estimate the cost to assess the standard of care in a situation like this.<\/p>\n Impossible<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s impossible to estimate the cost of follow-up investigations because:<\/p>\n It’s impossible to estimate the cost of follow-up investigations because we don’t know what they are – what evidence we may need to follow, until we are well into the forensic engineering investigation.<\/p>\n Very difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n To summarize,\u00a0it is very difficult to estimate the cost of this task because:<\/p>\n The cost of this task is\u00a0very difficult to estimate because you just don’t know at the start of a forensic engineering investigation how much data you’ve got to study, it’s nature, and it’s complexity.\u00a0 Nor how much reasoning, cross checking, and corroboration you’ve got to do.<\/p>\n Sometimes at this late stage of an investigation\u00a0it may be necessary to go back to the site and check one thing or another.\u00a0 Depending on the nature of the failure or accident the data analysis could take hours, days, maybe even weeks.<\/p>\n Difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s difficult to estimate the cost of repair and remediation because:<\/p>\n You can’t fix something until you know what’s wrong with it\u00a0and why making it difficult to accurately estimate costs at the start of an investigation.\u00a0 This is particularly the case for a foundation failure where the unknown cause\u00a0often lies below the ground surface.\u00a0 You\u00a0can’t see and don’t know what’s\u00a0below the ground surface\u00a0at the cost estimating stage at the start of a forensic investigation.<\/p>\n Difficult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It’s difficult to\u00a0accurately estimate the cost of\u00a0a forensic report because:<\/p>\n It’s difficult but not impossible to estimate the cost of writing a report on the forensic investigation, before the investigation has\u00a0been carried out.<\/p>\n The report describes what\u00a0has been\u00a0done, gathers together from the file and reports the data, describes the analysis of the data,\u00a0notes the conclusions, and states the\u00a0opinion.\u00a0\u00a0To some extent it’s a bit mechanical.<\/p>\n It gets difficult to estimate costs when there is a\u00a0lot of data to tabulate, plot,\u00a0and describe in a report.\u00a0 This can\u00a0reduce the\u00a0accuracy of the cost estimate.<\/p>\n Describing an involved and difficult analysis\u00a0in\u00a0easily understood terms can be time consuming – an involved analysis not anticipated at the start and allowed for in the cost estimate.<\/p>\n Unknown\u00a0follow up investigations, and evidence that leads off in unexpected directions, can also add to the\u00a0estimated cost of\u00a0writing a forensic\u00a0report.<\/p>\n The\u00a0foregoing\u00a0assessment of difficulty\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>was taken from a posting to this blog site on July 15, 2013 entitled, \u201cSteps in the forensic engineering investigative process with an Appendix on costs\u201d.<\/p>\n We\u00a0have\u00a0our standard investigative protocols for guidance when estimating costs but we\u00a0know we may end up skipping\u00a0tasks or adding follow-up tasks.<\/p>\n Some examples<\/strong><\/p>\n For example<\/span>, in an alleged major flooding problem I\u00a0skipped from an oral briefing of the problem to a visual assessment on site to an oral report on my findings, that brought\u00a0an expensive\u00a0case by others to a quick close.<\/p>\n We also know that a standard\u00a0task in\u00a0a forensic investigation\u00a0may take on a quite unsuspecting magnitude and\/or complexity.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, assessing the standard of care to do with a matter in the built environment can be fairly straightforward – you identify the usually few parties involved – the designers and construction people, and interview them.<\/p>\n But what happens if you gradually learn that a certain\u00a0industry is poorly defined and there are maybe a dozen or\u00a0so parties involved in the task\u00a0for which the standard of care is being assessed and you must interview two or three from each party to get an average?\u00a0 Then estimating the cost of doing this is difficult, particularly at the start when you didn’t know the industry was poorly defined and made up of so many parties.<\/p>\n We also know\u00a0that the evidence – if we follow it –\u00a0a follow-up investigation –\u00a0may take us down an unknown path\u00a0to an\u00a0unknown task.<\/p>\n For example<\/span>, I found myself in one case needing to determine the physical properties of a quite different construction material, one used infrequently in Atlantic Canada.\u00a0 But as it turned out a material extremely relevant to the cause of a\u00a0construction problem.\u00a0 This was a cost I had no idea I would\u00a0have to incur on behalf of the client, the plaintiff in this particular case.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why indeed? You’re the expert and should know how to accurately estimate the cost of your work, you say.\u00a0 But we don’t know in every instance, and for\u00a0every investigation and task.\u00a0 We know a lot in our respective fields but … Continue reading 1. Document review<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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2. Visual assessment<\/strong><\/h1>\n
2.1 Visit and visually assess site<\/h2>\n
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2.2 Photograph and videotape site<\/h2>\n
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2.3 Interview witnesses<\/h2>\n
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3. Field investigations <\/strong><\/h1>\n
3.1 Describe the\u00a0failure or accident<\/h2>\n
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3.2 Survey and document damage to the structure<\/h2>\n
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3.3 Determine how the structure was built<\/h2>\n
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3.4 Determine the site conditions<\/h2>\n
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4. Laboratory investigations<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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5. Research<\/strong><\/h1>\n
5.1 Desk studies and leg work<\/h2>\n
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5.2 Identify codes<\/h2>\n
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5.3 Identify standard of care<\/h2>\n
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6. Follow-up investigations\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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7. Data analysis and forming an\u00a0opinion\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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8. Repair and remediation\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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9. Report<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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References<\/h1>\n
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Bibliography<\/h1>\n