The Lawyer Monthly Expert Witness Awards 2021

About Jeff Charlton “I am the managing director and principle consultant of Building Forensics. I have been involved with contaminated buildings for 30 years and have spent the past 20 years specialising in mould, biological and chemical contaminates, often the cause of building related illness. “I am a board Certified Indoor Environmental Hygienist in USA and a qualified member of Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (UK). “It is important you have some confidence in the Indoor Environmental Hygienist you use and ask you to view my credentials. “Possibly my most important qualification is that I have CIRS and the double HLA gene. My Neuroquant shows three areas of atrophy and one of inflammation. For more information please click here. This makes me a little grumpy sometimes as I continue to often work 7 days a week. “I assisted the British Standards Institute by providing technical input to the newBS12999 and PAS 64 code of Practice in repair and decontamination of water damaged buildings. I m also part of the Survivingmold. com indoor environmental hygienist panel and was a contributor to the Biotoxin illness paper. I am currently a key member of the European emergency response panel on Terrorist and CBRN, and a member of the UK professional working group of CBRN response of Emergency Planners. “Building Forensics provide you with expertise to identify cause and effect of sick buildings which are often water damaged and result in building related illness. This includes building and design defect assessments, moisture mapping and identification and levels of mould and or other likely bio and chemical contaminates. We use state of art equipment including Infra-red thermal imaging, chemical air sampling and biological sampling including mould, bacteria, endotoxins etc. “At Building Forensics, we can often identify hidden contamination by air or surface sampling for both particles and chemical and biological agents which are associated with water damage and often resultant health issues.” the chronic illness they have developed post restoration. While it has always been difficult to prove illness or causation I have worked with many medical professionals across the world and can now provide routes to evidence of exposure and symptoms. The chemical and biological contaminates amplified in water damage can now be identified at source and more importantly in blood and urine. Recent USA legal cases have resulted in $million compensation for Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) which is now identified through GENIE, a genetic blood test, and Neuroquant, a 3 dimensional MRI brain scan. Personally after 30 years working in a contaminated environment, I was diagnosed with CIRS and brain atrophy and have immense sympathy with the people/policyholder exposed to the biological tiggers 24/7 while insurers and their agents ignore their pleas and attempt to counter scientific evidence with junk science. Insurers can try to limit mould claims with policy wording and even ignore them, but they cannot ignore the law or requirements to engage competent nominated contractors. Insurers cannot ignore proximate cause either, and as their contractors and slowness to respond usually causes bio amplification, I suspect they could not avoid liability. The insurance restoration industry was once a mom-and-pop industry with local companies working with local loss adjusters and competition was rife with a Yellow Pages telephone directory full of adverts extolling the new equipment and certification they each held. Today there is no competition, insurers control all the contractors with nationwide contracts at ridiculously low rates where competence is penalised, and profit is scarce. The Conclusion The incompetence of claim management, contractors’ actions and insurers apparent reliance on policyholder’s ignorance has, in my opinion, resulted in a trail of potential claims for latent damage, personal injury and the devaluation of property value. The trail goes back years and I shudder to think of how many homes have been poorly restored and occupants are now sick, no doubt due to the bio contaminates being present in air and on surfaces. Interestingly here, the WHO and various peer reviewed papers, now recognise dead mould and bacteria can be a greater health hazard than active growth. Considering contractors focus on killing mould there is little defence even if they were successful. Latent damage is likely to be in the form of biological residue and decay, which may be responsible for occupant health issues. Property devaluation of is likely when at time of sale, solicitors ask of events which may affect the sale value and if water damage is declared perhaps a demand for verified certification will follow. With decontamination costs likely to exceed £20,000 and all contents possibly written off, there could be secondary claims? There is of course one salient factor which should now be clear, if the state of the industry is so flawed, how come nobody has identified it or blown the whistle? The reality is most do not know how incompetent they are, because they have never been trained. Building Forensics offer a technical review of water damage claim paperwork with recommendations followed by evidence gathering and detailed analysis if required. LAWYER MONTHLY EXPERT WITNESS AWARDS 2021 - 25 - www.lawyer-monthly.com