Expert Opinion and Litigation Support
When building envelope disputes arise – whether in litigation, arbitration, mediation, insurance claims, or before a tribunal – the technical questions at their center typically require independent opinion from a registered professional engineer. What caused the failure? Did the construction meet the applicable standard of care? Were the deficiencies foreseeable? What remediation is required and at what cost? These are engineering questions that need engineering answers, documented in a form that serves the proceeding.
DG Engineering provides expert opinion and litigation support services for building envelope matters across BC. We work with legal counsel, insurers, strata corporations, developers, and property owners across a range of dispute resolution and insurance claim contexts. Our reports are prepared by registered professional engineers with direct experience in building envelope assessment, forensic investigation, and construction.
Expert Opinion Reports
Expert opinion reports prepared for legal proceedings in BC must comply with Rule 11-2 of the BC Supreme Court Civil Rules. A compliant report includes the expert's qualifications, the facts and assumptions underlying the opinion, the opinion itself, and a signed acknowledgment that the expert understands their duty to the court – to provide fair, objective, and non-partisan opinion evidence. That duty runs to the court or tribunal, not to the retaining party.
We prepare reports that meet these requirements: clearly structured, technically grounded, and written to be understood by non-technical readers including judges, arbitrators, mediators, and insurance adjusters. Where diagnostic site investigation is required to support the opinion, we conduct and document that investigation as part of the engagement. Reports prepared for other proceedings – arbitration, mediation, insurance claims, or the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal – follow the same standard of rigour and independence.
Scope of Engagements
Expert opinion and litigation support engagements vary in scope and stage. Our team assists with:
Causation and deficiency analysis – determining the cause, extent, and significance of building envelope deficiencies that are the subject of a dispute or insurance claim, supported by site investigation, testing where appropriate, and reference to applicable standards and codes
Standard of care reviews – assessing whether a party's design, specification, construction, or oversight work was consistent with the standard of care applicable in BC at the relevant time
Damages and remediation scope – providing technical input on what remediation is required to address identified deficiencies and the reasonable cost of that work, to support quantification of damages or settlement of an insurance claim
Peer review of opposing expert reports – reviewing and responding to technical reports prepared by the opposing party's expert, identifying errors, unsupported assumptions, or areas of disagreement
Pre-litigation and pre-claim technical assessment – providing an independent assessment of building envelope conditions prior to a claim being issued, to help parties and their counsel understand the technical merits of a potential dispute or insurance claim
Alternative dispute resolution – providing technical evidence and opinion in mediation and arbitration proceedings; attendance available upon request
Who We Work With
Our expert opinion and litigation support work is retained by a range of parties:
Legal counsel representing building owners, strata corporations, developers, and contractors in construction deficiency, warranty, and insurance claims disputes
Insurance adjusters and underwriters requiring independent technical assessment to evaluate the cause, extent, and remediation cost of building envelope insurance claims
Strata corporations and their legal advisors in disputes with developers, contractors, or warranty providers, including insurance claim proceedings
Property owners and developers seeking an independent technical opinion prior to or during dispute resolution or an insurance claim process
Why DG Engineering
Building envelope disputes and insurance claims are technical at their core. They turn on questions about how specific systems were designed, specified, installed, or maintained – and whether that work met the applicable standard. Our team works in these systems every day, across assessment, forensic investigation, design, and construction oversight. That direct, practical experience informs the quality and credibility of our expert opinion.
We are registered professional engineers with Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC), familiar with the building codes, standards, and industry practices against which building envelope work in BC is assessed. Our opinions are independent and impartial, consistent with our professional obligations and our duty as experts to the court or tribunal.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Common matters include construction deficiency claims involving water ingress or building envelope failures, insurance claims where the cause or extent of building envelope damage is in question, disputes over warranty coverage and whether deficiencies are warrantable, and disputes between strata corporations and developers, contractors, or consultants over design or construction quality. Expert opinion is also used in pre-purchase disputes and matters before the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.
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Rule 11-2 of the BC Supreme Court Civil Rules sets out the requirements for expert reports. The report must state the expert's qualifications, identify the facts and assumptions on which the opinion is based, provide the opinion itself, and include a signed statement acknowledging the expert's duty to the court to provide fair, objective, and non-partisan evidence. EGBC's guidelines for engineers acting as expert witnesses also apply to reports prepared by professional engineers in BC.
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Yes. We can be retained by either plaintiff or defendant, or by a neutral party such as an insurer. An expert's obligation is to provide an honest, independent opinion regardless of who retains them – the duty runs to the court, tribunal, or insurer, not to the client. We accept retainers from any party whose matter falls within our technical expertise and where we can provide an honest opinion on the issues in dispute.
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A standard of care review assesses whether the work of a design professional, contractor, or consultant met the standard that a reasonably competent practitioner in that field would have applied at the time the work was done. In building envelope matters, this typically involves evaluating design decisions, specifications, or construction practices against the codes, standards, and industry practice that applied when the work was carried out. These reviews are commonly used in professional liability, construction deficiency, and insurance claims.
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Attendance at examination for discovery, mediation, arbitration, or trial is available and can be scoped as part of the engagement. We recommend discussing anticipated proceeding requirements at the outset so the engagement can be structured accordingly.