Building Expert Witness & Building Pathology

Our services are exclusively for law firms and barristers handling construction disputes involving
building defects, non-compliance, rectification scope, and related technical issues.

Step 1: Watch the full video below

How we help: We provide independent building expert witness services for litigation, arbitration,
and adjudication matters – assessing defects, compliance, causation, and rectification scope.

Step 2: Make an enquiry

Albert Merolla JD, MCIBSE, MRICS, MAIPM, is a multi-qualified Chartered Engineer, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, and Registered Adjudicator with over 30 years’ experience providing independent building expert witness reports, evidence, and testimony on defects, compliance, causation, and rectification.

Case Studies & Lessons Learned

The following case studies present examples where law firms engaged Albert Merolla as a Quantum Expert Witness. Each outlines the context of the dispute, the approach taken, and the outcome achieved.

Urban Rail Project –
Change Process Misuse

Urban Rail Project – Change Process Misuse

On a major urban rail EPC, a 540-day delay claim blamed Employer Change Notices, but forensic analysis showed the real driver was replacing the original design house and misusing the contractual change process. Mapping 36 CNs to the critical path reframed the dispute around internal design and process failures, not cumulative change. Read more.

Warehouse Automation -
Delivery-Model Misalignment

Warehouse Automation – Delivery-Model Misalignment

A principal technology provider’s standard teaming model was undermined when a newcomer package was let on conventional lump-sum terms. Misaligned contract and site controls led to disputes, underscoring lessons on briefing teams, supporting PMs commercially, and managing any departures from the agreed delivery model. Read more.

Wind Farm Electrical –
As-Built Misalignment

Wind Farm Electrical – As-Built Misalignment

On a large wind farm, outdated OEM manuals and pre-wired turbine masts clashed with site conditions, driving significant re-wiring and access impacts. Mapping manual versus as-built conditions enabled hour-based valuation of variations and reinforced early treatment of documentation-driven change. Read more.

Albert Merolla – Principal Expert Witness

Albert Merolla –

Principal Expert Witness

When you’re running a building dispute where defects and compliance issues are going to be picked apart, you need an expert who genuinely understands your world – tight directions, messy project records, anxious clients, and a judge who just wants a clear, defensible answer.

Albert Merolla is a multi-qualified Chartered Engineer, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, and Registered Adjudicator with over 30 years’ experience acting as a Building Expert Witness for construction and commercial litigation teams on complex infrastructure, mining, and building matters. He’s used to working inside litigation timetables, aligning his analysis with your pleadings and issues list, and producing reports that comply with expert codes and stand up in conclave and cross-examination.

Albert’s role on your matter is to analyse defects, compliance, causation, and rectification scope, then present that work as clear, independent evidence the court can actually use. His opinions have helped law firms run cleaner liability cases, negotiate from a position of strength, and avoid the kind of expert evidence problems that only show up when the witness is in the box.

Before founding Build Conex, Albert worked globally as an engineer, planner, and commercial manager advising governments and tier-one contractors. That background means when he writes for your matter, he brings genuine site experience and commercial realism to the report – not just theory – and explains the building issues in a way that makes sense to you, your client, and ultimately the decision-maker.

“I cut through the noise in building disputes – delivering independent, technically grounded expert evidence so lawyers can argue from facts, not speculation.” — Albert Merolla

Connect with LinkedIn

Need a Building Expert Witness?

We reserve the right to determine whether, how, and when to respond to any calls, emails, or other enquiries. We will only respond to enquiries that are appropriate for the nature of our work. No initial discussion should be taken as an acceptance of instructions or the formation of a commercial relationship.

What Is A Building Expert Witness?

A Building Expert Witness is the independent specialist you brief when the technical truth about the building needs to be established in a way a court can actually use. They don’t represent your client – they assist the Court – by investigating the works, identifying defects and non-compliances, analysing causation, and explaining what is reasonably required to put the building right. For a construction litigator, a good building expert sits at the intersection of hands-on construction experience, code/standards knowledge, and forensic report writing, so your case isn’t built on allegations and site anecdotes, but on structured, defensible evidence.

In plain terms, a Building Expert Witness is:

An independent technical authority
- Owes a duty to the Court/Tribunal, not the instructing party
- Provides balanced, reasoned opinions – even where that doesn't help "your side"
A translator between site and courtroom
- Turns drawings, specs, RFIs, site photos and as-builts into a coherent story
- Explains construction issues in language judges and arbitrators can follow
A defects and compliance specialist
- Identifies defective and non-compliant work against NCC / Australian Standards
- Distinguishes between minor, tolerable issues and genuine performance failures
A causation and rectification analyst
- Works out what actually caused the problem (design, workmanship, materials, maintenance)
- Defines proportionate, technically sound rectification – not gold-plated wish lists
A litigation-ready expert
- Produces reports that meet expert codes of conduct and practice notes
- Can sit in conclave, produce a joint report, and hold up under cross-examination

What Does A Building Expert Witness Do?

A Building Expert Witness is the person you bring in when the facts about the building need to be nailed down – independently, clearly, and in a format the court can use. In practice, that means investigating what actually happened on site, identifying defects and non-compliances, forming opinions on causation and rectification, and then presenting those findings in a report that aligns with pleadings, directions, and the expert code of conduct.

On a typical matter, a Building Expert Witness will:

 
                What they do
                What that involves
            
                Investigate the building
                
                    - Inspect the works, photograph and document defects

                    - Review drawings, specs, RFIs, as-builts, test reports, prior expert reports
                
                Diagnose the issues
                
                    - Identify defects and non-compliances with NCC / Standards

                    - Analyse causation – design vs workmanship vs materials vs maintenance

                    - Distinguish between localised, repeating, and systemic issues
                
                Define rectification and impact
                
                    - Develop or review rectification scopes and methodologies

                    - Comment on what is reasonable and proportionate to fix

                    - Input into costing and quantum experts on what must be allowed for
                
                Provide evidence for your case
                
                    - Prepare litigation-compliant expert reports and joint reports

                    - Respond to other experts' opinions and clarify areas of agreement/disagreement

                    - Give oral evidence in Tribunal/Court and withstand cross-examination

What they do	What that involves
Investigate the building	- Inspect the works, photograph and document defects - Review drawings, specs, RFIs, as-builts, test reports, prior expert reports
Diagnose the issues	- Identify defects and non-compliances with NCC / Standards - Analyse causation – design vs workmanship vs materials vs maintenance - Distinguish between localised, repeating, and systemic issues
Define rectification and impact	- Develop or review rectification scopes and methodologies - Comment on what is reasonable and proportionate to fix - Input into costing and quantum experts on what must be allowed for
Provide evidence for your case	- Prepare litigation-compliant expert reports and joint reports - Respond to other experts' opinions and clarify areas of agreement/disagreement - Give oral evidence in Tribunal/Court and withstand cross-examination

When to Engage A Building Expert Witness?

You don’t need a building expert for every grumble about defective work — you need one when the dispute has become serious enough that “he said / she said” won’t cut it anymore. That’s usually when you, as the construction litigator, are staring at a messy project history, a client with a multi-million dollar problem, and a directions timetable that now mentions expert evidence.

A quick sense-check for you

You should be thinking about briefing a Building Expert Witness when:

The matter is (or is heading towards) formal proceedings
- NCAT / VCAT
- Supreme/Federal Court
- Arbitration or adjudication support
The core issues are technical, not just legal
- Alleged defects or non-compliance with NCC / Standards
- Disputes about scope and method of rectification (over-scoping vs under-scoping)
- Arguments over whether the issue is design, workmanship, materials, or maintenance
You can't safely rely on what the client is telling you
- They have photos, emails and frustration — but no structured defect schedule
- Their "expert" is really a partisan project manager or builder, not an independent witness
The timetable has turned real
- Pleadings crystallise the defects / building issues
- Directions mention expert reports, conclave, and joint reports
- Opposing counsel has already foreshadowed "we'll be calling our expert"
You need to test settlement strategy against reality
- Before mediation, you want a view on how bad the defects case really is
- You need a technically defensible rectification scope to anchor quantum

Why Choose Albert as Your Expert Witness?

When you brief Albert, you’re getting more than a technical specialist – you’re getting a multi-qualified Chartered Engineer, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Registered Adjudicator and legally trained practitioner who understands exactly what you, as a construction litigator, need an expert to do. He has spent over three decades in the thick of major projects and disputes, so he knows how to turn a chaotic record of drawings, RFIs, programs, emails and site photos into clear, independent evidence on defects, compliance, causation and rectification that actually helps a court.

Albert is acutely mindful of his duty to the Court and structures his reports around your pleadings, issues lists and practice notes, giving you opinions that are properly reasoned, clearly expressed and defensible in conclave and cross-examination. Because he straddles engineering, commercial and legal perspectives, he can see both the construction realities on site and the forensic demands of litigation, helping you run a stronger, cleaner case – and avoid the kind of expert evidence that unravels the moment it is tested.

Click here to enquire

Explore how we can deliver a solution tailored to your project.

Get in touch