Construction Consulting

Our team of seasoned Building Consultants provides expert Damage Assessments, Scoping, and Estimation of all types of property damage on a multitude of structures, resulting from a wide array of fortuitous and non-fortuitous events. Beyond preparing Repair Scopes and Estimates, we have the expertise to provide Invoice Analysis and Auditing, expert CPM Schedule Analysis, Builder’s Risk Services, Appraisal Services, and more.

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YA has experts who deal strictly with building contents. Our team of experts provides an initial site inspection, including a restoration/conservation assessment for residential, high net worth, and light commercial claims. We offer a detailed inventory of total loss items, including RCV and ACV pricing, and an inventory of restorable items. Additionally, we coordinate and monitor restoration services, audit and verify service pricing, monitor work in progress, audit invoices, coordinate content appraisals as needed, and verify inventory lists and values.

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YA understands the critical role of expert analysis and testimony in the success of litigation matters. With a reputation for unparalleled professionalism and a base of expert experience spanning decades, YA Litigation Support Services consistently provides unbiased analysis across an expanding selection of expert disciplines. Utilizing their technical, scientific, and forensic experience, YA’s experts partner with clients through all phases of litigation – beginning with the pre-suit fact-finding and, when necessary, culminating with trial. Our clients can be confident throughout the litigation process, knowing that YA’s experts will provide professional and articulate testimony supported by facts and science. Through the partnership with our clients, YA ensures that expert opinions are clear and concise while, most importantly, effectively communicating complex information to help attorneys, judges, juries, and all other interested parties understand the evidence.

YA experts are subject matter specialists with practical industry experience, allowing them to provide opinions regarding the pertinent science and the relevant standard of care. In addition to expertise in their respective fields, YA experts have extensive experience assisting as consulting and testifying experts in various forums, including state court, federal court, arbitration, appraisal, and mediation.

As litigation outcomes increasingly hinge upon complex and technical issues, clients can expect YA’s Litigation Support Services to assist in all facets of litigation, including:

• Investigating, assessing, monitoring, and documenting loss locations
• Issuing peer-reviewed reports supporting expert opinions
• Providing deposition and trial testimony
• Analyzing technical documents such as building plans and product specifications
• Drafting and responding to technical discovery requests
• Preparing trial graphics, exhibits, and animations
• Generating areas of inquiry for technical depositions of opposing experts
• Reviewing opposing expert reports and testimony
• Conducting Daubert analysis of disclosed expert reports
• Participating in the development of negotiation strategies
• Offering technical insight during the evaluation of settlement proposals
• Evaluating pleadings alleging engineering and architectural malpractice

YA has been providing qualified subject matter experts to law firms, insurance companies, corporations, and governmental entities for more than 25 years. Our experts provide litigation support across a broad spectrum of industries, to include, but not limited to:

• Insurance (Defense, First-Party, Third-Party, Reinsurance, Captive)
• New & Existing Construction
• Real Estate (Residential, Commercial, Industrial)
• Healthcare
• Hospitality
• Education
• Government
• Agriculture
• Manufacturing
• Retail & Restaurant
• Oil, Gas, & Renewable Energy
• Power Generation, Distribution, & Utility Facilities
• Infrastructure
• Transportation & Trucking
• Consumer Products
• Telecommunications
• Chemical & Refining Plants
• Marine, Maritime, Shipyard & Ports

CE & CLE Educational Program

YA Litigation Support Services regularly provides in-person and remote learning courses for insurance adjusters and attorneys needing Continuing Education credits and Continuing Legal Education credits to satisfy licensing requirements. YA experts teach courses ranging from “Adjuster Ethics” to “Water Mitigation.” In addition to a library of existing courses, YA can develop programs to address your organization’s specific educational needs.

The YA Fire Investigation Team provides comprehensive and reliable forensic investigations to various corporate, insurance, and legal clients. YA’s fire investigators have decades of hands-on experience investigating the origin and cause of fires and explosions in the residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, maritime, and petrochemical environments. Supported by the YA team of engineers and the Litigation Support Team, YA’s fire investigators provide expertise to clients throughout the investigative process, from initial scene examination to jury trial. As subject matter specialists, YA’s fire investigators are qualified to testify in state court, federal court, and arbitration panels and also assist with appraisals and mediations. In addition to origin and cause investigations, YA’s fire investigators regularly collect and preserve evidence, assess pre-fire risks, consult on case files, and evaluate fire protection systems.

Services provided:

• Origin & cause investigations
• Residential investigations
• Commercial investigations
• Industrial investigations
• Maritime investigations
• Transportation investigations
• Heavy equipment investigations
• Agricultural investigations
• Fire protection & suppression system evaluations
• Evidence collection & preservation
• Pre-fire risk assessments
• Life safety & fire code compliance reviews

YA’s team of Scheduling Experts brings extensive knowledge and expertise in construction, engineering, and scheduling, enabling them to quickly comprehend complex assignments. Our experts have years of experience and in-depth knowledge to identify and analyze delays from an insured incident to an ongoing construction project. This proficiency extends to establishing reasonable restoration periods for operational facilities impacted by catastrophes.

As part of our Delay and Scheduling Services, we perform schedule analyses tailored for various evaluations. This includes Builder’s Risk Delay in Start-Up (DSU) and Business Interruption (BI) claims, expediting expenses, and ongoing monitoring of project schedules to ensure timely project completion. Our team is well-versed and ready to provide expert witness testimony and litigation support.

YA Scheduling Experts are highly skilled in industry-accepted recommended practices for conducting schedule analyses, precisely identifying the impacts of incidents on operational facilities and ongoing construction projects. Leveraging our in-depth knowledge of project scheduling, our team can quickly understand project intricacies and forecasts. This enables us to respond promptly and accurately to our clients’ scheduling consulting needs.

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Our Builder’s Risk Services are dedicated to navigating the complexities of assessing delays due to an insured incident to completing an ongoing construction project. Our team has played a pivotal role in advising the international insurance market, contributing to the assessment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Builder’s Risk Delay in Start-Up (DSU) claims. Our experts bring diverse perspectives that support the formulation of unbiased conclusions for our clients.

YA Litigation Support Services regularly provides in-person and remote learning courses for insurance adjusters and attorneys needing Continuing Education credits and Continuing Legal Education credits to satisfy licensing requirements. YA experts teach courses on topics ranging from “Adjuster Ethics” to “Water Mitigation.” In addition to a library of existing courses, YA can develop programs to address your organization’s specific educational needs.

Our expertise and best practices approach in scheduling, project controls, claims, and technology application adds tremendous value to both new and ongoing enterprise project management programs alike.

Our services include:

Baseline Schedules – Our team an assist your project team in developing its initial schedule. Our expertise in managing schedules and delays will help ensure your baseline schedules are designed for accuracy and documentation.

Claims and Dispute Resolution – Sometimes project disputes are difficult to resolve. We can help guide dispute resolution strategies and expert witness support for early resolution or trial testimony.

Construction Schedule Reviews – We utilize standard industry scheduling methods and software to monitor and report on the progress of construction projects so that our clients are informed quickly and accurately of project events and corrective actions.

Staff Augmentation – Gain the value of having a professionally trained consultant to augment your team. Increase your team’s efficiency, save time, and improve your existing team’s abilities and skills.

Schedule Updates  – We assist project teams in monitoring, updating and reporting on project status, including documenting and tracking delays to progress.

Delay Analysis – When delays occur, we can help document and analyze delays for early resolution and recovery strategies.