We provide businesses within the community, including solicitors, accountants and bank managers, with a comprehensive range of property-related professional services for their clients:
Principally we offer a valuation and survey service, which can on occasion lead to appearances in court as an expert witness.
The primary function of an expert witness is to express an independent expert opinion on the property-related information requested by the client, for the benefit of the Court or tribunal.
As Chartered Surveyors acting as an expert witness, our surveyor is bound by the Civil Procedures rules and will conform to the requirements of the RICS Practice Statement for Surveyors Acting as Expert Witnesses.
Alasdair Morrison Chartered Surveyors can provide professional advice on property related matters including:
We only act as an expert witness and give expert evidence where we have the skills, experience, knowledge and expertise appropriate for the assignment, and the resources to complete the work to an agreed timescale.
A well drafted, unbiased expert witness report, in compliance with Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR35) and its associated Practice Direction (PD35), will often help parties in dispute to reach agreement and settle without the need for a tribunal or court hearing.
Should a dispute be heading towards the courts or another judicial body such as an arbitrator for resolution you will possibly need the services of an Expert Witness.
It is important that the appointing party realises that the overriding duty of any expert is to the court, or other judicial body, to help it decide matters within the expert’s expertise and not to the person paying the expert’s fees.
Expert advice must be independent, objective and unbiased.
The general requirement is for such evidence to be given in a written report in accordance with the CPR and suitable for cross-examination.
We act as an Expert Witness for private individuals and corporate clients.
In some disputes a court may appoint a ‘Single Joint Expert’ instead of the parties appointing their own experts to give evidence.
We are also able to provide property plans to any scale, based on Promap, the Ordnance Survey’s electronic mapping service. These can be customised using clients or our own on-site measurements, to plot new boundaries and clearly delineate ownership. These plans can be suitable for property deeds.
