Expert Services
Our depth of in-house expertise means we can effectively manage your expert service matters across the entire construction and structural spectrum.
Our Expert Services division is a leading independent expert services practice, specialising in the provision of construction building and structural expert witness services to owners, contractors, subcontractors and law firms in litigation, arbitration, adjudication and mediation proceedings across most construction and infrastructure sectors.
Our Expert Services team have assisted in the resolution of many large construction disputes across Australia and internationally. The expertise we bring comes from decades of hands-on experience delivering major construction and infrastructure projects. And our team have a depth of experience across most sectors and geographies.
SJA’s experts commit to the highest levels of integrity, quality, and objectivity, delivering detailed analyses in a clear and concise manner and are committed to supporting clients with accurate, unbiased opinions allowing them to objectively assess their position and ultimately achieve optimum results and outcomes.
SJA’s experts are adept and experienced in providing their evidence in the form of written reports and oral evidence under examination before the appointed dispute resolution tribunal up to and including the Supreme Court.
Service Offering
Forensic assessment, reporting and expert witness services for matters relating to:
- delay
- delay costs, loss and expense
- quantum relating to variations and other claims
- disruption
- project delivery
- defect inspections and reporting including the quantification of remediation works
- structural
Our Team
Steve Abbott
Managing Director
With 42 years’ experience in the building, construction and engineering industries, Steve has provided expert services on some of the largest building, construction and engineering projects across Australia together with major projects in New Zealand, Macau, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the United Kingdom.
Steve is an accomplished construction expert specialising in the areas of forensic delay analysis, disruption analysis, quantum, quality of product and construction process / project delivery. He has provided expert witness services in relation to Arbitrations (including International Arbitrations), Expert Determinations, Mediations and has authored expert reports and testified in most legal jurisdictions including the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
John Tasho
General manager
John has more than 40 years’ experience in the commercial management of construction and engineering projects in Australian and International markets. As a skilled commercial practitioner, John has a successful record of managing the contractual aspects of major bids, negotiating and securing contracts and leading the commercial delivery of large projects in the infrastructure, engineering and building sectors. In addition to project procurement and delivery, John is experienced in the management, preparation and settlement of claims and disputes.
Rob Foster
GENERAL MANAGER
Rob is a project planning & programming professional with over 30 years’ experience providing innovative planning and scheduling advice for live projects and forensic analysis of delays and disruption in project delivery.
Ben Mackey
General Manager
Ben is an accomplished construction and property project director with a background in the engineering design of civil and building structures.
He has demonstrated expertise in the public and private sector, working nationally and internationally. He has led multiple business geographies in an executive role and acted as a responsible director and service assurance manager for all project management commissions within these business units.
Mark Lincoln
STATE MANAGER
Mark has over 30 years of experience in the building, construction, engineering, rail, infrastructure and defence industries successfully providing commercial and contracts management direction and support in respect of a wide range of construction and service-based projects.
Mark has demonstrated success implementing operational and commercial project turnarounds, preparation and negotiation of claims (including insurance claims) and the resolution of disputes. He has also been involved in the preparation of or independently as appointed expert prepared expert reports in relation to time and quantum, to a variety of owners and contractors engaged in capital works programs located in Australia, Asia and Europe.
Steve Hulme
Regional Manager
Steve is a construction project planning & programming professional with over 33 years’ experience providing innovative planning and scheduling advice for live projects and forensic analysis of delays and disruption in project delivery.
Steve is an accomplished adjudication dispute expert witness and has experience in most jurisdictions across Australia. He has prepared expert reports for Infrastructure, Healthcare, Hotel/Resort, Residential sectors and has worked on matters including construction of Dams in Regional Queensland, Highways in Western Australia, Resort refurbishment in the Whitsunday Islands, Water Treatment Plant in Brisbane and High-Rise Residential in Brisbane
Graham Hargrave
REGIONAL MANAGER
Graham has over 30 years’ experience in the building, construction, and engineering industries with extensive experience in various roles including quantity surveying and commercial management. Graham’s experience has been derived from projects delivered in the United Kingdom, Ireland, North Africa, the Middle East, and Australia. Graham assumed the role of lead commercial contracts manager responsible for leading large teams to deliver commercially compliant outcomes for numerous substantial and often complex building, commercial and infrastructure projects.
Graham has extensive experience in expert analysis and reporting on project matters relating to quantity surveying and cost planning, contract administration, variation account assessment and evaluation as well as the appraisal and quantum of claims for additional entitlements involving time and/or cost.
Tim Stevens
REGIONAL MANAGER
Tim is a professionally qualified commercial manager whose broad experienced has been gained over a 30-year career in the Australian and UK construction industries.
Tim has extensive experience in the commercial leadership, management and administration of large projects across a wide range of sectors including transport infrastructure, commercial, defence, education, health and retail.
Andrew Broom
REGIONAL MANAGER
Andrew has over 24 years’ experience in the building and construction industry in Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Kenya. Andrew has varied experience in the management and planning of a wide range of projects across the residential, commercial, government, power generation, civil transportation and oil and gas sectors.
His specialisations include forensic delay analysis, expert report drafting, planning & programming, construction methodology development, productivity monitoring and project controls.
Andrew has assisted in the preparation of expert reports for the mining, airport infrastructure, renewable energy and power, civil engineering, healthcare, residential and leisure sectors and has worked on these matters in the areas of programme assessment, delay and disruption analysis, planning and productivity benchmarking, with a focus on resolving disputes.
Ben Marshall
REGIONAL MANAGER
Ben is a highly experienced senior project manager with 18+ years’ developer and client-side
Ben is a senior project management professional with 18+ years’ developer and client-side experience gained throughout the UK, the Middle East and Australia. Ben has an in-depth knowledge of the development and construction process through repeated exposure to the whole life cycle on a diverse range of projects, including large mixed-use, retail, commercial, education, residential and hospitality.
Ben has prepared expert reports for the public and private sectors with particular focus on defective works and procurement issues.
Scott Patten
Regional Manager
Scott is an RICS qualified Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Commercial Mediator with over 20 years’ experience in the engineering, defence and construction industries. He has a depth of expertise in all facets of contractual agreements, ranging from main contract to design and service agreements.
He has worked across multiple geographic locations including the United Kingdom. United Arab Emirates, Australia and New Zealand.
Scott has prepared expert reports across infrastructure, commercial, defence and mining sectors and has worked on matters including change control, risk management, insolvency, preparation/negotiation and resolution of disputes.
Tim Hoare
Senior Advisor, Structural Engineer
Tim is a highly experienced Structural Engineer with over 26 years’ experience in the engineering and construction industries. He is an accomplished Structural Engineering expert in areas of design inadequacies and code non compliances, fabrication faults and construction defects.
Tim has provided expert witness services in relation to litigation and mediation and has authored expert reports and testified in NSW and Victorian court systems.
Karl Payne
Senior Advisor
With more than 27 years’ experience in the building, construction and engineering Industries, Karl has worked in roles as a quantity surveyor and senior commercial management within some of the largest construction organisations in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Karl has assisted with the preparation of expert reports for adjudication applications and responses involving both time and cost with contractor’s, subcontractor’s, and clients.
Farooq Nasir
Senior Planner/Programmer
Farooq is a senior civil engineering professional with over 18 years’ experience working at reputed multinationals in Pakistan, United Arab Emirates & Australia.
As a senior civil engineering professional skilled in construction contracts, contractual notifications, delay analysis methodologies and extension of time (EOT) claims.
Farooq has assisted in the preparation of expert reports and has worked on these matters in the areas of programme assessment, delay and disruption analysis, planning and productivity benchmarking, with a focus on resolving disputes.
Jimmy Tiet
Senior Advisor
Jimmy is an experienced and commercially astute construction professional. Over his 18-year career, Jimmy has successfully delivered commercial management expertise in the construction and delivery of major building, infrastructure and civil engineering projects across Australia.
Jimmy is skilled in providing commercial support and reporting for projects in building and infrastructure and has worked on matters including dispute resolution, adjudication, arbitrations and expert determinations.
Jeanne Zhang
Senior Advisor
Jeanne has over 17 years’ experience in the commercial management and contract administration of construction projects. Jeanne has supported the delivery of many projects across a broad range of industry sectors across Australia.
Jeanne is skilled in providing commercial support, quantum analysis and reporting for projects in building, infrastructure, mining and civil sectors and has worked on matters including dispute resolution, adjudication, arbitrations and expert determinations.
Mario Antonelli
Senior Planner/Programmer
Mario has 30 years’ experience in planning, scheduling and controls management of complex design and construct projects including building, infrastructure, civil, road & rail. He has project planning & controls expertise including project scheduling, cost control, cost planning, and systems development.
Mario is skilled in providing expert analysis and reporting for projects in the water, building, infrastructure, civil & road sectors and has worked on matters including management reports, managing programme requirements under the head contract, programme & cost forecasting, development & tender programmes, critical path analysis, time impact analysis, implement programming standards and provision of training.
Tim Sherwood
Senior Advisor
Tim specialises in construction defects providing advisory services, performing building inspections and, where there are claims in relation to alleged construction defects, providing Independent expert reports under instructions from legal advisors retained by owners or contractors. With his industry experience and intimate knowledge of the BCA and its associated compliance requirements.
Tim has prepared many independent expert reports which have been used as evidence in legal proceedings. Tim is also an experienced testifying expert having provided oral evidence that has been examined before the New South Wales and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunals. Tim has also prepared detailed expert reports in relation to large scale defect claims before the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
John Brookes
Senior Advisor
With 40 years’ experience in the building, construction and engineering industries, John Brookes has worked through the construction industry from a licensed builder successfully managing his own building company to Senior Consultant & Construction Expert at SJA. John’s building experience extends to all aspects of the construction and development process including the delivery of large scale residential projects. He has inspected and provided reports for thousands of residential units for the largest developers in New South Wales and Queensland. John has over 10 years’ experience in authoring expert witness reports and providing evidence for numerous matters.
Kevin Siggers
Senior Advisor
Kevin has over 30 years’ experience in the building, construction and engineering industries with extensive experience in road and rail infrastructure projects. Kevin has played an instrumental role in many major projects in roles including quantity surveyor, managing quantity surveyor, program managing quantity surveyor, commercial manager and contracts manager.
Kevin has extensive experience in expert analysis and reporting for infrastructure projects and has worked on matters including authoring claims (EoT, Delay and Disruption, latent condition) and variations for major contractors, claim preparation, claim reviews and responses, dispute resolution process papers and responses on rail metro infrastructure.
