Landscaping Expert
Independent Landscaping Consultancy and Expert Witness Services
The Landscaping Expert Ltd is an independent practice led by Karl Harrison FPGCA MIET MAPL. We investigate defects and provide technical advice and expert evidence for disputes involving landscaping, garden construction and external works.
Karl has worked professionally in landscape construction since 2003 and holds the RICS Expert Witness Certificate. He combines practical experience of designing and building landscapes with a specialist understanding of how and why completed work fails.
We assist solicitors, homeowners, contractors and insurers. Whether an instruction calls for an early assessment or a report for civil proceedings, our role is to examine the evidence, explain our findings clearly and give an impartial opinion.
Expert Witness Services
The Landscaping Expert undertakes:
site inspections and defect investigations;
independent expert opinions and pre-action assessments;
CPR Part 35 reports, where formally instructed;
Single Joint Expert appointments;
Scott Schedules, experts’ meetings and Joint Statements;
analysis of likely causes; and
assessment of appropriate remedial work and reasonable costs, where required.
Our opinions are based on the available documents, site evidence, measurements, agreed specification, relevant standards and recognised industry practice. We explain both what the evidence supports and where it does not permit a firm conclusion.
Technical Consultancy and Dispute Resolution
A technical assessment can help the parties understand a problem before positions become entrenched. We review construction methods, specifications, workmanship, materials, drainage, levels and detailing to establish what has happened and what practical options are available.
Independent technical input can also help narrow the issues in dispute and support negotiation or mediation. Where the evidence shows that work is acceptable, or that a reported problem has another cause, we say so.
Areas of Expertise
Our work covers:
timber, composite and alternative decking;
decking substructures and external timber structures;
paving, porcelain patios, driveways and external surfacing;
drainage, surface-water management, levels and falls;
steps, thresholds and interfaces with buildings;
garden walls and retaining structures;
landscape specifications and construction detailing;
soils, planting and soft landscaping;
material performance and defective workmanship; and
the scope of remedial landscaping works.
Where a question calls for a separate discipline, such as structural engineering or arboriculture, we identify that limit and recommend appropriate specialist input.
Specialist Decking Expertise
Karl founded The Decking Network and has worked extensively with decking since 2003. He has written timber and composite decking guidance for the Association of Professional Landscapers and is recognised for his practical knowledge of decking design, construction and performance.
A decking investigation may consider structural support, subframe arrangements, timber durability, board movement, fixings, ventilation, moisture, drainage, steps, edges and balustrade interfaces. We also examine manufacturer requirements and the workmanship evident on site.
The aim is to establish why a problem has occurred, how far it extends and what constitutes a suitable remedy.
Independent, Evidence-Led Opinion
The Landscaping Expert has no commercial interest in the outcome of an investigation. Our conclusions follow the evidence, regardless of who instructs or pays us.
When Karl acts as an expert witness in civil proceedings, his overriding duty is to assist the court on matters within his expertise. He has given evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice, where his opinions and methodology were tested under cross-examination.
Contact The Landscaping Expert
Independent expert evidence for landscaping and external works disputes
Expert Witness · Technical Consultancy · Dispute Resolution
07581 193 034
karl@landscapingexpert.co.uk
www.landscapingexpert.co.uk