Evidence & Expert Reports

Dated aerial evidence that holds up.

A claim, a defect dispute or a tribunal matter turns on what the roof, facade or site looked like on a given date. It also turns on who can vouch for the record. We inspect from the air by drone, rate what we find and hand over a report with a chain of custody behind every image.

Straight-down aerial of a fire-destroyed house: collapsed walls and rubble inside the footprint, an intact pool beside it and scorched ground around

Overview

Dated, defensible, accounted for.

Loss adjusters, strata managers, building defect consultants and solicitors need the same thing from a site: an independent record of its condition on a known date. The damage has to be identified, rated and separated from what was already there. Our report gives them that. Each defect is located on an orthomosaic or elevation image, described, rated against a declared standard and dated, with a plain statement of what was and was not inspected.

Capture is planned around the site, the airspace and the weather so the whole asset is covered, not just the obvious damage, and every original is hashed and logged on the day of capture. We are based in Newcastle and inspect across the Hunter, New England and the Central West, and elsewhere in NSW by arrangement. An engineer reviews the imagery, identifies the likely mechanism behind each defect and rates it. The report and evidence annex are prepared for the person who has to rely on them: an assessor, a committee, a consultant or a court.

Led by a reliability engineer and NSW-licensed investigator.

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Uses

Where evidence-grade inspection is used.

Storm and hail damage assessment

A dated record of the roof, gutters, skylights and solar array after a weather event. Each impact, lifted sheet or fractured tile is located, counted and measured for the claim file.

Pre-existing versus new damage

Damage separated into what the event caused and what was already there: wear, corrosion, earlier repairs and workmanship faults, each described and rated on its own.

Building defect evidence

Roof, facade, balcony and parapet defects in strata and commercial buildings, mapped to the lot or zone they affect and rated for severity, for the defect consultant or the committee.

Expert technical reports

Where a matter is heading to a tribunal or court, the findings are written up as an expert technical report that answers the question put to us, sets out the method and states the limits.

Repeat capture to document change

The same asset flown again from matching positions at agreed intervals, so movement, deterioration or the progress of a repair is recorded over time rather than argued about.

Residential roof evidence

Houses are inspected only for an insurance claim or a dispute: a dated, rated record of the roof and its drainage, with chain of custody, for the owner, the insurer or the builder.

Deliverables

What the evidence report contains.

Each finding in the report is traceable to a hashed original with its capture time and position. An evidence job adds the following to the standard report.

Defect schedule: every defect numbered, with the lot, roof zone or elevation it affects, the image it appears in and the capture time
Each defect described with its likely mechanism (impact, wind, wear, corrosion, workmanship) and whether it is consistent with the event claimed
Pre-existing versus new damage set out separately where an earlier record or clear evidence of age exists
Measured extents: affected roof area, ridge and gutter lengths, counts of damaged sheets, tiles or panels
Image-by-image comparison against the client's earlier photographs, reports or claim documents where supplied, with each difference identified and dated
Expert technical report, where instructed, addressing the question put to us for a tribunal or court
Change findings from repeat capture: the same positions flown on each visit, with movement, deterioration or repair progress identified and rated between visits

The report

Reported as an Engineering Condition & Evidence Report.

Every engagement returns the same six parts, whatever the asset. The service-specific outputs above sit inside it.

01
Capture to a stated specification
Ground sample distance, overlap and accuracy are set before the flight and recorded.
02
Defects mapped to asset IDs and zones
Every finding is located on an orthomosaic or model, not left in a folder of photos.
03
Condition or criticality rating
Rated against a declared standard: severity by likelihood.
04
Recommended action and timeframe
What to do about each rated defect, and by when.
05
Evidence annex
Hashed originals, metadata, capture log and a chain-of-custody statement.
06
Areas not inspected and limitations
Stated plainly, so the report is read for what it covers.

Chain of custodyIllustrative

Process

How an evidence job runs.

Brief

We take the question, the parties, the deadline and who will read the report. The scope records what is to be inspected and the standard the findings will be rated against.

Capture

Coverage is set before we arrive: which elevations, which roof planes, what overlap, from which positions, so the record is complete and can be repeated later. Originals are hashed and logged on the day of capture, before anything is transferred.

Interpret and rate

An engineer reviews the imagery, locates each defect, identifies its likely mechanism, separates new damage from pre-existing condition and rates it against the declared standard. Areas not inspected are recorded as the review proceeds.

Report and annex

The report, the evidence annex and the chain-of-custody statement are issued together, with the originals held in encrypted storage. Where an expert technical report is instructed, it is issued with the annex.

Limits

What the report is, and is not.

The report is a visual and measured assessment of what could be seen from the air on the date of capture, rated by an engineer. Interiors, roof cavities, concealed fixings and anything under cover are not inspected, and the report says so. Structural certification and any sign-off on the building sit with the client's engineer. Measurements are engineering measurements to a stated accuracy; the outputs are not a cadastral or registered survey.

We report what we find. The findings are the same whichever party instructs us, and the report is prepared so it can be relied on in a claim, a tribunal or a court.

Common questions

Evidence & Expert Reports, answered.

What makes the evidence defensible in a claim or a dispute?

It is prepared for that purpose. Each original is hashed as it comes off the aircraft on the day of capture and traced through a logged chain of custody, the findings are rated against a declared standard, and the report states its method and its limits. Where the matter needs it, the findings are issued as an expert technical report. Whether the report is admitted is a matter for the forum.

Can you tell storm or hail damage from wear and earlier repairs?

The report separates them and says how. Impact marks, lifted fixings and fresh fractures present differently from corrosion, ponding wear and old patching, and each defect is described with its likely mechanism. Where an earlier record of the roof exists, the comparison is made image to image. Where the age of a defect cannot be settled from the imagery, the report says that too.

Can you inspect a house roof for an insurance claim or a dispute?

Yes, for an insurance claim or a dispute. A residential roof is captured and reported to the same evidence standard as a commercial one: dated, rated, with chain of custody and a statement of the areas not inspected. We do not inspect houses outside that purpose.

How is an evidence inspection quoted?

The quote is a fixed price for the deliverable, not by the hour. It reflects the size and height of the asset, access and site constraints, and whether a comparison with an earlier record is needed. An instructed expert technical report is included in the quote at the outset, and repeat captures of the same asset are quoted as a programme.