Housing Disrepair Expert Witness. Capability Statement

Transcription

1 Housing Disrepair Expert Witness Capability Statement

2 Our Accreditations ISO 9001 Quality management ISO Environmental management OHSAS Health and safety management CHAS Contractors Health and Safety Scheme accredited RICS Corporate member of the RICS ECMK Accreditation body for our Domestic Energy Assessors Gas Safe Gas Safe registered Constructionline Registered firm ISO17025 Demonstrates competency in asbestos testing ISO17020 Demonstrates competency in asbestos inspection Exor Compliance and procurement policies ATAC Asbestos Testing and Consultancy Member

3 Contents Company overview 5 Our social housing expertise 5 Some of our housing clients 6 Our expert witness expertise 7 CV 8 Price 9

4 Mission, Vision and Values Mission Supporting Property Vision People Exceptional Trusted Expert Values Innovative Sincere Trusted Supportive Collaborative We Live Our Values Everyday at Pennington Choices Ltd; they serve as a compass for our actions and describe our behaviours. Innovative Innovation and creativity We are passionate about developing new ideas and approaches to meet demand. Continuous learning and improvement We encourage and inspire others to learn and grow. Sincere Equality and diversity We respect everyone s individual differences, values and beliefs. Honesty, integrity and being ethical We create an open, positive and inspiring working environment. Trusted Professionalism Our ambition is to be the best at what we do. Respect We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. Supportive Quality focused We have a right first time culture. Competence We have the right people, doing the right things. Collaborative Responsive We are flexible and proactive to meet objectives. Effective communication We collaborate and build lasting relationships.

5 Company overview We are a multi-disciplinary provider of consultancy and support services for public and private sector clients. Our clients include local authorities, social landlords of all types, the NHS, schools, businesses with significant corporate property concerns, building and maintenance contractors. The company commenced trading in January 2000, becoming incorporated in March 2000 and has expanded its range of services considerably over that time. We operate on a UK wide basis, with staff based across the country and four office locations in Warrington, Bromley, Birmingham and Glasgow. Asbestos Services Asset Management & Maintenance Building and Quantity Surveying Electrical Management Services Energy Efficiency Gas Management Services Human Resources Professional Training Project Management We provide a range of services to clients, which take the form of consultancy, provision of support services, interim management and training, as follows: Our social housing expertise Regeneration and Development Strategic Social Housing Support We have significant experience working within the public sector over the last 17 years. We operate predominantly in the social housing sector but have also worked with schools, further/higher education, NHS and devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Our project leaders have all worked as senior employees of public sector organisations. We understand the challenges the public sector faces; the pressure to cut costs, while meeting increased demands from service users and regulators. We have closely aligned our business to our public sector clients. We deliver our services by: Adopting a partnership approach We recognise our clients need us to work collaboratively, flexibly and responsively to ensure we achieve value for money. Driving continuous improvement We innovate and adapt to respond to the changing needs of our clients. We have improved how we plan and schedule survey programmes to drive productivity. Our improved approach means we can meet cost pressures from public sector clients, maintain our commitment to quality, health and safety and equality and diversity, whilst reducing costs (in some service areas by 20%). Transferring knowledge and skills Our clients have lost skilled and experienced people. They have been unable to offer competitive salaries to attract the best staff, had training budgets reduced and are unable to invest in trainees and new staff. We have responded to these issues. We recognise that our clients are looking for considerable added value to transfer our competencies to their staff. We do this by working closely with clients, sharing information and providing structured programmes of shadowing, Page 5

6 Some of our housing clients Page 6

7 Our expert witness expertise We are a corporate member of RICS. We employ a number of highly experienced chartered and non-chartered surveyors with extensive building surveying experience. We have provided expert witness services since We have operated on both the claimant s and landlord s side. Our defects pathology expertise provides us with the insight to comment on causes of disrepair and associated responsibilities, remedial measures and costing of works. We understand the technical requirements necessary to comment on alleged disrepair items and offer professional advice on the contents of a disrepair claim. Our team can also support landlords to minimise the likelihood of a disrepair claim by working closely with their technical officers, during general maintenance works and routine inspections. Working proactively, we can help officers by providing guidance on what to look out for within a property prior to any disrepair claim. We can perform, or provide advice on the benefit of undertaking, street walks to identify obvious external disrepair items that would normally be contained within a schedule of claim. Page 7

8 Niall Twomey - Senior Surveyor MRICS; BSc (Hons): Building Surveying What benefits can Niall bring to this project? MRICS qualified, with over eighteen years building surveying experience. Specialist in building pathology, defects diagnosis and remedial recommendations. Fourteen years experience acting as expert witness on behalf of various property owners - in relation to Section 11 housing disrepair claims. Highly experienced in delivering detailed building surveys for acquisition purposes and homebuyers reports. Proven track record in public and private sectors, for both domestic and commercial property. Experience Niall Twomey is a MRICS qualified Senior Building Surveyor at Pennington Choices. His fourteen years experience as an expert witness provides clients with invaluable knowledge of the standards required for this type of survey, placing him in a unique position compared to standard chartered surveyors. This exceptional knowledge and thorough understanding is vital to ensure Section 11 reports are completed and returned within the time frames outlined in the protocol for housing disrepair. Niall is fully conversant with CPR part 35 and the 1st and 2nd Editions of Practice Notes and Guidelines as set out in Surveyors Acting as Expert Witnesses. Niall and his team adopt a high attention to detail work ethic with exceptional organisational skills; ensuring projects are delivered on time and within budget. Niall has accumulated considerable specialised knowledge and skills through carrying out dilapidation surveys in the residential housing disrepair market, commercial and retail sectors. Page 8

9 Price Location Price London 750 Outside London 500 Additional hours 85 (per hour) Page 9