Health and safety and fire safety expert evidence, UK wide
Expert Witness Services
Cases are rarely won by the expert. They are regularly damaged by one, usually where an opinion strayed beyond the writer's field or read as an argument for the party paying for it. AL23 Safety gives independent health and safety and fire safety expert evidence that answers the question asked and says plainly where the evidence runs out, for solicitors, insurers and dutyholders UK wide.
What are expert witness services?
An opinion owed to the court, not to the party paying for it
An expert witness gives opinion evidence on a technical matter within their expertise so the court can decide an issue it is not equipped to decide alone. In civil proceedings that role is governed by Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The central principle is set out in rule 35.3. The expert's duty to help the court on matters within their expertise overrides any obligation to the person instructing or paying them.
That is not a formality. A report we write may help your case or damage it. It states the same conclusion either way, which is exactly what makes it worth putting in front of a judge.
What an expert cannot do
An expert cannot advocate. Persuasion belongs to counsel. A report that argues rather than analyses invites the other side to say so in cross examination. An opinion given outside a person's field is worth nothing and will be dismantled the moment it is tested. AL23 Safety declines an instruction where a conflict exists. We also decline where the question falls outside our expertise rather than reading around a subject at your cost. We say so before a fee is incurred.
Who needs one
Anyone who has to prove a technical point to a court or a tribunal
- Claimant or defendant solicitors in personal injury and employer liability claims
- Insurers deciding liability, contribution or reserve before proceedings are issued
- Defence solicitors in a prosecution brought under health and safety legislation
- Parties to a professional negligence claim against a consultant, designer, contractor or assessor
- Contractual disputes over fire safety works, remedial standards or building safety remediation
- Matters needing fire cause and origin support, including scrutiny of another investigator's findings
- Inquests where a technical issue arises, noting that the coroner's rules rather than the Civil Procedure Rules apply
The regulations that apply
Your legal framework, in plain terms
Expert evidence in civil claims in England and Wales is governed by Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules, supported by Practice Direction 35 and the Guidance for the Instruction of Experts in Civil Claims. It is restricted to what is reasonably required to resolve the proceedings. Criminal proceedings run under the Criminal Procedure Rules, which impose a comparable duty to the court.
Rule 35.3, the overriding duty
The duty to help the court overrides the duty to the client. The report must say so on its face. The expert must say so again if asked in the witness box.
Rule 35.4, permission
No party may call an expert or put in a report without the court's permission. The court fixes the field of expertise, the issues to be addressed and often a cap on recoverable fees.
Rule 35.7, single joint expert
The court may direct that evidence on an issue is given by one expert instructed by both parties. Both sides may put written questions to that expert, whose duty remains to the court.
Rule 35.10 and Practice Direction 35, the form of the report
The report must give qualifications, the substance of all material instructions, the literature relied on, the facts and assumptions used, the range of opinion where one exists and the reasons for the view taken. It ends with the prescribed statement of truth, which carries real consequences for an expert who signs it carelessly.
Rule 35.12, discussions between experts
The court may direct experts to meet without prejudice and produce a joint statement recording what is agreed, what is not and why. Concurrent evidence, often called hot tubbing, may then be used at trial to test both experts on the same issue together.
What the service covers
From a conflict check to evidence at trial
- A conflict check and written scope confirmation stating which issues fall within our expertise
- Preliminary opinion, delivered as a short letter that tells you early whether the technical case stands up
- Desktop review of pleadings, witness statements, disclosure, photographs and any existing expert report
- Critique of an opposing report, identifying unsupported assumptions and opinions outside the author's field
- Site inspection, including joint inspection with the other side's expert where directions require it
- Evidence preservation, covering photographic and metric recording, examination of plant and retention protocols
- Full reports compliant with Part 35 and Practice Direction 35, signed with the prescribed statement of truth
- Instruction as a single joint expert under rule 35.7, with the even-handed conduct that role requires
- Joint statements under rule 35.12, drafted to narrow the issues honestly rather than protect a position
- Fire evidence, covering cause and origin, fire dynamics and spread, detection and alarm performance, compartmentation and means of escape
- Health and safety evidence, covering risk assessment adequacy, machinery guarding, work at height, manual handling, training and supervision
- Written answers to Part 35 questions and attendance at trial, including concurrent evidence
Our process
Cleared for conflict, then followed to trial
- 01
Conflict check and scope
We check the parties, the site and any previous involvement, then confirm in writing which issues we can properly address. If we cannot act we say so within days rather than weeks.
- 02
Preliminary opinion
We review the papers and give a short, candid view on the technical merits. Where the evidence does not support the case, hearing that at the outset is far cheaper than hearing it in a joint statement.
- 03
Inspection and evidence
We inspect while there is something to inspect, record it properly and set out what needs preserving. Sites get cleaned, machines get repaired and evidence disappears quickly.
- 04
Report
We produce the Part 35 compliant report, addressing the issues in the directions order, stating assumptions openly and giving the range of opinion where practitioners differ.
- 05
Joint statement and trial
We attend the experts' discussion, agree what should be agreed and hold what should be held, then give evidence at trial where required.
What you get
Documents that stand up when they are tested
- A written conflict check and scope confirmation before any substantive fee is incurred
- A preliminary opinion letter setting out the merits, the weaknesses and what further evidence would settle the point
- A report compliant with Part 35 and Practice Direction 35, with the statement of truth in the prescribed form
- A photographic and inspection record, indexed and dated, with any retention recommendations
- Written answers to Part 35 questions and a joint statement recording agreement and disagreement with reasons
- Availability for the trial window agreed in the directions order
What we need from you
The papers and access to name the issues
- Written instructions naming the issues and the questions you want answered
- The pleadings, witness statements, disclosure, photographs and any existing expert evidence
- The directions order and the trial window, since the report date should be met rather than renegotiated
- Access to the site, the equipment or any retained items, together with the details of who controls them
- Early notice of every party involved, since the conflict check should be done once and done properly
Why AL23 Safety
Independent and willing to say what does not help
Accountable
We report what we find, including where it does not assist the instructing party. An expert who only ever helps the client will eventually be disbelieved.
One team, three disciplines
Health and safety, fire safety and fire engineering sit in-house, which matters when a claim turns on the system of work and on the building itself.
We decline what is not ours
Where the question belongs to another discipline we say so at the outset rather than producing an opinion that will not survive cross examination.
UK wide
We accept instructions from solicitors and insurers across the UK from our Manchester base, including short notice inspections.
Discuss an instruction
A conflict check and a straight view on the merits
Send the pleadings and tell us the issue. We will confirm whether we can act and give an initial view on whether the technical case holds together. No obligation and no pressure.
Common questions
Answers, up front
Cannot see your question? Get in touch and we will answer it directly.
Contact usFees follow the volume of disclosure, whether a site inspection is needed, how many issues the directions order sets and whether trial attendance is likely. A preliminary opinion on a modest bundle is a small piece of work. A multi-party remediation dispute is not. Our published pay as you go rates are £95 per hour or £695 per day plus VAT. The court may also cap recoverable expert fees when granting permission. We agree scope against that cap rather than after it.
The directions order sets the date and we work to it. The real constraints are the volume of disclosure and access to the site or the retained equipment. We tell you at scoping whether the date is realistic. We would rather decline an instruction than sign a report rushed to meet a date we should have questioned.
You hear it early and in writing. That is the purpose of the preliminary opinion. It is also the cheapest document we produce. Once a report is served the opinion is fixed, since the duty under rule 35.3 means it cannot be adjusted to suit the party paying for it. Knowing the weakness at week one is worth far more than discovering it in a joint statement.
Yes. Where the court directs a single joint expert under rule 35.7 we accept instructions from both parties, deal with each even-handedly and answer written questions from either. Both parties receive the same report at the same time.
No. AL23 Safety is a technical consultancy rather than a firm of solicitors. We give opinion evidence on health and safety and fire safety matters. Advice on liability, procedure, privilege and settlement belongs to your legal team. Where a regulator is already involved, the support available before proceedings sits on our HSE enforcement support page.
Yes. Fire safety and fire engineering sit in-house alongside health and safety. One instruction can therefore cover both the system of work and the fire performance of the building. Our fire assessment methodology is described on our fire risk assessment services page. The investigative discipline behind our evidence gathering sits on our incident investigation page.
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