Quantity Surveyors in the legal end of construction?

Question

Does anyone know any legal cases which have benifitted from the use of a quantity surveyor standing as an expert witness?

Answer 1

A "quantity surveyor" is a failed architect, and usually taken as a third rate witness in a legal case

Answer 2

Ok, so I read your other question and feel that your thesis could be interesting, but it will be hard to find a lot of cases where the estimator is the expert witness. Generally court cases will stem from shotty workmanship, poor design, etc. Usually costs of a construction project are known at the bid opening, and any COs that impact the cost are accounted for throughout the life of the project. I think the only time an estimator would witness would be  if a project went beyond the schedule and some sort of liquidated damages clause kicked in. One case off the top of my head involves a GC and an estimating software company. We studied this in our Construction Law class during my senior year of college. The case is titled: "M.A. MORTENSON COMPANY,  INC. vs.  TIMBERLINE SOFTWARE CORPORATION and

SOFTWORKS DATA SYSTEMS, INC." Just a quick run down, Mortenson had an estimate that they were going to submit, and they found that it was nearly $2million off of what it was supposed to be, and they claimed that Sage's software was to blame. I hope this helps!