Published Wednesday 29 July 2026 · By the JustEng team
Today’s global briefing rounds up the rulings and investigations shaping forensic engineering work — from a landmark cladding contribution judgment in London to structural failure probes in New York and Nigeria — and what they mean for forensic engineer recruitment and hiring across the disputes market.
High Court puts a price on cladding contribution claims
In Mulalley v Sto, the Technology and Construction Court assessed for the first time how a contractor’s contribution claim against the supplier of a defective external cladding system should be quantified under section 149 of the Building Safety Act, accepting expert evidence that put recoverable costs at around £3.4m; a building liability order against the supplier’s German parent was also pursued under section 130 (Mayer Brown).
Hiring angle: The court’s insistence that loss must still be proved by evidence — even after default judgment — underlines why expert witness and quantum specialists remain among the most sought-after hires in forensic engineer recruitment.
Wembley hotel ruling pins ACM cladding duty on landlord
In a dispute over a multistorey Wembley hotel found to be wrapped in combustible ACM cladding, the court held the freehold landlord was the responsible person with a duty to remove or reduce the risk, and that its repairing obligation extended to inherent defects posing a significant fire safety risk (Kennedys).
Hiring angle: Every decision allocating remediation liability generates fresh survey and assessment work, sustaining candidate demand for fire engineers and façade specialists able to act in contentious settings.
Adjudication update: fairness rules bite on enforcement
Walker Morris’s July adjudication roundup highlights Belong (Construction) v Seddon Construction, in which the court stressed that adjudicators must give parties a fair opportunity to address the basis on which a dispute will be decided — deciding on a different footing without inviting submissions may render the decision unenforceable (Walker Morris).
Hiring angle: Busy adjudication and arbitration pipelines keep consultancies hiring delay and quantum experts, and engineers with disputes exposure command a clear premium — see our forensic engineering salary guide for current benchmarks.
Fatal building collapse in Ogun State prompts forensic probe
One person died when a building collapsed in Ogun State, Nigeria, and the state governor has ordered an investigation. Experts at the scene said only detailed structural, geotechnical and forensic engineering investigations can establish whether foundation failure, soil instability, construction defects or substandard materials were to blame (Vanguard).
Hiring angle: Failure investigations of this kind are increasingly resourced internationally, adding to global demand and creating opportunities for UK-trained investigators — a trend we track closely in forensic engineering recruitment.
New York high-rise failure moves to formal forensic evaluation
Stabilisation work has continued at the former Pfizer building in Midtown Manhattan after buckled columns were discovered on the 21st floor earlier this month; the building’s owner has been required to appoint a third-party engineer to carry out a formal forensic evaluation of how the failure happened and what led to it (CNN).
Hiring angle: High-profile investigations like this showcase the skills shortage at the sharp end of the profession — structural engineers with failure investigation experience are among the hardest roles any recruitment agency is asked to fill.
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