Published Thursday 13 August 2026 · By the JustEng team
Five developments from the forensic engineering and construction disputes world this week — two landmark English cladding rulings, the UK’s first government-driven Remediation Contribution Order, and an ongoing New York collapse investigation — all point to sustained forensic engineer recruitment and expert witness hiring demand across the sector.
Crest Nicholson v Ardmore hands down a landmark ruling on Building Liability Orders
In Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd v Ardmore Construction Ltd (In Administration) & Ors [2026] EWHC 789 (TCC), the High Court delivered what commentators are calling the most significant authority to date on Building Liability Orders under the Building Safety Act 2022, confirming BLOs can extend liability for building safety defects beyond the original contracting entity to associated companies. Source: Pump Court Chambers.
Hiring angle: Cases like this widen the pool of parties who can be pursued for defects, and that is translating directly into demand for forensic engineer recruitment as law firms and insurers build out technical teams able to trace liability across corporate structures — a trend we track closely via our forensic engineering recruitment desk.
Mulalley v Sto: first TCC ruling to quantify a Building Safety Act contribution claim
On 22 June 2026, Mr Justice Pepperall handed down judgment in Mulalley & Co Ltd v Sto Limited & Sto SE & Co KGaA [2026] EWHC 1552 (TCC), awarding Mulalley an 87.5% contribution from cladding supplier Sto over the “inherently defective” StoTherm Classic system stripped from a Chelmsford tower block after Grenfell. It is the first published case assessing quantum under a section 149 contribution claim. Source: Charles Russell Speechlys.
Hiring angle: Quantifying contribution claims of this kind depends heavily on expert evidence, and instructing solicitors are actively headhunting structural and materials experts with cladding failure experience — a specialism where candidate demand is outstripping supply.
Sto’s collapse now tied to £135m of mainly cladding claims
Administrators for the collapsed Sto Ltd say the business is now facing around £135 million in claims, “mainly” cladding-related, up from an earlier £50 million estimate, among the pressures cited as a factor in the supplier’s collapse into administration. Source: Building Design.
Hiring angle: Product liability exposure on this scale is prompting manufacturers and insurers to bring in forensic engineers earlier in the claims process, another driver of vacancies for engineers with fire testing and product failure expertise.
First government-driven Remediation Contribution Order tested at tribunal
In the Hallings Wharf Studios case, the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) made a Remediation Contribution Order for £3,682,997.78 in favour of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government — the first RCO obtained on an application by central government, though the Tribunal declined to allow recovery of the department’s legal and expert costs. Source: Mills & Reeve.
Hiring angle: With government now actively pursuing RCOs, expect more forensic quantity surveyors and cost experts required to build recoverable, well-evidenced remediation claims — a growing niche within forensic engineering recruitment.
New York’s East 42nd Street collapse investigation moves into its next phase
New York City’s Department of Buildings has completed the first wave of its safety sweep of 180 jobsites connected to the project team behind the partial structural collapse at 235 East 42nd Street, the former Pfizer headquarters, after two support columns buckled on 7 July during an office-to-residential conversion. The DOB found no evidence the failure was inherent to conversion projects generally, but its investigation into the specific cause continues. Source: Construction Dive.
Hiring angle: High-profile forensic investigations like this tend to lift demand for structural forensic engineers on both sides of the Atlantic, and salary benchmarks for the specialism are worth checking on our forensic engineering salary guide before making an offer.
If you are building a forensic engineering or expert witness team, JustEng specialises in headhunting hard-to-find forensic and disputes engineers across the UK and internationally. Register your vacancy, or if you are a forensic engineer exploring new opportunities, submit your CV in confidence.