We find why buildings fail. Building envelope forensics — cause and origin, defensible scope and repair cost.
What we do
Four pillars of property loss forensics.
Every engagement answers the same four questions, in order: what is damaged, why it failed, exactly what it takes to fix it, and what that costs. Each answer is documented so it holds up under scrutiny.
Property loss assessment
Objective damage documentation for owners, insurers and counsel. Moisture mapping, thermal imaging, invasive testing and photo-indexed field records.
Cause & origin
Science-backed root-cause investigation. We separate the failure mechanism from its symptoms and trace it to the design, material, workmanship or maintenance decision that produced it.
Scope of work
Specification-ready repair documentation. Elevation-keyed, detail-referenced scope that a contractor can bid and an insurer can approve without interpretation.
Cost of repair
Defensible, itemized restoration budgets built from the scope, current unit pricing and explicit assumptions — so every line can be traced and defended.
Services
From the first site visit to the witness stand.
CSF works across the full life of a building problem — evaluation, investigation, repair documentation, cost, and testimony — so nothing gets lost in a hand-off.
- Building inspection & evaluationCladding, roofing, windows, decks, waterproofing
- Cause & origin investigationWater intrusion, envelope and structural failures
- Property loss assessmentDocumentation for insurance claims
- Scope documents for restorationBid-ready repair specifications
- Cost estimatingItemized, defensible repair budgets
- Construction litigation supportExpert reports, deposition and trial testimony
- Deviation analysisAs-built versus plans, codes and manufacturer requirements
- Moment capture analysis (MCA)Time-stamped forensic imaging of a condition
- Property condition assessmentDue-diligence and asset condition reports
- Pre-purchase inspectionsResidential and multifamily
- QA/QC construction managementThird-party envelope observation during construction
- Construction cost managementBudget control through repair and rebuild
- UAV / drone servicesFAA-licensed aerial documentation and 3D modeling
About
A system, not a single expert.
The Four Pillars of Property Loss Forensics — Assessment, Cause & Origin, Scope of Work, Cost of Repair — turn a building investigation into a repeatable, defensible process, not a matter of who happens to be on site.
CSF's principal consultant, Nate MacIntyre, built that model from years spent on both sides of the building envelope — constructing it, and investigating why it failed. The Four Pillars are the result: a structured sequence any qualified specialist can follow, so an engagement holds the same rigor whether it calls for a structural engineer, a cost estimator, a private investigator, or a roofing specialist from CSF's expert network.
That's what the system is built to do — let CSF bring in the right discipline for a given failure without the findings losing consistency or defensibility. The team brings more than 50 years of combined experience to it, and most engagements come from referrals by attorneys, adjusters and past clients — the strongest measure we have of the system holding up in practice.
Nate MacIntyrePrincipal Consultant & creator of the Four Pillars model
Credentials
- Role
- Principal Consultant, Construction Science Forensics
- Licensing
- Oregon CCB licensed contractor
- UAS
- FAA remote pilot certificate 4113677
- Safety
- OSHA construction safety & health certification
- Speaking
- NAHB IBS, RIMS Western Regional, AGC, Cincinnati Insurance Construction Defect Seminar, MC Consultants West Region
- Testimony
- Expert reports, deposition and trial support in construction defect matters
They have tremendous experience, they are knowledgeable, good advocates for their clients, and very professional.
Lowell McKelvey, McKelvey Kozuma Burke PC
CSF has provided me with critical testing, analysis and reports on a timely basis consistently for years. I would recommend CSF to any professional or private client without reservation.
Stephen N.
Smart, nice, professional people. I've used them for years, they are excellent consultants, particularly in construction defect litigation support.
Rob Wilkinson, Ball Janik
Contact
Tell us what the building is doing.
A short description and a few photos are enough to start. We'll tell you what an investigation would involve and what it would cost before anyone books a site visit.
- Phone
- (503) 313-5961
- Nate
- [email protected]
- General
- [email protected]
- Office
- 10940 SW Barnes Rd., #210
Portland, OR 97225 - Hours
- Monday – Friday, 8am – 5pm Pacific
Service area