When a fire or explosion damages a building, the effects reach well beyond the immediate property loss. Business interruption, liability exposure, and compliance questions often add complexity to an already costly event.
Neale Consulting conducts building fire investigations to establish how the fire started, why it spread, and what influenced the scale of the loss.
Our findings are evidence-based and written for people who have to act on them, helping clients make confident decisions on claims, disputes, and litigation.
What a Building Fire Investigation Determines
A building fire investigation conducted by Neale Consulting aims to cover all important factors, including:
- How Ignition Occurred: the area of origin, the first fuel, and the ignition source.
- Why the Fire Spread: the role of construction, contents, openings, and building services.
- What Affected the Scale of Loss: detection, suppression, compartmentation and the response.
- Who or What Was Responsible: a failed component, a maintenance gap, a design or installation fault, or the way the building was used.
Properties We Investigate
We investigate fires in every type of built environment, from a single dwelling to a major industrial site:
- Industrial Facilities: manufacturing plants and process industries.
- Warehouses & Distribution Centres.
- Commercial Properties: offices, retail, and hospitality.
- Residential Buildings: single-family homes, multi-family blocks and high-rise buildings, including house fire investigation for insurers and owners.
- Educational & Institutional Facilities: schools, hospitals, and detention centres.
- Assembly Occupancies: arenas, theatres, and places of worship.
- Parking Structures, Agricultural & Food-Processing Facilities.
- Specialised Environments: laboratories, clean rooms, and data centres.
What We Assess
Each investigation considers how the building’s design, materials, and systems affected the way the fire developed. We evaluate:
- Design & Construction: the structure, materials and fire compartmentation.
- Building Systems: electrical, HVAC and fuel gas systems, including electrical fire investigation where an installation or an item of equipment may have been the ignition source.
- Life Safety Features: firefighter access and means of egress.
- Building Contents: what was stored or in use, and how it contributed to the fire.
- Operational & Human Factors: how the building was run and used.
- Management Systems: code compliance (e.g. NFPA, ICC, OSHA, ATEX, and EN), inspection and testing records, and overall risk governance.
Who We Help
Insurers, claims adjusters, subrogation teams, legal firms, property owners, and operators rely on our building and structure fire investigation work to support fire damage claims, subrogation and litigation. Where a case needs testimony, see our fire and explosion expert witness services.
Need a building fire or explosion investigation?
Then contact the Neale Consulting team straight away - before vital evidence is removed, destroyed or disposed of. Contact us now.
How can we help you?
