A quantum expert witness is engaged to assist tribunals, courts and parties to a construction dispute in evaluating the financial consequences of the matters in issue. Whereas a delay expert addresses time, the quantum expert addresses money — the proper valuation of variations, the assessment of loss and expense, the quantification of damages, and the verification of the underlying cost data. In a region such as the UAE and wider GCC, where mega-projects routinely involve claims running into hundreds of millions of dirhams, the quality and independence of the quantum evidence is frequently decisive.
The work of a quantum expert is fundamentally different from that of a commercial quantity surveyor acting for a party. A commercial surveyor's role is to advance the legitimate interests of the employer or contractor by whom they are engaged. The expert's overriding duty, by contrast, is to the tribunal: to provide independent, impartial and objective evidence within the expert's area of expertise, irrespective of which party is paying the fees. This distinction is central to the credibility of the expert and to the weight that the tribunal will give to their evidence.
Quantum experts are typically chartered quantity surveyors with extensive contemporaneous experience of pricing, valuing and managing construction works at the relevant scale and in the relevant sector. On a UAE high-rise dispute, for example, the expert would normally be expected to have direct experience of high-rise procurement, of the local supply chain, and of the cost structures typical of the regional market. Without that grounding, the expert's opinions are unlikely to carry weight against an opposing expert who does have it.
The scope of a quantum expert's instructions varies widely. In some cases the expert is asked to value a specific bundle of variations or a final account. In other cases the brief extends to the assessment of prolongation cost, disruption, loss of productivity, acceleration cost, finance charges, head office overhead and loss of profit. The expert may also be asked to test the methodology and conclusions of an opposing expert, and to identify the key issues on which the parties' experts agree and disagree.
A well-prepared quantum report is structured around the issues identified in the pleadings and the tribunal's directions. It sets out the expert's instructions, the documents reviewed, the assumptions made, the methodology adopted, and the calculations supporting each opinion. Crucially, it discloses the limits of the expert's knowledge and any matters on which a different conclusion might reasonably be reached. Tribunals are unimpressed by experts who present every issue as black and white in favour of the instructing party.
In FIDIC arbitrations seated in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or further afield, the quantum expert will typically give oral evidence at a hearing. Cross-examination on quantum evidence can be technically demanding and is often conducted by counsel with the assistance of the opposing expert. The expert who has prepared their report carefully, has tested their conclusions against the underlying records, and is willing to concede points that cannot fairly be defended will almost always emerge with credit. The expert who is wedded to indefensible positions will not.
At Construction Expert Witness, our quantum experts are chartered quantity surveyors with decades of regional and international experience on disputes referred to DIAC, ADCCAC, ICC and ad hoc arbitration under FIDIC, NEC and bespoke contract forms. We provide independent quantum evidence that is rigorous, transparent and capable of withstanding the most demanding cross-examination.