Social Networking for Thermographers

How qualified Themographers expertise, can be vital to a legal claim .

Can anyone become an expert over night? There are Technical experts, Professional experts, Laymen experts and others types of witness such as Dangerous expert witness. Definitions: "An expert witness is a witness, who by virtue of education, or profession, or experience, is believed to have special knowledge of his subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially (and legally) rely upon his opinion." (From Wikipedia, 04:39, 14 July 2005) “ In reality there is no particular experience or academic degrees necessary with the exception that the candidate is at the top of there game in the field of expertise that is relevant to a given case of circumstances or events”. We will briefly review three Pest management cases and see how technologies such as infrared, digital photos and other non destructive test results had an influenced their out come. We will examine what is necessary for you to be considered a qualified expert acceptable to testify in a court of law.

Proof may be necessary to confirm your competency. Owner and founder of Bestec Exterminators Inc. more than 20 years ago. A full service company on the cutting edge of pest management and it still is. Known for his work with exotic varieties of subterranean termites such Formosan Termites, as well as drywood termites and is one of the nations leading specialists on treatments and specifications to eliminate these varieties, from residential and commercial structures boats, yachts and RV’s. As a result, he has received national attention through television, seminars, newsletters and articles. Owner founder of Spectrum Infrared Building Solutions (SIBS) Bestec Home Inspections. Innovator of the first tenting alterative accepted by the Florida Dept. of Agriculture in 1991 as such created the treatment protocol and wrote the contractual agreement changing the pest management industry forever. This service provides a viable option to tent fumigation. As a result, borate alterative termite treatment specifications and tenting alternative agreements are sold all over the world by most pest and termite companies. Pioneered canine Termite inspections for Subterranean and Arboreal termites in the State of Florida with his famous dog “Tracker” As seen on TV and Newspapers. Designer of “Green pest management strategies ” since 1991 offering a fully organic general household pest control and termite services and all natural botanical service 100% insecticide free. “ Small Business Person of the Year" 1998 Personally presented by Governor Jeb Bush.” Research and Development Studies Recognized at the 1998 National Pest Control Convention, for his participation in the R&D that helps kick off BAYER Corporation “Premise sc” the first successful non repellent chemistry for subterranean termites. Also subterranean termite baits study, termite Sandy Soil study. These termite case studies were published in 1999. Participated in 1998 BASF Corp. R&D termite 5 Year Soil Study, Roach insecticide trials. Ant efficacies Trials, also Subterfuge termite bait trial, as well as participated in Research to eradicate the Tree Termite at the BASF EUP site in Dania Beach, Florida in 2000. Participated in 1999 U.S.D.A. Funded termite Bait Study Sponsored By FMC Corp. Results were published Joined by invitation from U.S.D.A Tree Termite Eradication Task Force in 2002-2005. Began a EUP, R&D 5 year study for Syngenta Corp. via Landis Laboratory termite Bait Trials and Soil Studies 2004-2008 University of Florida Wood Destroying Beetle Survey 2004- 2005 Served on “The New Orleans Mosquito and Termite, National Termite Survey” Participating in DuPont Corp. R&D EUP termite soil treatment study on Asian termites 2008-2013 Certifications State Certified Pest Control Operator for 20 years; Cat: GHP, Termite Certified Level 1 Thermographer Certified Pest Thermographer Published Papers " Three Ways to Use Infrared in Pest Inspections" published in 2004 by FLIR's Infrared Training division ITC. "The Success or Failure of Infrared Pest Inspections" published by The Infraspection Institute. 2005 “ The Business of infrared home Inspections” published by The Infraspection Institute. 2006 Civic involvement Served six years in the US ARMY and received an honorable discharge. A member of the he has served on the Board of Directors of Hallandale Beach Area Chamber of Commerce for many years. He is proud to be serving as the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Hallandale Beach Area School District. Has served on the Neighborhood Economic Improvement committee for Hallandale Beach, FL. Court Experience Has served as a professional witness on several wood destroying organism cases starting in 2003. These credentials are considered to be sufficient as a Technical witness, defined as one who has “common sense and long life experience and concentrated training in the subject in question.

Reality of our legal system The discovery phase is where most cases are won or lost. “ The rules under which a deposition is conducted are much different”. “ There is usually no judge present at a deposition and the grounds for objection are far more limited at deposition than at trial”. As an expert witness this is a great time to make your point. Normally when in deposition, there is no sound recording or video running the court stenographer is the main source of record keeping. This limits the record to just what is said and not what is seen such as body language or how attitudes are expressed or the volume of ones voice .

The compensation is substantial in most cases You can use a simple formula such as this to comprise your fees Calculate how many words per minute you are able to read and comprehend. That amount of words per minute times 60 minutes = time per hour times the amount of dollars per hour you charge. Time spent researching can be calculated the same way. The hourly fee is usually less for time spent reading and researching, than the time per hour during deposition and when in the court room. If you need some serious direction in being an expert witness or would like to market your expertise may I suggest you go to http://www.seak.com

Case Number One Judge called a pest management company to his home. The inspector positively indentified a drywood termite infestation. The treatment recommended was tent fumigation. The judge hired the company. I believe you will agree that the services rendered seems to be reasonable and harmless to both parties. What happen was that many months later new damage appeared in the same general area where it was discovered the first time. The same inspector came out and said “that this evidence was subterranean termite damage and was not covered under the current service agreement”.

New Damage These are photos of subterranean termite damage. The drywood damage was just inches away from this evidence. The Judge lost faith in the fumigator and canceled his agreement and called a nation franchised termite company whom treated the Judge’s new found subterranean infestation. The Judge was claiming relief from damages sustained from subterranean termites on his home due to a negligent initial termite inspection. The damaged wood was imported and difficult to replace. The suit was approximately for one million dollars

Old Evidence It was critical to this the case to give this home a complete and proper visual inspection while being thorough and non destructive. Infrared imager, motion detection, laser thermometer and moisture meter is what was primarily used in this inspection. Old damage was tested and recorded. Repairs from termite damage were documented and tested. The first photo is the site of some drywood damage. The wood that was once infested but now repaired, as you can see the wood color dose not quite match up.

IR Inspection Infrared images were taken of all the rooms in the home such as is illustrated in the photo and IR image. Fact #1; There was no current evidence of live subterranean or drywood termites at the time of my inspection. I found more sub termite damage that was recorded thus increasing the claim. Term A Trac motion detector was used to scan the areas that showed drywood termite evidence or where termite damage had been repaired. With respect to the claim was the question was, “how does one prove how long it takes for subterranean termites to eat wood”?

The core of the case These questions require many more questions, such as, how thick ,what type of wood, ID the variety of subterranean termite etc.? The questions go on and on. Much of the information mentioned above is predicated on how many termites were involved. At the end of the day I could not honestly tell how many termites were in the infestation that occurred more than a year ago, but I gave my expert opinion. That is why I was getting paid. At best I was a good expert witness but not a dangerous one. This case may or may not have gone to trial. if the fumigation company had initially performed a complete visual inspection documented properly, there would have been no grounds for a lawsuit. It finely came to this. How much damage was possible during the time that the termites were not discovered? These are the areas to inspect for a full pest inspection on a residential home.

Case number two This case evolved a single unit that had drywood termites in a cluster of six town homes The local building code stated that when local building officials learn residential buildings have termites, they must order to take all necessary measures within 60 days to exterminate them. Until this case it was not being enforced. This termite case was the first involving enforcement of Florida Residential Building Code by a local government. The city has ordered her to get rid of her bugs, if not she will be required to pay $250.00 a day because she has termites in her townhouse. The treatment can not be agreed upon by the other five unit owners. She found me over the internet as being the inventor of the borate alternative to tent fumigation. She was scheduled for a hearing mandated by the city. I agreed to help as a technical witness and we started with a non destructive inspection of her unit.

The inspection The core fact here is that drywood termite’s infestations swarm out onto unaffected wood. Then they mate and start new infestations. The wing evidence of this infestation suggests that it occurred at least two years ago. Thus the evidence of a new infestation with respect to a new swarm will not appear for at least two years in the future. Subsequently repetitive wood damage occurs to the structure in the process. Therefore there is a short window of opportunity usually two to five years from an initial infestation when alternatives can be used to remediate drywood termite infestations successfully. Fecal pellets evidence like this was all over this unit. Wings evidence of on going reproduction. Exit holes and visible damage as seen above were scattered throughout most of the roof beams.

Active Thermography Which presents the question how extensive was the damage to her roof beams and could that damage be a viable safety issue? This was where active thermography was able to provide evidence that proved there was a cause for safety concerns. This infrared image shows that when cold air is injected in the termite exit hole which fills the galleries that the termites have eaten out the colder air shows up as a darker color in this IR image and is clearly seen. There were many beams affected in this unit such as seen in these IR images. Large sections in several beams were hollowed out by termites. These images allow the city to view them and compile their own assessment this damage with respect to any present or future safety issues

The “right to protect your property” was fought for in this case . My testimony was brief and to the point. Being a hearing and not a trial there was no cross examination by an opposing attorney. I presented my report as evidence, however the Special Master chooses not to rule on this matter and gave the unit owner 30 days to file lawsuit against her neighbors to allow tenting. This case was sent to a higher authority to rule upon. The finial outcome was that all six unit owners were mandated by the city to fumigate. Hence the townhouse cluster was fumigated with no opposition from the other unit owners in the cluster or the Home Owner Association. This case set a standard for other townships and cities. Therefore, this case had gotten a lot of publicity. I was quoted by the media [TV, News papers, Internet] and they interviewed other pest control operators and well known entomologist from the University of Florida research center, we all agreed with the opinion to fumigate in this case.

Case number three After a home inspection buy an accredited home inspection company, as well as a State Certified Termite inspection. And after a National termite company was contracted to prevent and correct any subterranean termite infestation that included a One Million Dollar termite wood Damage Guarantee on their home. Also properly insuring there home with all the necessary Home Owners Insurance. All this due diligence and protection, yet this family had a catastrophic ceiling collapse. The ceiling fell in huge sections in their daughter bedroom that was a result of termite damage. No one was injured .

Negligent termite inspection Here is how it started about one year after they moved in the home owner saw some discoloration over her daughter’s bedroom door and called their termite company. A brief inspection was made and she was told by the inspector no live termite infestation was present in her home. So she thought that it might be a leak and called my inspection company . We came out for leak detection service call and a brief inspection was necessary.

With just a brief inspection I was reluctant to give the home owner any more information then just the facts . In doing so I used infrared imaging to find anomalies that appeared as a possible leak and found an anomaly that presented as a Asian subterranean termite nest [referred to as a carton nest]. I quantified the anomaly with a moisture meter; it was wet on the hot spot and all around the left upper section of a door frame. The door frame was intact and was showing no visible signs of termite damage. Then I sent my assistant up in the attic to perform a visual inspection, however the entry hatch to the attic was not installed in a proper area and would not allow access due to lack of head room necessary to enter. The bedroom ceiling appeared normal Full blown above ground carton nest

Badly damaged home The only fact was that the area above the door was over 30% wet. I was not comfortable with suggesting that this home had a live subterranean termite infestation without more evidence. The next day I received a call from the homeowner at my extermination company she said the ceiling collapsed in her daughter’s room would I come and take a look at her home again. The entire ceiling was gone and now for the first time I could clearly see the attic wood. There was not much left of it, most of the cords of the rafters in the entire south section of the 3500 square foot home were eaten. Why did I not see this when I looked at the ceiling in IR camera just a few days ago? It was because live termites were no longer in the attic wood of the south wing with the exception of the carton nest that I found and a small area around that nest.

Three live carton nest found It then became obvious why I could not see any temperature change due to the fact that they had eaten the wood and moved on, leaving just dry devoured wood behind and no detectable thermal signature indicative to termites. The north side of the home was equally affected. A total of three live termite carton nests were found in the home during my second inspection one main nest and two secondary cartons. The home owner moved out of their home immediately and they required that I provided their attorney with my written report as soon as possible.

Summary It was apparent to me that they were going after the home owner’s insurance provider, the termite company, and possibly the seller for damages. A few days later I get a call from the home owner. She cancelled her termite company and wanted my exterminating company to correct her live infestation and keep her home from future attacks, I accepted. Their attorney that they hired sought out to seek a professional witness to testify. This attorney had done some research on me and wanted me to be technical witness, then found later that I had been hired to treat the home it would be a conflict of interest. So I found myself in the title of termite consultant to the attorney that was representing the home owners. The insurance company had found an Entomologist to be a professional witness, but the Entomologist was not from South Florida and had little hands on experience with exotic termites. It was my function to arm their attorney with information about the behavior of these rare termites and provide him with ways substantiate his argument that would hold up in a court of law. I was deposed, my testimony would mostly concern when the home owners found out that they have a live termite infestation in their attic. That was reasonably easy. There was a damage clause in their policy that had a condition, the home owner had to be unaware of any live insect infestation prior to any damage occurring. The home owner to my knowledge did not know.

Just the Facts The deposition lasted five hours the opposing attorney was polite but relentless working always to have me slip up and say “yes they were privy to the infestation prior to the collapse”. The documentation from my company that evolved in the process of treatment for this home was under heavy scrutiny. The opposing attorney was not happy at the end of that proceeding. The home owners were awarded the claim in this case, and then went to arbitration with the national termite company that let their home be eaten down. This case is on going and the home owners have not lived in their home for the past two years. By choosing a nation termite that had an arbitration clause in their service agreement, gave away their right to a jury trial. If they went to a trail by jury they would have a much better chance of getting what ever damages they were seeking. I was told during my training as a Thermographer to report just the facts and be mindful of my opinions. If I had not stuck to just the facts in my initial report and suggested that the home owner had live termites, my documentation and testimony would have hindered their claim. In this case as in most cases reporting just the facts works for our customers and for us as inspectors. The truth is we rarely know for sure how our reports will be used.

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