Areas served · South Carolina
Forensic Engineering in Charleston
In and around Charleston
What we investigate in Charleston
Charleston carries a rare combination for the East Coast: hurricane exposure on the coast and a documented major earthquake in its past. The 1886 quake still shapes how the city's older masonry is assessed today. We evaluate what failed and why, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
The conditions we see in Charleston
The 1886 Charleston earthquake reached an estimated magnitude near 7 and intensity X, the largest known earthquake in the eastern United States. Much of the historic downtown is unreinforced masonry that was damaged then, repaired with the iron earthquake bolts still visible today, and standing on a fault zone that remains active. Evaluating that masonry means accounting for both its age and its seismic vulnerability.
On the coast, hurricanes bring wind and storm surge, and the Lowcountry's soft, saturated soils are prone to liquefaction in a strong shake and to settlement under load. Add the humidity that drives moisture and rot in older buildings, and the causes of damage overlap. Separating storm, seismic, soil, and long-term deterioration is the engineering question behind most Charleston claims.
How we help in Charleston
The evaluations Charleston cases usually call for
- Structural and historic-masonry evaluation
From unreinforced masonry downtown to modern construction on soft soil, we evaluate structural damage and determine whether the cause is hurricane wind, seismic movement, foundation settlement, or age, documented to hold up.
Our structural engineering services- Hurricane and construction-defect investigation
We separate hurricane wind and wind-driven rain from pre-existing conditions and investigate the construction defects that surface in a humid coastal climate, grounding each conclusion in the physical evidence.
Our forensic engineering services
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Charleston
Charleston's historic and older building stock, with the aged wiring and additions inside it, makes fire origin and cause both harder to read and more important to get right. Old construction burns and collapses differently than modern, and the evidence can be lost fast.
Our NAFI-certified investigators follow NFPA 921 through a systematic scene examination, tracing burn patterns to the area of origin and evaluating the electrical and mechanical systems to a defensible accidental or incendiary determination. Bringing an investigator in early preserves that evidence, and the same expert testifies at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Historic and older-building fires
- Electrical and appliance fires
- Vehicle fires
- Industrial fires and explosions
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Charleston, South Carolina
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Do you evaluate historic masonry buildings?
Yes. Charleston's older unreinforced masonry needs assessment that accounts for both its construction era and its seismic vulnerability, which is a specific part of a structural evaluation here.
Can you tell hurricane damage from pre-existing damage?
Yes. Distinguishing storm wind and water from prior deterioration or a defect is central to a coastal claim, and we base it on the evidence at the property.
Do you charge travel to reach Charleston?
No. We work Charleston-area cases from our Omaha lab and Los Angeles office with no travel charges, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
Have a loss that needs answers?
Tell us what happened. An engineer, not a call center, will review your case.