History:  Roofing and Building Envelope Consulting A period of time in the mid 1960’s produced several roof failures.  These losses occurred for several reasons: -         Use of new, untested, materials in traditional or conventional roof applications -         Material manufacturer’s or their designated sales representatives were providing the design services in order to maximize sales and revenue -         Lack of engineering, testing, and quality control for roof installation The consequential failures, internal damages, and of course the ensuing litigation, prompted the development of roof consulting as a professional service. The industry needed knowledgeable individuals who did not have an affiliation with Owners, Manufacturers, Contractors or other interested parties.  Individuals who could investigate and collect data from a building, then analyze the findings and provide an objective, unbiased opinion. These are the key characteristics of a Roof or Building Envelope Consultant. Over the years, as the construction industry has constantly evolved with new materials, innovative designs, accelerated construction schedules, and varying levels of skilled trade labor, the potential for problems to arise in the end product has increased significantly.  In fact, many times moisture related problems become evident even before the project reaches completion. The construction industry has learned many important lessons due to loss experience, some of these insurance driven and some are reactive to previously known failures.  This has prompted the need for Quality Assurance to be a formal part of specified projects.  QA can mean pre-design soils testing, observance and testing of structural concrete, observance and testing of welds on structural connections,  inspection of wood framing and masonry, plumbing, electrical.  These aspects have improved the quality of construction by holding Contractors responsible to meeting the minimum requirements or standards of the project. Still, about 60% of construction litigation relates to moisture issues, which translates to a billion dollar per year quotient. With the growth of construction, the number of dedicated professionals involved with moisture control, roofing and building envelope consultants, is growing rapidly each year.  It is now widely accepted that having a knowledgeable observer present during all phases of a project is far more cost effective than troubleshooting problems later on and settling disputes.