Site Sage is a chartered building consultancy based in Harlow, Essex, working across London, Essex and the Home Counties. It is run by Dennis Brett MCIOB FFPWS LCGI MPTS, who started in construction in 1985 and has practised as a building surveyor since 2002. Over 40 years on site and in the office means we have usually seen the problem before.
Expert witness and party wall work
Much of our work is for solicitors. We prepare expert witness reports under CPR Part 35 in housing disrepair claims, building disputes and defect cases, acting for defendants, for claimants and as single joint expert. Reports are clear, properly evidenced and written to be read by a judge, and we keep to the timetable. We also act as party wall surveyor for building owners and adjoining owners under the Party Wall etc Act 1996, from the first notice through to the award, and as third surveyor when appointed.
Surveys and reports
We carry out building surveys for buyers, building defect and damp and mould diagnosis, schedules of condition and schedules of dilapidations for landlords and tenants, and access and licence agreements for works near a boundary. On the construction side we act as Principal Designer under CDM 2015 and provide construction health and safety support to developers, architects and contractors.
A small practice, run properly
There are two of us, and we run a tight ship. You deal with Dennis from the first call to the final report. Instructions are confirmed in writing, fees are fixed where they can be, and you are told straight away if something is outside what we do. Clients include housing associations, solicitors, architects, property companies and private owners, many of whom have used us for over fifteen years.
Dennis is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Building, a Fellow of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and a member of the Pyramus and Thisbe Society, the leading professional body for party wall surveyors. To discuss an instruction, call 07793 056226 or email enquiries@sitesage.co.uk.
Your surveyor, Dennis Brett MCIOB FFPWS LCGI MPTS
Dennis Brett is a Registered Chartered Building Consultant and the Principal Surveyor of Site Sage. He has worked in construction since 1985, starting on the tools and moving through site management into building pathology and professional consultancy.
He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Building, a Fellow of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors, a Licentiate of the City and Guilds Institute, and a Member of the Pyramus and Thisbe Society, the learned society for party wall surveyors. Site Sage is a Registered Chartered Building Consultancy and carries professional indemnity insurance of £1,000,000.
Dennis is regularly instructed as an expert witness under CPR Part 35, for defendants, claimants and as single joint expert. Most of this work is housing disrepair and building disputes for housing associations and their solicitors. He applies the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 week in, week out.
Alongside expert work he acts as party wall surveyor for building owners and adjoining owners, and carries out defect diagnosis, damp and mould investigations, schedules of condition and dilapidations, and building surveys. He also acts as Principal Designer under CDM 2015 on refurbishment and new build schemes in London.
Every report is inspected, written and signed by Dennis himself. No juniors, no subcontracting.
