What makes casino construction different
A casino is rarely a single building. A typical property combines a gaming floor, restaurants, entertainment venues, parking structures, and often a tower of guest rooms over a podium. Each part has its own structural, envelope, and mechanical systems. The joints between them are where water, movement, and coordination problems tend to concentrate.
Most casinos also operate around the clock. Mechanical systems run continuously, finishes see constant foot traffic, and kitchens, bars, and restrooms carry heavy plumbing loads. Ventilation, lighting, and climate control place further demand on electrical and air-handling equipment. A defect that would be minor in an office building can disrupt a property that never closes.
Our expert witness experience includes casinos, and casinos are part of Gregg de Haan’s current caseload. His construction litigation support includes casino hotel work in California. Our associates are active in the building trades and familiar with current building materials. That matters in complexes that combine many assemblies on a single site.
Investigating around continuous operations
Building inspection and field documentation are among the most important aspects of construction defect conflict resolution. In a casino, that work has to fit around guests, staff, and security procedures. Access, timing, and any destructive testing are usually agreed with the property in advance, often for the quietest hours.
Our field personnel identify and document defects. We use camera and video documentation techniques to provide trial-ready exhibits. Conditions recorded during a short access window then remain available to every party, even after an area has been repaired and returned to service.
Where building materials appear to have manufacturing defects, we are aligned with several laboratories that test and analyze product failure. We also take field samples to store at our office in case they are needed at trial. Preserved samples allow conditions to be examined again as a matter develops.
Building systems we examine at casino properties
Our investigative specialties cover the systems where casino defects most often appear. Large complexes tend to combine several of them in one assembly. A podium slab may double as a pool deck, and a roof may carry heavy mechanical equipment. Decorative facades, covered drop-off areas, and large glazed entries add further transitions where water can enter.
Water testing of windows and doors, including product and installation testing, helps separate a product failure from an installation problem. That distinction is often central to the questions in dispute. It also shapes the repair, since replacing a product and correcting an installation are different scopes of work.
Parking structures and service levels add their own conditions. Below-grade walls depend on subgrade waterproofing, and large paved areas must carry stormwater away from the building. Electrical and mechanical/plumbing systems, also among our specialties, run through all of these spaces.
- Podium slabs and decks over occupied space
- Roofing and sheet metal, including equipment-heavy roofs
- Cement plaster, siding, and masonry facades
- Windows and doors, with product and installation water testing
- Subgrade waterproofing at parking and service levels
- Electrical and mechanical/plumbing systems
- Site drainage around large paved areas
Research, project records, and costing
Our associates are educated on past and current building codes and on current and past building product performance testing. We perform construction document plan and detail analysis for constructability and for code compliance. A large library of present and past product literature and testing data supports that analysis.
Large casino projects generate an extensive record of change orders and requests for information. We perform comprehensive change order, project cost, and RFI analysis for litigation purposes. That analysis connects what the documents called for with what was built and what it cost.
Our services also include project costing and property loss analysis. We prepare forensic reports, conceptual repair scopes, and cost estimates, and Gregg de Haan specializes in preparing repair scopes, cost estimates, and complex defect reports. Clear scopes and estimates give every party the same starting point for discussing repairs.
Expert witness testimony for casino matters
We provide expert witness services for settlement conferences, mediations, arbitrations, depositions, and trial. We are retained by attorneys, insurance carriers, building owners, homeowner associations, and contractors in California, Arizona, and Montana.
Gregg de Haan leads field investigations, gathers field data, and attends expert meetings, mediations, and arbitrations. He also prepares field testing data for trial. That continuity links what was observed on site to what is presented in testimony.
Our aim is accurate, organized information that makes complex building deficiencies understandable to everyone at the table. The firm’s aim is a balanced, educated opinion for fair resolution, whichever party retains us.
What makes these buildings demanding
- 01Continuous operation limits when and where destructive testing can take place.
- 02Podium slabs and parking structures place occupied space beneath waterproofed decks.
- 03Heavy, nonstop HVAC, kitchen, and plumbing loads accelerate wear on mechanical systems.
- 04High-traffic floors, entries, and restrooms expose finishes to constant use and cleaning.
- 05Equipment-laden roofs create many penetrations and flashing transitions.
- 06Phased additions and renovations leave joints between older and newer construction.
- 07Large paved sites concentrate stormwater that must be carried away from the building.