Even in this metaphor, however, parallels exist. For instance, we are certain that Gil Grissom could do DNA analysis on a fish, if needed. “It was the same sushi, so? .” Similar conclusions can be made regarding inanimate objects by someone with a broad knowledge of how those objects work.

Because electricity and electronics are so pervasive, let's take an example from machinery forensics and an event familiar to the adjusting community, the blackout of August 2003. Policy wordings excluded most of the losses due to spoilage, but there was plenty of machinery that simply did not start up again after the blackout, as a result of power surge damage or other disturbances.

Some equipment was worn from use over countless years and was still running only because it had seldom been turned off during its entire lifespan. The power interruption came, rotating parts slowed and cooled, and some ceased just long enough that they would not start again.

Alternately, a controller on a machine may have had its operating parameters in a memory backed up by a battery that was so old that the parameters were lost when power was interrupted, crippling the machine. From hard drives, in telephone voicemail systems in particular, to automation, how many claims were paid that really were just age-related wear and tear? Adjusters need assistance, even in the more commonplace losses, to help sort out causes.

Choosing the Right Expert

“You say that you are an expert, but are you an expert in the Verplunken model Z-79a with the optional extended pre-heat section?”

Surely this is a fair question for an adjuster to ask, isn't it? He has the replacement quote in front of him, for $300,000 for an industrial machine. He wants a real expert. The vendor's sales manager invariably will assure him that the original is a total loss and offer to sell a model Z-86 that is just so much better.

Will the Z-86 also catch fire and, maybe this time, burn down the whole place? Maybe the manufacturer knows that there is a design defect and wants all Z-79a models out of service before anyone catches on. The adjuster needs to know what happened to this one and, no, the vendor is not his expert.

With the breadth of all the machinery being made or still in service somewhere, there may be only a handful of people in the world who, for a particular case, are familiar with its design and proper operation.

If the manufacturers still exist, are they the answer? Industrial machinery can be made with more generalized functions. Although it may be called an oven, two different companies will use a Verplunken Z-79a on two different production lines to make two very different products.

Does the manufacturer know the composition of the varnish being baked onto the motor armatures? The procedures that the insured was following? For mixing? For preheating? Does it even know where the fire started or is it going by the fire department report?

When it is not arson, the fire department investigator is not nearly as motivated as the insurance carrier to get to the bottom of things, and may not have the technical training needed to understand the equipment. Even if two ovens catch fire, one might be due to an accumulation of varnish drippings and the other might have caught fire in an automatic warming cycle due to a small, persistent leak in a heating oil system combined with an overheating electrical connection.

In neither example did the Z-79a catch fire due to a failure or design flaw in the feedback control. Subrogation against the manufacturer, Verplunken, would not be a good idea, but you would always have your doubts if you were reading only Verplunken's reports.

Does the manufacturer crash-test its equipment for shipping losses? Or set fire to its surroundings? Or pour water on it to see what will happen? There may be no one in the world who has looked at an actual failure of a particular model of machine. That being said, how could anyone be an expert on this particular machine? Forensic engineers are the answer.

Patterns of Failure

Most people do not think of engineers as exciting lead characters in movies. When someone even mentions the term engineer, do you get shivers remembering that party where one cornered you and explained how he had automated the line to put the hatchback on the new car that you think is ugly? Even I find that boring, and I am an engineer.

Engineers understand how things work, however. They have their areas of training and experience. They are behind the design and production of nearly everything that is man-made. Drawing on broad training and extensive experience, forensic engineers see a new failed machine as an assemblage of subsystems, like blocks of Legos, that they have seen in other configurations hundreds of times before.

Have they seen a Z-79a? It is almost like asking a physician whether he has ever treated a person named Rebecca with red hair. If the technical person you call replies that he has not worked on a Z-79a before, but has worked on similar industrial machines that have caught fire, he is an honest realist, and maybe a suitable expert to provide the accurate answers that an adjuster needs.

How do forensic engineers do what they do? It is in the visualization of equipment as systems of interconnected, familiar components. The components are arranged like a symphony, with flows and harmonies forming patterns. Just as the musician need not have created the symphony to play a part of it and appreciate it, the forensic engineer need not have created the machine or worked for Verplunken to appreciate the flow of materials, power, force, and data, as well as the control that keeps it all in harmony.

The service technician or operator may have useful information about operating a machine or regarding common failures, but his understanding comes from manuals and repeated exposure. A new failure is an entirely new problem for him. To a forensic engineer, a failure or breakdown is a disharmony in the underlying symphony of operation. It is like a musician's noticing a misplayed note. In some circumstances, the cause is quite apparent, standing out in contrast to the rest of the equipment.

Failures themselves follow patterns or sequences, or leave patterns of evidence as a result of geometry and physics. Fires, for instance, leave patterns that indicate the way that the fire burned. These patterns come from the natural convection of hot gases and the movement of heat.

The sections that deal with fire patterns in NFPA 921, the Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, read like familiar, organized truth when one starts with a scientific understanding of what is happening in a fire. Not all fire investigators are engineers. Some have law enforcement backgrounds or have studied for the particular purpose of methodically and carefully investigating the crime of arson.

When a piece of equipment catches fire, an engineer takes a different approach from a fire investigator. He, instead, sees the patterns in the design of the machine and the patterns of the failure. Manuals, datasheets, technicians, operators, and manufacturers (if the carrier has not put them on notice yet) provide key facts. From information like this, the cause of the loss often becomes clear.

Drawing Conclusions

Equipment forensics has to be adaptable to serve the insurance sector. There are times when an adjuster only wants guidance and not a full forensic investigation, such as when the claim amount is small or the chance for successful subrogation is slim. Likewise, when subrogation looks promising, attempting minimal forensics will only draw criticism from the experts appointed by opposing counsel. Furthermore, in equipment forensics, the evidence always should be saved, if possible, so that the investigation can be extended later if necessary.

In many types of claims, particularly liability cases, carriers are most interested in disproving the claims of other carriers, allowing them to dispose of claims expeditiously, before legal costs escalate. Proving something is a definite statement that implies the disproving of all other mutually exclusive cases. Therefore, one can disprove a conclusion by proving something completely different. During a forensic investigation, if the inescapable, physical consequence of a claimed cause of loss is something that is simply not present, the claim is disproven.

There are cases in which disproving amounts to proving a negative. For example, “Prove that the water did not come from somewhere else.” Disproving a conclusion can be quite difficult, in some instances impossible.

Communication and timeliness may be self-evident to adjusters, but not so to some engineers, resulting in reluctance by claim professionals to employ the services of engineers. In addition to being thorough and accurate, a good forensic engineer possesses the ability to effectively communicate his results and deliver them in a timely manner.

Forensic engineers must be able to communicate their determinations in terms that laymen understand. It may require that the engineer do some teaching, and the adjuster or investigator do a little learning, on the general aspects of the analysis. The technical terms must be simplified so that all parties involved in the claim, regardless of technical aptitude, can have a firm understanding of the findings.

Claim professionals and their experts may have more than the 40-minutes allotted to Gil Grissom to finish the job, but there are still definite timelines that cannot be ignored. Equipment can degrade, business interruption and extra expenses can mount, and adjusters must observe statutory deadlines to act in good faith. A great deal of coordination and cooperation from all parties is necessary to get the work completed on time.

The value of a capable forensic engineer in claims involving machines, products, and processes is substantial. Although we might not ever see them working their magic on network television, they often are vital in ensuring that some of the most complex claims are settled accurately, equitably, and in a timely fashion.

Matt Malone is a professional engineer and senior technical consultant for LWG Consulting.