Best's Insurance Professional Resources
Client-Recommended Attorneys, Adjusters and Experts
Best's Insurance Professional Resources
Client-Recommended Attorneys, Adjusters and Experts


Best's Recommended Expert Service Providers - Structural Failures and Analysis

446 - 17th Street, Suite 300, Oakland, California 94612-2837

Established: 2004

  • Registered Professional Engineer (Civil), State of California (Registration # C61998).
  • Licensed Professional Engineer, State of Texas (Registration #114795).
  • Registration with the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (Multi-State Licensing; NCEES National Record No. 53742).
  • Charter Member, Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers
  • Licensed California General Building Contractor (License: B846888)
  • Chartered Professional Engineer, The Institution of Engineers - Australia (Registration #1044611- currently inactive)
  • Fall-Protection Competency Certificate (Industrial/Commercial, OSSA# 20110705-26)

About Us

We provide a broad range of services in property loss consulting, including civil/structural engineering & construction forensics, to insurance companies, law firms, property owners and individuals, utilities, governmental and educational institutions, engineering and architectural firms, construction, manufacturing, mining, and technology industries. Services include insurance claim evaluations, due diligence inspections & reports, performance & diagnostic testing, damage investigations, fitness-for-service and failure analysis, third-party reviews, product liability issues, research & development, and expert witness & testimony.

Dr. Barzegar, founding principal engineer at Habitat Engineering & Forensics, is a registered professional engineer with over 36-years of experience in civil/structural engineering & construction forensics consulting, repair/retrofit design, construction project management, university teaching and research.

Dr. Barzegar's experience in Forensic Investigations & Damage Assessment and Failure Analysis as an Expert Witness includes facilities affected by natural (earthquake, wind, Fire & flood) and man-made (vibrations, impact & explosion) hazards, construction defects/accidents, failure/collapse analysis, and repair and remediation design. Amongst many projects, Dr. Barzegar has investigated buildings, bridges, industrial installations, foundations & retaining walls, excessive floor vibrations, damage to concrete & steel grain bins & silos, failure of water storage tanks and underground water conduits, distress in slabs and pavements, concrete mix design and placement, defective concrete & terrazzo, flood and vibration damage to historic buildings, structures damaged by wind, fire and explosion, blast in coal mines and chemical plants, pile driving damage to adjacent buildings, water intrusion problems, failures and injuries during construction, conventional and explosive demolition damage, construction contracts & disputes, and slip, trip & fall accidents. Dr. Barzegar has been retained by insurance companies, engineering/construction/demolition companies, mining, manufacturing and technology industries, legal counsel for plaintiff and defense, other organizations and individuals.

Dr. Barzegar further consults on dynamic, blast, and seismic analysis & design of structures and installations incorporating computer-based three-dimensional modeling, nonlinear pushover and performance-based studies (SEMI Code, ASCE, FEMA & ATC guidelines) and finite element stress analysis. Dr. Barzegar's structural engineering design experience includes concrete, steel, wood and masonry buildings, and adobe construction. He has also served as" structural engineer of record" for several custom-designed wood-frame residential buildings, additions, seismic retrofitting, and tenant improvements to commercial buildings.

Dr. Barzegar has served on the faculty of the Structural Engineering Department, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales (Sydney-Australia), and the Civil Engineering Department at Louisiana State University. Prior to founding Habitat Engineering & Forensics, he also held positions at Zolman Construction & Development, Struct-Tech Group (design/build firm), Rutherford & Chekene Consulting Engineers, and Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, in San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Barzegar's Publications have appeared in various professional journals. He has served as a reviewer for a number of technical journals.

How We Offer Value

Timely Response, Evaluations & Expert Reports

Services Rendered

  • Construction Defect Analysis
  • Construction Accidents
  • Building Code Compliance
  • Standard of Care
  • Slip, Trip and Fall
  • Patent/Copyright Infringement
  • Litigation Support
  • Due Diligence
  • Expert Testimony
  • Peer Reviews
  • Failure Analysis
  • Forensic Civil/Structural Engineering
  • Architecture & Construction
  • Insurance Claims Reviews
  • Residential, Commercial and Institutional Building Design and Construction
  • Historic Buildings
  • Seismic Resistant Design
  • Errors and Omissions
  • Concrete, Steel, Masonry and Wood Frame Structures
  • Adobe Construction
  • Condition Assessment of Bridges, Foundations, Containment Structures, Grain Silos and Retaining Walls
  • Condition Assessment of Conduits and Pipelines, Roads, Slabs, Pavements, Repair and Retrofit, Concrete and Repair Materials
  • Pile Driving Damage
  • Cracking and Settlement
  • Vibration, Blast, Impact and Earthquake Damage
  • Wind, Hurricane and Flood Damage
  • Finite Element Dynamic, Stress and Thermal Analysis (Linear & Nonlinear)
  • Product Design
  • Failure Reconstruction
  • Intellectual Property Infringement

Qualifications

Licensed Professional Engineer (CA/TX); Charter Member, Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers; Chartered Professional Engineer, The Institution of Engineers, Australia; Licensed California General Building Contractor

Professional Memberships

  • American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)
  • International Code Council (ICC)
  • Forensic Expert Witness Association
  • American Society of Civil Engineers
  • Structural Engineers Association of Northern California
  • Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
  • The American Concrete Institute
  • International Code Council
  • California Preservation Foundation
  • Oakland Heritage Alliance
  • The Institution of Engineers-Australia
  • Charter Member, Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers
  • Associate Member: Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 352 on Joints and Connections in Monolithic Concrete Structures; Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 447 on Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete

Service Area

Providing Expert Consulting & Witness, and Litigation and Subrogation Resource and Support Services worldwide with offices in Oakland and Fremont, California (San Francisco Bay Area).

Personnel Information

Founding Principal


Fari Barzegar, Ph.D., P.E.

President/Principal Engineer

Years of Experience: 38

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S., 1981; M.S., 1983; Ph.D., 1987; Expert consultant/witness in over 70 legal cases; Honors: Alfred Noble Prize of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); Associate Editor, ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering (1991-92); Cited in Who's Who in Science and Engineering (1996-97)

Selected Publications & Presentations by Forensic Investigations

Forensic Investigations - Sample by Forensic Investigations

(This firm also appears in the Construction Consultants, Engineering Experts section of this publication)

 Back To Top

Contact Our Team | About Best's Insurance Professional Resources | FAQs | Qualification Guidelines | Important Notice