Expert Witness in Healthcare Construction
Empire Projects, Inc., through its principal William N. Bernstein, AIA, has provided expert witness services in matters involving the construction, renovation, and project management of healthcare facilities, including hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, medical office buildings, imaging centers, dialysis centers, infusion centers, laboratories, behavioral health facilities, and physician practice offices. Attorneys litigating cases that involve construction defects, scheduling and delay claims, change order disputes, contractor and subcontractor performance issues, project management failures, cost overruns and budget disputes, payment disputes and mechanic’s liens, contract administration and interpretation, means and methods, construction safety, infection-control and ICRA failures during phased construction in occupied healthcare facilities, medical gas and emergency power problems, operating room and procedure room air-handling and pressurization disputes, sterile processing workflow defects, building envelope failures, accessibility violations, fire safety and egress under healthcare occupancy classifications, tenant fit-out disputes in medical office buildings, licensing and certificate-of-need issues, occupied-renovation problems in operating facilities, and other claims related to healthcare construction require an expert witness who understands both the applicable building codes and standards and the practical realities of how healthcare construction projects are actually managed, sequenced, and built.
About Healthcare Construction
Healthcare construction and renovation encompasses an exceptionally wide range of project types, including hospitals (acute care, specialty, and rehabilitation), ambulatory surgery centers, office-based surgery practices, hospital-based outpatient surgery departments, medical office buildings, single- and multi-specialty physician practice offices, imaging centers (MRI, CT, X-ray, PET), dialysis centers, infusion centers, urgent-care facilities, behavioral health and psychiatric facilities, clinical and research laboratories, and the wide array of support spaces that serve them. Healthcare construction is distinctive in that nearly all work occurs in occupied or partially-occupied facilities where patient care must continue uninterrupted, infection-control risk assessment (ICRA) and interim life-safety measures (ILSM) must be planned and maintained throughout construction, and coordination with infection prevention, clinical engineering, and facilities staff is essential. The project management challenges of healthcare construction — ICRA and ILSM compliance, phased construction in occupied space, coordination with clinical operations, regulatory filings and approvals, and meeting accreditation requirements — are central to the success or failure of these projects.
The construction and renovation of healthcare facilities is governed by a complex framework of building codes, regulations, and industry standards, including the applicable building code (for example, in New York City, the New York City Building Code), the International Building Code, ICC A117.1, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code, ASHRAE 170 ventilation standards, ADA requirements, the FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals and Outpatient Facilities, CMS Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage, Joint Commission, DNV, and AAAHC accreditation standards, AAMI ST79 standards for sterile processing, and state and local department of health requirements such as those administered, in New York, by NYSDOH (including Article 28 licensure requirements). In addition, healthcare projects are governed by private agreements — leases and work-letters in medical office buildings, the prime contract and subcontracts, and institutional procurement and approval procedures. Healthcare construction projects are also typically subject to insurance requirements, indemnification obligations, and bonding requirements that materially affect how risk is allocated and how disputes are resolved.
Disputes commonly arise over construction defects affecting building envelopes, interior finishes, and specialty clinical spaces; infection-control failures and ICRA non-compliance during phased construction in occupied facilities; operating room, procedure room, and isolation room air-handling, pressurization, humidity, and temperature control problems; failures of medical gas, vacuum, waste anesthetic gas disposal (WAGD), and emergency power systems; sterile processing workflow defects; non-compliant accessibility features; inadequate fire-rated assemblies and egress under healthcare occupancy classifications; scheduling and delay claims on facility openings and accreditation milestones; change order disputes; contractor and subcontractor performance issues; cost overruns; payment disputes, mechanic’s liens, and lien-law compliance; tenant fit-out and landlord-tenant matters in medical office buildings; licensing and certificate-of-need disputes affecting design and project execution; construction safety incidents; and disputes arising from phased-construction and occupied-renovation projects. Responsibility for these issues is shared, in different ways, among the healthcare operator, the landlord, the construction manager or general contractor, subcontractors, the design professionals, infection-prevention staff, regulatory and accreditation consultants, and the party responsible for ongoing maintenance, and litigation in this area frequently turns on the allocation of responsibility for project management decisions, construction means and methods, and post-occupancy performance.
Expert Witness Services Related to Healthcare Construction
Expert witness services in healthcare construction matters typically include a careful review of the project documents (drawings, specifications, submittals, RFIs, change orders, schedules and schedule updates, daily reports, meeting minutes, payment applications and supporting schedules of values, permits and sign-offs, ICRA plans, ILSM plans, department of health filings and approvals, certificate-of-need approvals, accreditation survey reports, commissioning reports, operating room air balance reports, lien waivers, punch lists, certificates of occupancy or temporary certificates of occupancy, and as-built conditions), a site survey to measure and document the conditions at issue, comparison of those conditions against the applicable building codes, life safety codes, healthcare facility guidelines, accessibility standards, contract requirements, and the standard of care applicable to healthcare construction project management, review of construction administration and project-management records, and the preparation of clear, well-supported opinions regarding the cause of the defect, delay, or failure, the responsibility of the various parties, and the standard of care applicable to the construction, project management, and post-occupancy maintenance of healthcare facilities.
An effective healthcare construction expert witness such as William N. Bernstein, AIA, must be able to explain technical and project-management issues — construction sequencing and scheduling, change order management, contract interpretation, construction means and methods, ICRA and ILSM compliance, operating room and procedure room air-handling and pressurization, medical gas and emergency power, sterile processing workflow, building envelope detailing, egress under healthcare occupancy classifications, accessibility, occupied-facility construction protocols, regulatory and accreditation compliance, construction safety, code compliance, and the allocation of responsibility among healthcare operator, landlord, construction manager, general contractor, subcontractors, and design professionals — in plain language to judges, juries, arbitrators, and mediators, and must have the credentials, written record, and courtroom-ready communication skills to render credible opinions.
Empire Projects, Inc, through its principal William N. Bernstein, AIA, has provided design and construction expert witness services on many healthcare projects, in the United States and internationally since 2006. Some of the healthcare sub-specialty projects include : Ambulatory Surgery, Behavioral Health, Compounding Facilities, Dental, Doctors Offices, Emergency Departments, Healthcare Laboratories, Hospices, Hospit
Mr. Bernstein is a Yale-trained, NCARB-certified, LEED-accredited, registered architect. He has expertise in construction project management, architectural design, and engineering design as the founder/owner of a construction project management firm, Empire Projects, Inc. (2003-Present), and as the founder/owner of an architectural firm, Bernstein & Associates, Architects (1990-present). He has been the expert witness (as of May 2026) on (40) cases involving design and construction (2006-present) across the United States and Internationally.
Contact
Please contact Empire Projects, Inc., for expert witness services related to healthcare construction.