Regional Manager

Mr

Jon Watkins

Principal Associate

Expertise:

Building Defects & Regulations, Civil & Structural Engineering, Health & Safety, Building Fires, Explosions, Fire Stop & Spread, Vehicle, Plant & Machinery Fires, White Goods Appliance Fires, Slips & Trips, Falls from Height, Construction Injuries

Glasgow Office

Jon graduated from Imperial College London in 2010 with a first class degree in Civil Engineering. Having previously worked in both Consulting Engineering with Atkins, as well as in Contracting with Sir Robert McAlpine, he has particular experience in assessment of existing structures for refurbishment projects. In addition to this, Jon has performed seismic surveys for residential buildings in high risk zones across the Middle-East. He was also seconded to Atkins Qatar as part of the Doha Metro project providing client support to a remote design team.

Jon joined Hawkins in 2016 to strengthen our services in Civil & Structural Engineering investigations, but soon developed his skills to undertake fire, explosions and personal injury investigations. He has since investigated over 500 cases including fires, explosions, construction incidents, water ingress, foundation settlement and personal injuries. Jon has led investigations of a domestic, industrial and commercial nature, which have ranged in size from small losses to multi-million pound complex claims.

Jon is experienced in the legal process in both Scotland and England & Wales, and the preparation of CPR Part 35 compliant reports. He has experience advising solicitors and Counsel on technical engineering issues and has given expert evidence in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court, a Fatal Accident Inquiry, and in the County Court of Northern Ireland.

Jon has developed his skill-set with Hawkins through attendance at training courses offered by OFTEC, in relation to Oil-fire boilers, HETAS, in relation to chimney and stove installations, City & Guilds Electrical installation, and TR/19 Ductwork Cleaning. He is also an A2 Certificate of Competence (A2CofC) certified drone pilot and can assist clients with aerial surveys on cases relating to fires, structural failures, and personal injuries. The use of drones in an investigation can be particularly beneficial to inspect dangerous or hard to reach areas.

Jon is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He is Regional Manager of our Glasgow and Belfast offices.

Qualifications

MEng Civil Engineering – Imperial College London
CEng Chartered Engineer
MICE Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
CUBS Cardiff University and Bond Solon Expert Witness Certificate

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Interested in working at Hawkins?

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ARTICLES BY THIS EXPERT

12.03.2024
Insight

Beware the Repair

Second-hand domestic appliances can appeal to the budget-conscious, environmentally-minded, or bargain lovers alike. Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and eBay, all offer inexpensive used appliances; however, these appliances come with no guarantees and no certainty over the provenance of the appliance.

11.02.2020
Insight

Improving Building Investigation Efficiency with Targeted Survey Systems

Sometimes building owners, asset managers or maintenance teams have to face a harsh reality when it comes to managing, maintaining and monitoring their assets. For example, what if a Housing Association has discovered cracking in the render of the external wall insulation system on some of their 1000+ properties? If the cracking is caught at an early stage, it could be easy and inexpensive to repair, but if left exposed to the elements unchecked, the repair bills could be costly. A different example could be a portfolio manager who has just acquired hundreds of properties across a low-medium seismicity zone (i.e. risk of earthquake). Could it still be considered negligent to not assess the risk of these buildings collapsing during a foreseeable earthquake? In some situations, it would not be acceptable to simply survey a sample of the buildings, as it is possible that these surveys could miss the buildings with the most significant damage. With these types of investigations only a review of every building will suffice; however, sometimes resources, availability and costs are limited so a full investigation cannot be carried out on every single building or asset.