By Andrew Morse, Founder & Director, Morse Building Consultancy
Updated 26 October 2026
Morse Building Consultancy (MBC) is an independent building and engineering consultancy founded in 2012 in Queensland, Australia. The firm delivers impartial building assessments, forensic investigations, and expert witness services to insurers, loss adjusters, and private clients across every Australian state and territory.
MBC is an independent consultancy — not tied to any builder, insurer, or repair firm — so every report is free from commercial bias.
Founder Andrew Morse is a trade-qualified carpenter and licensed builder with over 38 years of experience and more than 2,400 completed investigations.
The team includes licensed building consultants and registered engineers who operate nationwide, from Queensland to Western Australia.
MBC is a corporate founding member of the Association of Insurance Building and Engineering Consultants (AiBEC), an industry body that sets reporting and ethics standards.
Services span forensic building assessments, disaster response, scope-of-works reporting, dispute resolution, and expert witness testimony.
Morse Building Consultancy is an independent building and engineering consultancy that provides unbiased assessments for the insurance, private, and construction sectors across Australia. The firm was founded in 2012 by Andrew Morse, a licensed builder and contractor with over 38 years of hands-on experience.
MBC stands apart because it has no financial ties to builders, repairers, or insurers. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), consumers benefit when consultancy advice is structurally independent from the parties carrying out repair work. MBC operates on this principle: every report is crafted with integrity to give clients a reliable, factual perspective.
The team of licensed building consultants and registered engineering professionals operates nationwide — from Queensland to Western Australia — so services are available wherever they are needed. Additionally, every team member is chosen for specialist expertise in construction, forensic assessment, or structural engineering.
MBC's mission is to set the benchmark for integrity, expertise, and factual independence in Australian building consultancy. The firm aims to empower clients to navigate property-damage complexities with confidence.
In practice, this means delivering meticulous onsite inspections, forensic investigations, and balanced reports. MBC also focuses on continuous improvement, transparency, and client empowerment across every engagement.
MBC delivers timely, high-quality building consultancy services across six core areas. These services cover the full lifecycle of a property issue — from initial site inspection through to court testimony.
Service | What it covers |
|---|---|
Independent assessments of building damage, causation, defects, compliance and repair requirements. | |
Registered engineering expertise for structural integrity, building failures, compliance, remedial design and technical assessments. | |
Forensic investigations of cracking, subsidence, foundation movement, structural failures, deterioration and damage. | |
Registered engineer assessments of structural adequacy, stability, load paths, defects and remedial requirements. | |
Detailed building and engineering reports, causation findings, repair recommendations and quantified scopes of work. | |
National disaster assessment capability following storms, cyclones, floods, bushfires and other catastrophic events, including safety and make-safe advice. | |
Independent documentation of property damage, distinguishing event-related damage from pre-existing defects, deterioration and maintenance issues. | |
Forensic site inspections, moisture investigations, water ingress, material deterioration and evidence-based causation analysis. | |
Identification of construction defects, defective workmanship, waterproofing failures, maintenance issues and non-compliance with the NCC and Australian Standards. | |
Independent building condition assessments, maintenance defect reporting and risk identification for residential, commercial and strata properties. | |
Independent oversight of complex repair, rectification and reinstatement projects, including contractor coordination, scope compliance and progress reviews. | |
Impartial technical assessments supporting insurance disputes, workmanship disagreements, negotiations, mediation and litigation. | |
Independent expert reports, technical opinions and testimony for legal proceedings, tribunals and building or insurance disputes. | |
Independent construction cost assessments, reinstatement estimates, cost verification, betterment calculations and financial analysis of property claims. | |
Fully costed scopes, tender assessments, repair cost reviews, variation assessments and independent verification of proposed construction costs. | |
Insurance replacement valuations establishing estimated reinstatement costs for residential, strata, commercial, industrial and specialist properties. | |
Condition-adjusted property valuations accounting for depreciation, age, deterioration and the basis of indemnity insurance arrangements. |
MBC's commitment to transparency and technical precision helps clients make well-informed decisions. Furthermore, each report follows the ethical and quality standards set by AiBEC.
MBC is a corporate founding member of the Association of Insurance Building and Engineering Consultants (AiBEC). AiBEC refers to an Australian industry body established to raise reporting standards, promote best practices, and advance professionalism in building and engineering consultancy for the insurance sector.
This partnership reflects MBC's commitment to excellence. AiBEC's goals — improving expert reporting, advocating for higher standards, and providing tailored training — align with MBC's own dedication to impartial, factual, and comprehensive reports. As a result, clients working with MBC benefit from an organisation held to externally verified professional benchmarks.
Andrew Morse is the founder and director of Morse Building Consultancy, based in Queensland, Australia. He is a trade-qualified carpenter and licensed builder across all Australian states and territories, with over 37 years of building and construction experience.
Andrew has completed more than 2,400 investigations over his career. He specialises in forensic building assessments for insurance claims, covering cyclone, storm, water, and fire damage as well as structural defects and compliance issues.
"Every report we produce must stand on its own facts. If our findings don't hold up under cross-examination, they aren't worth writing." — Andrew Morse, Founder, Morse Building Consultancy
Andrew's deep understanding of both the building and insurance industries allows him to provide clear, reliable insights for dispute resolution, project management, and expert witness testimony. He is also a driving force behind MBC's membership of AiBEC, reflecting his commitment to industry-wide standards.
MBC is different because it is fully independent — it has no ownership ties to builders, repairers, or insurance companies. This structural independence means every report is free from commercial bias.
Unbiased Expertise — Independent from any external firm, ensuring impartiality in every report.
National Reach — Local specialists available across all Australian states and territories, ready to respond promptly.
Qualified Professionals — The team includes only licensed building consultants and registered engineers, as required under state licensing frameworks such as the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).
Reliable Insights — Timely, accurate, and actionable reports tailored to each client's needs.
In contrast to firms that also sell repair or construction services, MBC's sole product is independent advice. This removes the conflict of interest that can undermine the reliability of building reports.
Yes. MBC has licensed consultants and registered engineers who operate nationwide — from Queensland to Western Australia. Andrew Morse holds builder licences across all Australian states and territories, so the firm can deploy to any location in the country.
A building consultant — sometimes called a building surveyor or inspector — assesses the overall condition, compliance, and defects of a structure. A structural engineer, by contrast, focuses on the load-bearing elements such as slabs, footings, beams, and retaining walls. MBC employs both, so clients receive a complete picture in a single report.
MBC has no ownership or financial ties to any insurer, loss adjuster, builder, or repair firm. The consultancy earns fees solely from advisory and reporting services. This structure removes the commercial conflicts that can bias findings when a consultancy also profits from repair work.
A forensic building assessment is most valuable immediately after a disaster event — such as a cyclone, flood, or fire — or when a dispute arises over construction defects or insurance claim scope. Early assessment preserves physical evidence (like flood depth lines and moisture readings) that degrades rapidly once clean-up begins.
A Value at Risk assessment refers to a report that estimates the maximum potential loss on a property from an insurable event. MBC provides VAR assessments alongside Indemnity Valuation Reports (IVRs) to help insurers and property owners understand their true exposure and avoid underinsurance.
Value at Risk (VAR) Assessment vs Indemnity Valuation Report (IVR)
What is an Independent Building Consultant and Why Do Insurers Rely on Them?
The Australian Property Insurance Paradigm: Navigating Underinsurance and Valuation Risks in 2026
Construction Dispute Resolution: 5 Strategies for Settling Claims Smoothly
Capital Works Plans and Common Property Risk: A Practical Guide for Strata Committees
Independent Assessment After a Catastrophe: Why Getting the Facts First Matters