Expert WitnesS - Sean Wardman MAIQS, CQS, Licenced Builder

B.Con.Mgt (Building)

Certified Quantity Surveyor (CQS)

Member of the Australian Institute Of Quantity Surveyors (MAIQS)

Licenced Builder NSW (490592C)

SBBIS Building Defects Inspector Panel

SBBIS Building Defects Costs Panel

Experienced in commercial litigation, adjudication under SOPA, and defects disputes with 30 plus years of experience in Building and Civil Construction, including Tier 1 Project Management, Quantity Surveying, Contract Administration, Superintendent, and Supervision on both the delivery and the client side on projects up to $14.2 billion in value.

12 years of defects and variation assessment and cost calculations in commercial negotiations. 

As an independent specialist in Quantity Surveying, Construction Defects, and Delay & Disruption consultant, my primary and overriding duty is to assist the Court or Tribunal impartially on matters within my area of expertise. All forensic analysis, quantum assessments, extension of time (EOT) reviews, and expert reports are strictly executed in compliance with the relevant Australian procedural frameworks and evidentiary rules. I will only operate under and strictly adhere to:

• NSW Courts: Schedule 7 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (UCPR) Expert Witness Code of Conduct.
• NCAT Disputes: NCAT Procedural Direction 3 (Expert Evidence).
• Federal Proceedings: Federal Court of Australia Expert Witness Practice Note (GPN-EXPT).

My independent assessments provide objective, transparent, and evidence-backed insights regarding building defects, productivity loss, prolongation costs, and contract variations to ensure clarity in complex commercial and residential construction disputes. 

From Trade background to Top Tier Project Management, Contract Administration & Quantity Surveying:

Sean Wardman has hands on experience delivering projects ranging from Residential Low-rise and High-rise, Civil, Marine & Rail Infrastructure, Mining Infrastructure, Industrial Buildings and Plants, Subdivisions, Health Facilities Education Facilities, Local Government Infrastructure, and Heritage Projects. 

Sean has been personally responsible for projects in excess of $50m and has worked on projects to the value of $14.2 billion.

This background provides Sean with the insight and understanding to make a difference when looking at details that might not be apparent at the desktop.

Unlike spreadsheet-only consulting experts, our Principal, Sean Wardman, possesses extensive, foundational on-site trade contracting experience in earthworks, structural concrete, structural steel, building, a services. This boots-on-the-ground reality ensures that our forensic defect identifications and costs estimating scopes of work are structurally accurate and robustly defensible. 

Because we understand the realities of live-site constraints, restricted access, approvals, and compliance, we reject the standard "book-plug" estimates used by traditional consultancies. Utilizing experience gained from a site-based beginning in the trades of construction, we construct all variation and defect costings from first-principles—breaking down exact labour, consumables, plant cycle times, and material waste factors to build unassailable, auditable evidence.

This deep technical authority is why Voraus Consulting is vetted and appointed to both the NSW Government SBBIS Defects Inspection Panel and SBBIS Defects Cost Panel, and why boutique construction law firms trust us to uncover the technical landmines in their cases early and provide unbiased advice that can help determine the direction of your strategy.

At Voraus Consulting, we don’t just push spreadsheets. 

We deliver real-world construction knowledge backed by ironclad mathematical surety.

We do not believe an expert can properly evaluate the cost of a construction failure from behind a desk. Our Director, Sean Wardman (MAIQS, CQS), brings an unmatched technical profile to the market. His journey began directly on the tools, gaining foundational, hands-on experience in trade contracting, structural concrete, civil construction, heavy earthworks, high-rise, low-rise and infrastructure projects spanning local government, large and small residential developments, heritage, complex marine environments, civil infrastructure, industrial and mining expansion projects.

Over the past 30 years, that site-based foundation evolved into senior project management in building and civil infrastructure, civil estimation, building estimation, commercial management, quantity surveying and contract administration roles for tier-1 contractors and government bodies on complex projects valued up to and well above $4.2 billion. Sean understands the details that form costs on construction projects.

Today, as a Certified Quantity Surveyor and a Licensed Builder, Sean bridges the gap between workmanship and financial quantum.

Voraus is derived from the German word for “Ahead,” “Forward,” or “In Advance.”

In the high-stakes arena of construction litigation and statutory adjudications, this principle drives everything we do. For over a decade, Voraus Consulting has delivered expert commercial management and advisory services. Through our unique blend of experiences, Voraus Consulting, provides independent, court-admissible forensic quantum and building defect evidence designed to give legal teams absolute clarity in advance of entering a courtroom or tribunal.

Our practice was founded to solve a critical flaw in the modern dispute resolution market: the widening gap between generic textbook pricing indexes and raw site reality..