The Agreed Third-Party Method
Whenever the facts allow, we favor resolving a residential dispute before it becomes a formal lawsuit - and the agreed third-party method is how we do it. Rather than each side retaining its own expert to produce competing, self-interested conclusions, the parties jointly engage TONER Home Performance to make a single, neutral determination of what is actually wrong with the home. One expert, one investigation, one set of findings everyone has agreed in advance to treat as authoritative.
Engaged in this role, we evaluate the home as a complete system, identify what is genuinely failing and recommend the exact building-science corrections required, without assigning blame or liability. We are not there to advance a narrative for either party. We are there to establish the truth of the building, and to put it in writing in language both sides can understand.
Why it works
Most of the time, cost, and acrimony in a residential construction dispute is spent fighting over the underlying facts - whose expert is right, whose methodology is sound, whose conclusion the fact-finder should believe. The agreed third-party method removes that fight entirely. When both sides have committed up front to a single independent evaluator, the resulting findings arrive as a shared technical baseline rather than as one party's ammunition. The conversation shifts from "what happened?" to "how do we resolve it?" - which is a far shorter and far cheaper conversation.
Neutrality that holds up
Our independence is what makes this method credible. Because we do not sell resolutions, perform the repairs we prescribe, or hold any financial stake in the outcome, neither party has reason to distrust our conclusions - and neither can later attack them as bought. That structural neutrality is precisely what allows opposing parties to accept a single determination they might never accept from an expert retained by the other side.
Counsel stays in control
The division of labor is clean: we handle the physical determination; counsel handles the law. Throughout the process, you remain entirely in control of the legal strategy - shaping the resulting agreement, advising your client, and protecting their financial interests - while we supply the objective technical foundation that agreement rests on. We determine what is wrong and what it takes to fix it; you determine what that means for your client and how to resolve it.
A documented baseline either way
The output is a clear, defensible technical record that opposing parties can rally around rather than litigate against. When the matter resolves, that record is the basis of the settlement. And in the event it does not, the work is never wasted: a documented, good-faith, independent evaluation - and your client's demonstrated willingness to resolve in reliance on it - becomes part of the record, evidencing reasonableness and strengthening your client's position should the matter proceed to suit.
Does your project sound like a good fit?
Initial case reviews and technical consultations are completely free. Our team reviews your details and responds within one business day.