The situation
A contractual dispute arose over the performance of a cleaning company servicing a commercial building. The building management believed the cleaning contractor was not delivering the services specified in the contract but needed evidence to support their position before taking action.
Details in this case study have been altered to protect client confidentiality. The core facts, forensic methodology, and outcomes are accurate.
What we found
Analysis of the CCTV footage confirmed that cleaning was inadequate on the specified dates. Motion analysis allowed NDF to efficiently sort through many days of video recordings, identifying the relevant periods and documenting the cleaning activities (or lack thereof) that occurred.
How we responded
NDF took a proactive approach to evidence preservation and analysis:
- Pre-emptive evidence acquisition, securing the hard drive containing CCTV footage before the cleaning company was served with notice, ensuring the evidence could not be disputed or destroyed
- Motion analysis of the CCTV recordings, enabling rapid sorting of extended video footage to isolate relevant time periods
- Evidence video production, creating a finished video compilation that clearly demonstrated what occurred on the dates in question
The outcome
The evidence produced by NDF showed inadequate cleaning on the specified dates, providing the building management with a clear factual basis for their position. The evidence supported the termination of the cleaning contract. The finished video format made the findings accessible and compelling for use in dispute resolution.
Lessons for similar organisations
- Secure evidence before giving notice. Once a contractor knows a dispute is coming, evidence may become harder to obtain. Acquiring CCTV footage before serving notice preserves the evidentiary record.
- CCTV is only useful if it can be analysed. Days or weeks of raw footage are impractical to review manually. Motion analysis and forensic video techniques transform raw recordings into usable evidence.
- Professional evidence presentation matters. A finished, edited evidence video is far more effective in dispute resolution than pointing to timestamps in raw footage.