Lawrence E. Marley, Jr., P.E., QEI
District Manager
Get to know the expert
Expert QuestionS & AnswerS
Mechanical and plumbing failures can have surprisingly widespread consequences — what types of system issues do you most commonly see lead to major losses or disputes?
The most common consequence of bad HVAC is damage to wood materials. Sometimes this is from fungal growth, sometimes from condensation, and sometimes it is from drying of the wooden structures. This can manifest itself in surprising ways from cracking of walls, unlevel floors, and peeling wallpaper and paint. Honestly, fungal growth is one of the least common consequences observed.
When you investigate a mechanical or plumbing system failure, what is your process for separating maintenance issues from design or installation problems?
In general, installation issues manifest themselves rather quickly. Usually within 6 months to a year following installation. Design issues are different, in that they are not as time sensitive as installation and can occur at almost any time during a product’s expected usable life. However, these do not occur in a vacuum and will occur on multiple units, which you can usually uncover during the investigation phase. Maintenance issues are generally visually obvious; for example, the entire system is dirty.
Background
Mr. Lawrence Marley holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. He has 20 years of experience in product design manufacturing, engineering, and quality management and is an ACTAR Certified Accident Reconstructionist.
With almost 25 years of experience in vertical transportation, Mr. Marley is a Qualified Elevator Inspector as certified by NAESA. Mr. Marley can assist in projects involving elevators, escalators, moving walks, wheelchair lifts, dumb waiters, and hydraulic lifts. This would include cases involving water damage, personal injury, component malfunction, improper maintenance, and improper usage. Working at Dover Elevator, ThyssenKrupp Elevator, and with Schindler Elevator, Mr. Marley has designed and assisted in the installation and maintenance of elevators and escalators, as well as reviewing and determining damages to elevator and escalator systems to establish root cause failure analysis. This would include the review of costs related to elevator repairs.
Specifically, Mr. Marley has broad experience in mechanics of materials, applications engineering, engineering design and analysis, both destructive and non-destructive testing, finite element analysis, hydraulic analysis, supplier development, and customer liaison. His skill areas extend to elevator component analysis and plumbing design and analysis. Mr. Marley also has extensive experience in sheet flow, channel flow, and pipe flow hydraulics. He also has experience with both positive pressure and natural flow exhaust gas ventilation from boilers, hot water heaters, and natural gas generators. Other areas Mr. Marley can assist would include sprinkler pipe design, water heaters, expansion tanks, hydraulic cylinders, brake presses, large construction equipment, man lifts, boom trucks, plumbing fixture failure analysis, water filtration failures, and refrigerator analysis.
An ACTAR Certified Accident Reconstructionist, Mr. Marley can assist in EDR (black box) downloads on passenger vehicles and ECM downloads on commercial vehicles, as well as full accident reconstructions. This would include digital mapping of accident scenes, 3-D mapping, accident layouts, and speed calculations.
Education and Certifications
- Mechanical Engineering, B.S.: Tennessee Technological University (1994)
- Licensed Professional (Mechanical) Engineer: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin
- Certified Accident Reconstructionist: ACTAR (#3076)
- Qualified Elevator Inspector