ABOUT
DAVID
PARRATT
David Parratt was born in 1931 and was educated at Merchant Taylor’s School, Crosby (Near Liverpool). After leaving school at the age of 18, he worked on a building site as assistant to the General Foreman and undertook the setting out of what is probably the longest factory building near Liverpool. He spent two years doing National Service in REME where he trained as a Radar Mechanic. Upon release from the Army he went back to the firm of builders who had employed him before, this time as a site surveyor where he carried out a full site survey for a five acre housing estate, followed by the design and setting out of all the roads and sewers. For this work he learnt as he went on by borrowing textbooks. The following year he started at Liverpool College of Building studying Quantity Surveying and then obtained employment with a large firm of Quantity Surveyors in Liverpool. Soon after passing the qualifying examinations of the RICS, he moved to another firm of Quantity Surveyors as a Senior QS. Another move for family reasons took him to Leeds City Architects Department as a QS Group Leader.
As his special interest was the practical side of building construction, he took his RICS examinations again becoming a Chartered Building Surveyor. A further interest in dispute resolution led him to a training course on Arbitration, membership of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and over 500 appointments as arbitrator mainly on small construction disputes and as a member of the ABTA panel for holiday disputes.
Feeling the need to have a better understanding of the law, he spent four years at night school to take a London University external degree in law (LLB) and this led to also to being recruited as a lecturer in Arbitration Law for a Masters Degree course at Leeds Metropolitan University. Following the receipt of this qualification in law, he also spent 18 years as a Justice of the Peace on the bench in Leeds.
An appointment to inspect a large property in France for a prospective purchaser lead to further inspections of French properties where his knowledge of the language proved very useful.
Another appointment (unpaid) to design an extension to a Methodist Church in Leeds involved some calculations of Daylight and the experience of this subject allowed him to accept instructions as an Expert Witness on a Right of Light case in Bridlington County Court in 1978.
As a result of attending an Annual General Meeting of the Yorkshire Branch of the RICS Building Surveyors Division and finding himself the only non-Committee member present, he was co-opted and later became its Chairman. Later he became a founder member of the committee of the North East Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and he held two appointments as its Chairman. He was also a founder member of the Turner Arbitration Chambers,Currently, he is a Director/Council Member and Past President of the Society of Professional Engineers and a trustee of its charitable arm “Exciting Engineering” which aims to inspire young people to enter the engineering profession.
General Conditions
of Engagement
