About Ken Newson

Kenneth D. Newson, FACFE, DABFE, DABFET
American College of Forensic Examiners, Fellow

Curriculum Vitae

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Formal Education

Dorsey High School- Science
Los Angeles City College- Psychology (AA degree)
San Fernando Valley State College, Ergonomics (2 years)

Specialty Training

Forensic Science
Institute of Real Estate Management, CPM
Mohasco Research and Development School
Armstrong Training School
Individual Specialized Manufacturer’s Training.
California Department of Consumer Affairs Expert’s training program

Forensic Sciences

He provides test data for: moisture vapor intrusion investigations, site condition evaluations, site safety evaluations, design and material performance and failure opinions.

Qualifications

Mr. Newson was first certified as a competent expert in the field of commercial floor covering by the Los Angeles County Courts in 1979. He has testified numerous times as both a plaintiff’s and defense expert witness. In 1993 the California Department of Consumer Affairs certified him as a floor-covering expert. For 17 years Mr. Newson was part of their experts program, he acted as an investigator and mediator in contractor-consumer disputes.
Mr. Newson has handled over 1,500 ligation matters. He has Testified over 25 times at trial, 150 depositions, and numerous Arbitrations and Mediations.
His list of references is very long. Mr. Newson has consulted for many major educational institutions, medical facilities, and public transportation facilities. He recently completed studies for UCLA, USC, Cedar Sinai Hospital of Los Angeles, Pasadena-Glendale-Burbank Airport, and Baltimore Washington International Airport.
Mr. Newson has conducted studies on site suitability for specialty flooring products for all types of public facilities. He is the floor-covering advisor, and past member of the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles chapter, for the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA). He teaches continuing education courses for the American Institute of Architecture (A.I.A.) and SARA. He has instructional and editorial columns for their national publications. Also, he conducts symposiums for A.I.A and SARA on concrete additives and moisture vapor, in preparation for floor covering and the “Standard of Practice for the Flooring Industry”.
In 1996 Mr. Newson was accepted as a member of the American College of Forensic Examiners (ACFE#10104), and subsequently passed the peer review and became a Diplomate of The American Board of Forensic Examiners. On April 1, 1999 he became a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Engineering & Technology. In 2007 Mr. Newson was elevated to the level of Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute.
His certification is specialized to all matters pertaining to floors and their function as part of a system. Subsequently, he has conducted investigations for several private companies, individuals and public agencies. He investigates cases involving toxic fumes, toxic mold, premises liability, product liability, installation, industry standards of care involving the National Codes of Safety, and the Uniform Commercial Code, The American With Disabilities Act, and the California Code of Regulations.
In August of 2002, Mr. Newson prepared a course text and was certified by the California Bar Association to provide Continuing Education, on all litigation matters pertaining to floors, premises liability, and toxins. In November 2005, Mr. Newson became a certified Mediator for the California State Contractors License Board.

Experience

While in college in 1964, he worked as a construction project manager, and was moved to the Commercial Real Estate Management department. In 1969 he was the Director of Daily Apartment Operations for Urbanetics Financial Corporation, and managed several thousand apartment units in the Southwest, handling interior build-outs. In 1970, he was Director of Property Management for the Heritage Group.
In 1972, Mr. Newson went to work for Irving C. Rubin & Associates, a company that provided commercial floor covering to real estate managers. In 1974 he complete the educational requirements to qualify as a Certified Property Manager the National Board of Realtors. In 1976 he began his own chain of commercial floor covering outlets and became a licensed floor-covering contractor in California.
Over the next two years he was trained in fabrication and installation of all types of flooring materials. In 1978, Dupont Chemical sent him to seminars around the country to be trained in the use and specification of fiber systems. Specialty floor covering material manufacturers sent instructors to him to provide individual training for products such as, linoleum, cork, rubber, wood, vinyl, epoxy, and stone.
This training allowed him to train his sales and installation staff. His firm sold and installed over 5,000,000-sq. ft. of specialty products, for use in athletic facilities, schools, restaurants, factories, airports and hospitals
In 1977 Mr. Newson joined the faculty at Ambassador College and taught classes in textile specification for real estate managers. He began teaching this same course for the National Boards of Realtors as part of their Professional Property Manager’s certification, and The National Apartment Owners Association’s “Certified Managers Program”.
Mr. Newson has published several articles on floor covering specification in national trade publications such as The Journal of Property Management. He also writes articles pertaining to the specification of floor covering and site conditions for architectural publications.
Dupont enlisted him into their advisory counsel, made up of eight qualified contractors, where he was asked to confer with other floor covering contractors when they needed advice. In 1980 Mr. Newson opened the “Design Resource Center” in Van Nuys California, where he taught classes in materials specification to Interior Designers and Architects. In 1984 he opened Interior Specifications, a consulting and management company, to service the design and construction community.