voilà

Il s'agit, je suppose, d'un cabinet d'expertise de dégats, et non pas d'expertise comptable.
Je pense donc que "adjusting bureau" correspond bien.

Ref: GDT

HTH, Olivier

Well, the short answer is "it depends", which is not much help to you, however true it might be! It all depends on what type of expert is being instructed.

If the damage being assessed concerns a vessel, then it would be nautical/maritime surveyor for example. (Sorry if this makes me a "boat-bore", but I prefer to talk about what I know about.)

If you're talking about major storm damage to property, then it may be "loss adjuster", "public adjuster". May even be a plain old "claims representative". Without more info, difficult to say.



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Note added at 2002-03-15 13:20:10 (GMT) Post-grading
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What follows applies to the UK. I understand that you are American, based in France but I do not know where your target reader is based.

As it is now apparent that buildings are concerned, then for the UK, this would be \"firm of surveyors\". Surveyors are sometimes called in to assess damage* to buildings. (As a general rule, most house sales are done with each side instructing surveyors. Without a survey report, you will generally not be able to get a mortgage. Every house owner in the UK knows about surveyors.)

The governing professional body in the UK is the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (www.rics.org.uk) and you might consider the AEEBC - Association d\'Experts Européens du Bâtiment et de la Construction a suitable French counterpart.

When working in civil litigation, the case portfolio I worked on included a number of negligent surveyors.

(* should be in the singular here, \"damages\" being \"dommages & intérêts\")

This above information is being posted with the sole intention of assisting the asker in the event of her target reader being UK-based, the information that the question concerned buildings not having been apparent until the asker posted a comment when grading the question.


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Note added at 2002-03-15 14:25:33 (GMT) Post-grading
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Whilst the context, I am told, is US, I have included the UK version for the benefit of the glossaries.

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Note added at 2002-03-15 14:28:11 (GMT) Post-grading
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For info, both \"mind the gap\" and \"watch your step\" are used in the UK, the latter benefitting from more than one meaning.

I\'ve learnt a lot from this question - thank you!