Q&A with Dean Killen, General Superintendent at JE Dunn Construction

Keeping up with best practices by watching, listening and learning

By Chris Schmidt

Dean Killen, general superintendent with JE Dunn Construction, has more than 30 years of construction experience. In his position, he provides constructability review; mobilization planning; site staging planning and construction means and methods analyses during preconstruction. During construction, he provides onsite project supervision and coordinates all subcontractors. He is also in charge of safety, general conditions, quality control, labor relations and monitors any testing. Join Construction Superintendent as Killen shares his varied background, advice for the budding superintendent and his “tools” of the trade.

(Q) Is there a particular project you worked on early in your career that sticks out and, if yes, why?

Sears Addition and Renovation, Mobile, Alabama. First job out of town and on my own, me and an assistant superintendent doing everything. No management staff on site. Just us managing two shifts, all the subs and the owner.

(Q) Share the steps you took to get where you are today.

I watched and listened a lot. Learned from everyone, from the guy sweeping the streets to the man perceived as the most important on the project.

(Q) What was the first construction project you supervised? What do you think you would have done differently had you known then what you know now?

Omni Hotel and Convention Center, Durham, North Carolina. I would have relied more on the people around me and worried less.

(Q) You”ve supervised a diverse variety of projects—from a $1-million MRI machine installation to a $100-million high rise. What has been your favorite project and why?

I”ve been involved in several good projects, but two stick out for the same reasons—Norfolk Southern Office, Roanoke, Virginia and PNC Tower, Raleigh, North Carolina—good projects with great teams. Everyone involved in those projects was focused on delivering a quality product and having fun doing it. Owners, architects, engineers and subcontractors—all were focused but relaxed enough to enjoy what we were doing. End result was we turned over quality buildings on time, made a little money and had fun.

(Q) Describe the most challenging project you”ve supervised during your career and the steps you took to overcome these setbacks.

An unnamed hotel in North Carolina. It was a disaster from the time I got involved: no supervision, behind schedule, no money, disenchanted subcontractors and bad weather. We just plowed in, forgot about what had happened in the past and got everyone focused on the future and finishing. We did this by meeting with the team, setting some clear goals and removing obstacles. We replaced “cannots” with “can dos.” The job was by no means a company success, but we did get it finished and opened.

(Q) What is your secret to managing the ins and outs of each project you”re responsible for—is there any “one” tool that you could not (or would not want to) live without?

I don”t think it’s a secret and I didn”t invent it. Put the right people in the right places and let them do what you pay them to do. Hold them accountable but listen and support. I started in the no computer, no phone, no fax, no FedEx era so I know we can build without all these modern tools (not that I want to go back), but I think my phone would be the hardest thing to get used to being without.

(Q) How do you enforce safety and quality control on the jobsite?

Consistency and high standards. We have to be willing on our busiest day to take the time to stop and correct an unsafe condition or a poor quality item and explain to the worker why it’s important to make the correction. We have to talk and enforce quality and safety from the day we put up the fence until the day we turn over the keys.

(Q) Where would you say is the biggest area that improvement needs to take place within the construction industry?

With all our modern conveniences, I don”t think we communicate face to face enough. Most of the misunderstandings and mistakes today, I believe, are due to lack of understanding of goals and expectations. Not enough time is spent kicking dirt and looking at what we”re building, and too much time is spent exchanging emails and voice messages.

(Q) What is the best piece of advice you”ve received during your 30+ years in the field? What advice would you share with new superintendents?  

The best piece of advice would have been, “They can”t eat ya.” What the advice giver was saying was, as bad and as bleak as a day gets, just go home, unwind and rest. Come back tomorrow, and 99 percent of the time you”ll discover it was not as bad as you thought. My advice to young superintendents would be, at least once a day spend a couple of hours in the field without your phone. Just watch, learn and get to know all the personalities on your project. You”ll be surprised what you learn and how it is appreciated by everyone.

(Q) Share some of the new technologies and methods used on the job and how they”ve advanced throughout your career; i.e., BIM, prefab, etc.

At one time in my career I thought the fax machine was going to revolutionize the industry, and to a small extent it did. But the advances that have been made in the past few years are amazing. The two I like best are BIM technology, which allows you to see and study a complex area of your project. Whether it is a mechanical room, a curtainwall intersection or an intricate steel intersection—all can be viewed and understood before a single piece arrives on the job. The other is the notebook computer or iPad; the applications are endless for field guys. You have drawings, contracts, reporting applications, weather and far too many other applications to name that just make it easier for a superintendent to manage from the field.

(Q) Talk a little about ongoing education and how you keep up with the ever-evolving improvements, standards, etc., in the industry.

We have to be forever learning, and that comes from a lot of directions. We can learn better computer skills from an engineer who has relied on a computer his or her whole career. I still try to take relevant classroom learning, whether that be JE Dunn training or industry-organization based. Online learning offers classes in almost everything. Then there’s the old tried and true “on the job” training. We should never quit looking, listening and asking questions.

(Q) When you”re not busy on a project, what is your go-to pastime?

My wife and I love to travel in the U.S. It may be as close as a bed and breakfast in North Georgia or as far away as California, just seeing places we”ve never been.