A Chat with David Hanen, Superintendent at Haselden Construction

Flexibility, resiliency promote longevity on the job

By Chris Maday Schmidt

David Hanen, a superintendent at Haselden Construction, started building houses at age 14 and — although not sure he ever planned on making it a career — has worked in construction throughout Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Region for more than 25 years. Not only does he bring flexibility and resiliency to his role, he also places top priority on safety and infection control. Join Construction Superintendent as Hanen shares the ups and downs of mountain building, the ever-evolving economy and today’s labor and materials shortages, as well as a project that stands out. Plus, a peek at what a stroke of luck might mean for him.

(Q) With a background spanning more than two decades in the industry, you’ve worked in a diverse range of positions — beginning at age 14 when you started building houses, to owning your own small construction company. Share a little about your journey to superintendent.

I don’t think I ever planned on being a superintendent. When I was younger, I just wanted to start working, and it was by chance that I started framing houses. At the time, in Eagle County, Colorado, that was the thing to do. I worked under some very good builders and learned a lot from them.

Construction personalities are usually a bit rough and tough, and the lead framer wasn’t easy on me. But looking back, that really was the foundation of my career. He taught me to work hard, stay focused and make sure the work’s done right — don’t cut any corners.

When I was 20, I decided to try other types of work. I worked for an electrician, an earth retention company, a plumber and even repaired appliances — and every time between trying new jobs, I came back to building houses. In the early 2000s, companies were hiring subcontracted labor at an hourly wage; meaning, we had to carry our own insurance, but the pay was a lot more. Having my own insurance opened a lot of job opportunities and evolved into working for myself full time. That all went great until the great recession.

A friend of mine called and said Haselden was looking to hire a carpenter. I intended for the job to be temporary, but quickly found out that I really liked the bigger construction projects. So, here I am.

(Q) Talk a bit about the types of challenges you inherently face with mountain building. How do you approach these challenges with your crew?

Working in the mountains, there will always be weather challenges, work force challenges, broken equipment challenges, etc. But we’ve seen a whole new set of challenges in the past two years — COVID, wildfires, mud slides and interstate closures — that have changed how we manage a project. It’s all about staying ahead of the game — knowing your schedule, finding the gaps in it and resequencing when challenges arise.

(Q) Safety is a hot topic on the jobsite. One of your responsibilities is to build a site-specific safety plan crafted for a project’s unique characteristics. What does a typical plan entail?

A typical safety plan includes staging areas, building separation walls, muster points, fencing, delivery areas, crane locations and traffic routes.

Depending on the type of project or location it can be more detailed due to county or city requirements. We like to have the subcontractors write up their own site-specific plans as well, based on their scope and locations of work. This gets subcontractors thinking up front about things like where and how are they going to tie off? or how are they going to access areas of the jobsite? These are good topics to discuss in preconstruction meetings.

(Q) As far as infection control strategies, how are these handled on the jobsite? Is there anything you do differently when it comes to your healthcare and education projects?

Healthcare projects are, without a doubt, the most critical for infection control. Negative air machines and maintaining airtight barriers are your priorities in a hospital. When COVID hit, we immediately put protocols in place to protect the jobsite. We increased bathroom and common space cleanings, had a full-time person wiping down handrails and frequently touched surfaces and made sure everyone wore a mask. Having a clean and tidy jobsite helps morale onsite, increases production and shows people we care about our job. I think many of these protocols are here to stay. The days of “excuse our mess” are long gone.

(Q) Has Haselden experienced any ongoing labor and/or materials shortages? If yes, how are these being mitigated? What has this done to your schedules and how have you communicated that to your owner?

There are undoubtedly delays on every project, but recently delays of materials are becoming more and more. Sometimes materials that are ordered way in advance get pushed out even further midway through their lead time. It really is a difficult thing to balance, but knowing your schedule and resequencing is helpful. We gather as much information as we can about where the product is and why it’s delayed. Most importantly, we want to be transparent and in communication with our customers.

Labor shortages are also tough. Open communication with subcontractors up-front is important along with preplanning, Lean scheduling and holding people accountable.

(Q) Your construction experience includes large projects for education and healthcare facilities, as well as ranches. What types of similarities do these projects share, and what are the biggest differences?

With all of these areas, there are usually occupants in buildings during construction, so keeping safe separation between the jobsite and those finished spaces is a common theme. We always develop and discuss logistics plans with customers prior to starting construction and have ongoing discussions as needs change or new plans need to be drawn up.

(Q) Looking back over the past 20+ years, which project have you supervised that stands out as most memorable? Why?

It’s impossible to pick just one. They all have memories and exciting challenges. I guess I would have to say Eagle Valley Elementary School, in Eagle, Colorado. I built this school right across the street from my house and both of my daughters went there after it was completed.

(Q) How involved are you with ongoing training and/or certification programs?

I like to stay involved in employee development. You really have to keep training people and teaching them what you know. Folks need to move up in their positions or we’ll all be stuck with a bunch of guys that only know how to sweep the floor.

(Q) If you could give your 14-year-old self a piece of advice to smooth the way into the industry, what would you tell him?

Stick with it. It’s not easy meeting goals, but it’s great to have them. Be patient. If you work hard, try hard and ask questions, people will notice you.

(Q) What is the one tech tool, or tip, that makes your job easier on a daily basis?

Procore. It was challenging at first moving away from paper plans. Once you learn how to navigate it, it really is an awesome program.

(Q) When it’s time to hang up your hard hat at the end of the day, how do you unwind?

My drive home is the best for me. I get to think about the day, plan for tomorrow and sequence the job. I tend to do my best preplanning on the road. If I can be sure I have a good plan for tomorrow, then I can relax.

(Q) Can you share one little-known fact about yourself with Construction Superintendent readers?

If I ever won the lottery, I always thought about having a construction company called Classic Construction. The trucks and equipment would all be classics and restored. I’d want to do the restoration myself though, so I’m thinking that by the time I’m done restoring enough equipment to start a company, it would be time to retire.

 

Editor’s Note: To view Hanen’s recent byline contribution to Construction Superintendent eNews, click here.