andscape
architect Todd Cole of San Francisco had been particularly pleased
to see Dowling's attention to protecting the many trees on the lot.
"He worked very closely with Noonan's Tree Care during the grading
operationshe had an arborist checking on his root protection measures
almost daily. He welcomes scrutiny of his procedures. It makes him
a first rate contractor."
The owners
were relieved to find that Dowling was able to work not just with
their design professionals but with the heads of various Town departments
as well. "Brent Hipsher in the Building Department played an instrumental
role in overseeing our project," outlines the owner. "Scott Muns
and Troy Henderson in Public Works were also extremely helpful.
I think people realize right away that Dan is a genuine, capable
man who is going to follow up on all his responsibilities. People
respect that."
"The situation
Dan faced on this project reminded me of a comment Norman Schwarzkopf
made during the Gulf War," remembers engineer Beam. "'Strategy is
for amateurs,' the General scoffed. 'On this level it's all about
logistics.' We knew where we had to get; which way to take to get
there was the issue." Dowling's task was not just to complete the
house, but to do so with the high level of quality originally planned.
Fluid communication between employees, subcontractors, the owners,
and their representatives was essential.
These are the
nuts and bolts of his methods: Dowling used a relational database
to integrate the plan specifications with the contracts, and then
with field notes. In this way, he was able to track any issue pertaining
to a particular trade or firm, or a particular contract document,
or even a room or area. A computerized critical path schedule provided
a project model for everyone's reference. George Rix, the DJ Dowling
Business Manager, used the templates from the database to track
the expenses throughout the job.
