About Stuart & Associates

What is an Owner's Advocate?

At his first performance review during the second year of employment at Clark Construction as a Project Executive, the Sr. Vice President commented, in Areas of Improvement “Honest to a fault.”

Almost no major general contractor executive or senior project manager has ever been a tradesman or architect/engineer. These individuals are no doubt graduates with business or legal backgrounds. They are trained to overwhelm an owner and their team members with contract law and legalese.

An owner’s most essential guarantee to a successful project, from design conception to construction completion, is their own construction representative. This individual is an expert in every aspect of the construction industry and is accountable to the owners and their precise project requirements. This individual must be able to gain the respect of the architect, consultants, general contractor, subcontractors, with knowledge and experience, and lead by hands-on example.

Will Stuart, President

William Stuart has 27 years of comprehensive, hands on expertise to offer your organization. From his first ten years in military construction, and his years as a superintendent to more recent positions as Operations Manager and Executive for large national construction companies, he has gained extensive experience overseeing construction of multiple projects from inception to completion.
            
Mr. Stuart’s proven relationships within San Diego include the local Association of General Contractors, the Centre City Development Corporation, the Port Commission, the City and County of San Diego and the local offices of California and Federal Agencies. This, along with the longstanding trust that the local subcontractor community has for Mr. Stuart, results in positive partnerships for creating cost effective proposals and smooth running, on schedule, claim free completions.

Mr. Stuart’s vast knowledge of all aspects of construction was called into action on his most recent challenge with Fireman’s Fund Surety to resurrect the crippled projects of the failed J.A. Jones Construction Co. Western Region. In less than 12 months he masterfully completed all projects including the $180MM St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, that was in litigation, less than 75% complete, and two years behind schedule.

The accomplishment that Mr. Stuart is most proud of is the completion of the $112 MM world class Manchester Grand Hyatt in a record two years. For this achievement he received the 2004 Project Manager of the Year award from the San Diego Centre City Development Corporation.

After several years as a geologist with Woodward & Clyde, Mr. Stuart started his building career as a junior project engineer for the C. E. Wylie Construction company. He handled quality control and contract administration of military projects. He quickly progressed to assistant superintendent, then superintendent in charge of complete field operations. He became an essential part of the Wylie Management team, running the San Francisco office as the project manager.

In 1995, Mr. Stuart joined Blake Construction to lead the construction of the $70MM downtown San Diego County Central Jail as a senior project manager. After the highly successful completion he was promoted to Western Division Operations Manager, in charge of completing projects such as schools and universities, hospitals and hotels, sports complexes and water treatment facilities.

He has attended seminars on handling government contracts and is proficient in planning and scheduling projects based on training received in various management symposiums through Primavera, the global leader of CPM scheduling software.

Mr. Stuart also has extensive experience working with counsel in all aspects of litigation and has served as an expert fact witness and legal negotiator in cases involving disputes and claims.