NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

CODE OF FAIR C·OMPETITION 

FOR THE 

LIGHTING EQUIPMENT 

INDUSTRY 

AS SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 30, 1933 

REGISTRY No. 1212-1-03 

This Code for the Lighting Equipment Industry 

in its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned 

industry, and none of the provisiGns contained therein are 

u.s. 

to be regarded as having received the approval of 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

STATES 

~OVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

W .A:SHINGTON : 1933 

I I 

For sale by the SUllerintendent o( Documents. Washinl!.ton. D.C. - - - - - - - - Price 5 cents 

CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION OF THE LIGHTING 

EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY 

ARTICLE I-PURPOSE OF THE CoDE 

The purpose of this Code is to effectuate the policy of Title I of 

the National Industrial Recovery Act insofar as it is applicable to 

the industry. The Code is not designed. to promote monopolies, eliminate or oppress small enterprises, and will not operate to discriminate against them. 

ARTICLE II-DEFINITIONS 

SECTION 1. The term "industry" means the complete designing 

and manufacturing of lighting equipment units for illumination purposes, made of metal, or metal and glass, or other material, or of 

glass and other materials, in conjunction with a supporting frame 

of any material. This excludes coves o£ any material which are 

part of the walls of the buildin?,. 

SEc. 2. The term "employer ' is defined to mean any person engaged in the industry who sells a complete lighting equipment unit 

of his own production. 

SEc. 3. The term "employee" means every employee in the industry excepting executives, superintendents, manufacturing and 

designing supervisory staff, salesmen, maintenance and repair men, 

and watchmen. 

SEc. 4. The term "person" means natural persons, partnerships, 

associations, and corporations. 

SEc. 5. The term "the association" means the Artistic Lighting 

Equipment Association, a trade association having its executive office 

at 40 Wall St., New York City. 

SEc. 6. The term "Executive Committee" means the Executive 

Committee of the Artistic Lighting Equipment Association. 

SEc. 7. The term "the President" means the President of the 

United States of America. 

ARTICLE III-ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY 

The Executive Committee of the Artistic Lighting Equipment 

Association is hereby designated the agency for administering the 

provisions of this Code by the members of the Lighting Equipment 

Industry. 

ARTICLE IV-PARTICIPATION IN THE CoDE 

Any employer may participate in this Code and in any revisions 

or additions thereto and receive the benefits thereof by accepting 

8678-33 (1) 
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the proper pro rata share and responsibility of creating and administering it, either by becoming a member of the Association or by 

paying to it an amount equal to the dues from time to time provided 

to be paid by a member in like situation of the Association. 

ARTICLE V-LABOR RELATIONS, MAxiMUM HouRs OF LABOR, :MINIMUM RATES OF pAY 

A. LABOR RELATIONS 

SEcTION 1. No employer in the industry shall employ any person 

under the age of sixteen (16) years. 

SEc. 2. (a) Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and 

shall be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives, or in self-organization, or in other concerted activities 

for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and 

protection. 

(b) No employee and no one seeking employment shall be required 

as a condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of 

his own choosing. 

(c) Employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, 

minimum r ates of pay, and other conditions of en1ployment 

approved and prescribed by the President. 

SEc. 3. The plants of the industry, in conformity with their established custom, shall be open to capable workmen, without regard 

to their membership or nonmembership in any labor organization. 

The industry firmly believes that the unqualified maintenance of this 

principle is in the interest of its employees. 

B. MAXIMUM HOURS OF LABOR 

No employees (including a proprietor or others doing productive 

work) shall work more than forty ( 40) hours per week in the 

industry. 

Provided, however, that this limitation shall not apply to those 

sections of the industry in which seasonal or peak demands place an 

unusual or temporary burden upon such sections. In such cases no 

employee shall be permitted to work more than an aggregate of 

one hundred and forty-four (144) hours per year in excess of the 

limitation herein provided. At the end of each calendar month every 

employer shall report to the Executive Committee in such detail as 

may be required the number of man-hours worked in that month on 

account of seasonal or peak demand requirements, and the ratio 

which such man-hours bears to the total number of man-hours of 

labor during said month. 

C. MINIMUM RATES OF PAY 

SECTION 1. (a) The minimum wage that shall be paid by any employer to any employee engaged in the processing of the products 
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of the Lighting Equipment Industry and in labor operations directly 

incident thereto shall be forty ( 40) cents per hour, unless the rate 

per hour for the same class of labor on July 15, 1929, was less than 

forty ( 40) cents, in which case the rate ·per hour shall be not less 

than the rate per hour paid on July 15, 1929, and provided also that 

in no event shall the rate per hour be less than thirty ( 30) cents per 

hour, and provided further that casual and incidental labor and 

learners may be paid not less than eighty ( 80) percent of such 

minimum wage, but the total amount paid to such casual and incidental labor and learners shall not exceed in any calendar month 

five ( 5) percent of the total wages paid to all process labor by such 

employer. 

(b) The minimum w.age that shall be paid by any employer to all 

other employees, except commission sales people, shall be at the rate 

of fifteen ( 15) dollars per week, provided, however, that office boys 

or girls, learners, and casual employees may be paid not less than 

eighty ( 80) percent of such mininnun wage but the total amount 

paid to such office boys or girls, learners and casual employees shall 

not exceed in any calendar month five (5) percent of the total amount 

paid by such employer to all employees covered by the provisions of 

this paragraph (b). 

ARTICLE VI-PRoviSIONS GovERNING Co:\IPETITIVE PRACTICES 

SECTION 1. Selling Below 0 ost.-N o employer shall sell his product 

below the cost of production except as permitted by the Executive 

Committee to meet special conditions. The cost of production shall 

be determined in accordance with the simple uniform method of 

costing hereinafter provided for. 

SEc. 2. Policy on Catalogues cr:nd P1·ice Lists.-If the Executive 

Committee determines that in any branch or sub-division of the 

Lighting Equipment Industry it has been the generally recognized 

practice to sell a pecified product on the basis of printed net price 

lists: or price lists with discount sheets, and fixed terms of payment, 

which are distributed to the trade with illustrations and proper 

identification, each manufacturer of such product shall within ten 

(10) days after notice of such determination file with the Executive 

Committee a net price list or a price list and discount sheet as the 

case may be, individually prepared by him showing his current 

prices, or prices and discounts, and terms of payment. 

Revised price lists with or without discount sheets may be filed 

from time to time thereafter with the Executive Committee by any 

manufacturer of such product, to become effective upon the date 

specified therein, but such revised price lists and discount sheets shall 

be filed with the Executive Committee ten (10) days in advance of 

the effective date, unless the Executive Committee shall authorize a 

shorter period. 

The price lists filed with the Executive Committee shall be open 

to inspection at all reasonable times by any employer in the industry . 

. SEc. 3. Issue of New Lines.-Manufacturers of residential lightIng fixtures produced for resale shall file a net price list with illustrations and proper identification of all current lines not later than 

February 15 of any year. 
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Additional lines or items may be offered on the approval of the 

Executive Committee. Such approval shall be granted within thirty 

(30) days. If approval is not granted for any reason, an appeal 

may be made by the person seeking such approval to the Arbitration Board of the association. 

SEo. 4. Discounts and Commission,s.-All persons in the industry 

shall afford equal terms, prices, and advantages to their customers, 

and shall allow no discounts or commissions except as approved by 

the Executive Committee of the section or sections with which they 

are affiliated. 

SEc. 5. Pricing.-Products of the industry shall be priced at the 

factory and be billed f.o.b. factory. 

SEc. 6. Shipping, Packing, etc.-\Vhere packing costs and shipping charges are not figured in the cost of the product, an additional 

charge shall be made for packing and delivery expense. 

SEc. 7. Charges for Special D'ra'Loings.-Where drawings are submitted in competition with other manufacturers of lighting fixtures 

to an owner direct, or through his authorized agent, a professional 

service fee of two (2) percent of the bid shall be charged by each 

bidder and paid to each and every unsuccessful bidder by the owner 

or his authorized agent. No successful bidder shall assume the cost 

of the design charges herein provided. No member of the industry 

shall prepare drawings for anyone which shall be used as a basis 

of competition. 

SEc. 8. Policy on Specified Appropriations.-Where an invitation 

to submit a proposal for a specified sum is received by a manufacturer, no bid shall be submitted for less than the amount which the 

invitation states is appropriated. 

SEc. 9. Policy on the Practice Known as" Bid Peddling ".-(a) No 

manufacturer shall furnish quotations for lighting fixtures of special 

or regular design to a dealer or electrical contractor, or any other 

firm or individual, who has already been awarded a contract for such 

fixtures in open competition; nor shall any manufacturer accept an 

order based on quotations which have not been furnished before the 

award of such a contract; nor shall any manufacturer reduce his 

quotations made before the award of the contract after such award, 

except as he may furnish reasons therefor satisfactory and sufficient 

to the Executive Committee. 

(b) Persons submitting bids for lighting equipment who seek 

bids from submanufacturers whose prices and products are incorporated in the making of the general bid shall, in the event of receiving such contracts, place the order for the specified material with the 

submanufacturer whose quotations were used in compiling the bid 

without further competition inferred or implied. 

SEc. 10. Prices for C01nbined Complete Units.-No person shall 

quote a total price on any schedule of lighting equipment which does 

not show the unit prices of the articles comprising the schedule. 

When an article consists of two or more parts, which of themselves 

are considered complete units by the industry, the unit price of the 

combined article shall not be less than the sum of the unit prices of 

the articles which comprise it. 
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SEc. 11. Catalogue Charges.-A minimum charge to the distributor 

or dealer of fifteen ( 15) cents each shall be made for all residential 

lighting fixture catalogues in excess of twenty-five (25) copies. 

A charge of one (1) cent a sheet shall be made for separate sheets 

in excess of twenty-five (25) copies. 

Electrotypes shall be furnished and charged for. Credit shall be 

given if returned within six (6) months. 

SEc. 12. Use of Prevailmg Wage Rates.-Wherein contracts are to 

be let in various parts of the country and there is a variance in 

jnstallation labor wages, it shall be the privilege of the manufacturer 

to use the labor costs for installation work only that prevail in the 

various geographical sections in order that he can figure his selling 

price accordingly and be in fair and equitable competition in connection with the bids that are submitted in the respective zone. 

SEc. 13. Ship1nents on App1•oval or Consignment.-No samples 01~ 

stock shall be sent on approval or consignment by any wholesale 

manufacturer. 

SEc. 14. Samples.-No person in the industry shall make, loan,. submit, or install models or samples in competition except where he 

is reimbursed in full for all costs or expenses incurred thereby, 

including the service charge if necessary to accept the return of 

any merchandise. 

SEo. 15. Retwrn of Merehandise.-No merchandise shall be returned, or accepted by the manufacturer when returned, unless the· consent of the manufacturer, in writing, has first been obtained. No 

merchandise shall be accepted for return which has been in the· possession of the customer for a period of thirty (30) days or more. 

When merchandise is returned according to the provisions of this 

section, a service charge of not less than twenty (20) percent plus 

return freight charges shall be charged. 

Provided, however, that this section shall not apply when it is 

shown that the merchandise was defective or not shipped accordingto the order of the buyer. 

SEo. 16. Orders and Contracts.-All transactions between members- of this industry and their customers shall be confirmed by signed 

orders or contracts. Records, documents, and book entries shall 

accurately reflect such transactions, and no entry or document 

usually made in the normal course of business shall be omitted in 

whole or in part from such recol'ds, so that the original transaction 

and all modifications thereof shall be accurately reflected from an 

inspection o:( such available books and records. 

SEc. 17. Registration of Design.-All lighting equipment designs 

which are original and not patented and for which patent has not 

been applied shall be registered by wholesale manufacturers with the 

association. Retail manufacturers may register such of their original 

designs as they desire to protect under the same conditions. All disputes under this provision shall be settled under the arbitration rules 

of the association. 

No person in the industry shall copy and/or reproduce any design 

or pattern so registered or appropriate the selling feature of any 

design or pattern. 

SEo. 18. Substitu<tion of M aterials.-The use or substitution of 

materials or the delivery of products which do not conform to· 
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samples submitted or repre entations made prior to secunng the 

order, without making the proper adjustment in the quoted price 

and clearly indicating the nature of the substitution, shall be deemed 

a violation of this Code. 

SEc. 19. Rebates, Refunds, etc.-The payment or allowance of rebates, refunds unearned discounts, gratuities, or gifts, in any form, 

to customers or their agents shall be deemed a \iolation of this Code. 

SEc. 20. False Advertising.-Advertising, selling, or offering to 

sell any product in such manner as to decei\e purchasers or intending purchasers as to quality or grade of such product, shall be 

dee1ned a \iolation of this Code. 

SEc. 21. False State1nents.-The making of false statements with 

respect to a competitor's prices products policie , or practices shall 

be deemed a Yiolation of this Code. 

ARTICLE VII-PRIOR CoNTRACTs 

SECTION 1. Increased Oosts.-Where the costs of executing contracts 

entered into by n1embers of the indu try prior to the adoption of thi 

Code are increased as a result of the operation of the provisions of 

this Code, appropriate aclju tments of such contracts may be made 

so as to reflect such increased costs. 

SEc. 2. Agency of Arljustment.-The Arbitration Committee of 

the a ociation is constituted an agency for effecting such adjustment where such adjustments cannot be agreed upon by the parties 

involved. 

ARTICLE VIII-ARBITRATION 

All disputes of whatever nature between persons in the industry 

shall be settled by arbitration under the arbitration rules of the 

as ·ociation and every contract shall contain a provision to that effect. 

ARTICLE IX-Am\HNISTRATION OF THE CoDE 

SECTION 1. PoW'er's of Exec-utive 001nmittee.-The Executive Com- ·nlittee shall have power: 

(a) To administer the provisions of this Code. 

(b) To adopt rules and regulations for the enforcement thereof. 

(c) To consider amendments and exceptions to this Code. 

(d) To entertain and hear complaints against any person in the 

indu try arising out of an alleged violation of this Code. 

(e) To initiate proceedings before the appropriate governmental 

agencies to prevent andjor punish violations of this Code. 

(f) To make proV"isions for an adequate cost-accounting system 

for the industry. 

(g) To establish as soon as practicable a Bureau of Credit InforJnation for the industry. 

(h) To establish rules and regulations for the eli posal of eli tre s 

1nerchandise in such a way as to protect the owners thereof and to 

cau e the least possible disturbance to the stability and sound conditions of the industry. 

( i) To obtain from ti1ne to time from each person in the indu tr} 

specific reports in such form and containing such information as the 
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Executive Com1nittee may prescribe. To this end th•e duly accredited executive officer of the agency shall have access to all places 

of business maintained by any person to whom this Code i applicable and shall have the right at all tin1es, in cases of dispute or cOinplaint calling for verification, to examine the books of accounts, 

records, and files of all persons in the industry. No information thus 

obtained shall be revealed to anyone but a member of the administrative staff or the properly a.ccredited representative of the Administrator of this Act. 

(j) To make recmnmendations for establishing a uniform and 

standard method of estimating special designs. 

(k) To make available to established credit agencies all u ·eful 

· jnformation regarding the actual functioning of this Code, to the 

end that available credit may be adapted to the needs of the industry 

considered as a whole, and to the needs of the small as well as the 

large units thereof. 

(l) To make recon1111endations for investigating and informing 

the Administrator as to the im.portation of competitive articles into 

the United States in substantial quantities or increasing ratio to domestic production on such terms or under such conditions as to 

render ineffective or seriously to endanger the maintenance of this 

Code, and of making cmnplaint to the President in behalf of the 

Lighting Equipment Industry under the provisions of the National 

Industrial Recovery Act with respect thereto. 

(m) To collect such statistics and trade information from persons 

in the industry as they m.ay deem desirable for the betterment of the 

industry. 

ARTICLE X-REPORTS 

vVith a view to keeping the Administrator informed as to the 

observance or non-ob ervance of this Code, and as to whether the 

Lighting Equipment Industry is taking appropriate steps to effectuate the declared policy of the National Industrial Recovery Act, 

the Administrator will be furnished such reports as he may from 

time to time require. · 

ARTICLE XI-VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES 

SECTION 1. Failure to perform any obligation of this Code shall 

be subject to the ·legal remedies and penalties set forth in the 

N a tiona] Industrial Recovery Act. 

SEc. 2. Should any reports or data furnished by any person in 

the industry be found, upon checking by the duly accredited executive officer to be untrue, the expense of such check shall be borne 

solely by the person filing such untrue report or data. 

Each person shall be liable to a penalty of one ( 1) dollar for each 

day's delay in filing reports. 

ARTICLE XII-MODIFICATIONS AND AMENDMENTS 

SECTIO~ 1. This Co~e and all the pr?vision.s thereof are expressly mad~ ~UbJect to the nghts of the President, In accordance with the 

provisiOn o£ Clause 10 (b) of the National Industrial Recovery Act, 
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from time t6 time, to cancel or modify any order, approval, license, 

rule or regulation, issued under Title I of said Act, and specifically 

to the right of the President to cancel or modify his approval of 

this Code or any conditions imposed by him upon his approval 

thereof. 

SEc. 2. Should any provision of this Code be declared invalid or 

unenforceable, the remaining provisions thereof shall continue in full 

force and effect. 

SEc. 3. All amendments to this Code shall first be proposed by the 

Executive Committee of the association by a vote of the majority 

members thereon. Such amendments shall then be submitted to a 

meeting of the members of the association and the members of the 

Code, which shall be called for such purpose upon notice specifying 

the amendments to be voted upon. If at such meeting sixty (60) 

percent of the members present or by proxy entitled to vote upon 

such amendments shall cast their votes in favor of such amendments, 

such amendments shall be submitted to the President for approval, 

and, if approved by him, shall have the same force and effect as if 

originally a part hereof. 

ARTICLE XIII-LIABILITY 

No member of the Executive Committee, the President, the Treasurer, or any committee appointed under this Code, or any officer or 

employee appointed under this Code, shall be liable to anyone for 

any action or omission to act under this Code except for his wilful 

misfeasance or nonfeasance. 

ARTICLE XIV-EFFECTIVE DATE 

This Code shall become effective ten (10) days after its approval 

by the President. 

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