Omaha daily bee., 1890-01-05
Matters.

The question OF getting a suitable ordin-
ance and a system for the conduct of the
building department is. engrossing the atten-
ton of the builders of the city and some Of
the councilmen who are DESTROYS of securing
an effective and practical method of prevents
ing the erection of tinder box structures. and
to furnish u suitable system of iuspecti ION
and at the same time proYide a means for
securing a reasonable, correct record of the
building improvements and their cost.
All who are at all familiar with the facts
realize that the showing made for the past
year was far short of the actual amount
expended in improvements. The records Of
the building inspector show that tho amount
expended for buildings in the city was
81 ,O64, $50. The building inspector estimates
that this amount is at least % per cent lower
than the actual cost OF the buildings erected,
exclusive of the cost of plumbing,
painting and kindred improvements
that in large buildings cost about
10 per cent Of the cost of the bare structure,
These facts render the value of the building
departments stimate cost Of building inn
provements Amos ii not absolutely worth.
less.
the worthlessness, as a matter Of record, Of
the statistics compiled in the building de.
partment, but says he doesn't see any way
out of the difficulty. 1t is the same every
place. Men who are going to build will not
give the amount that their improvements
will probably cost, and there seems to be no
way of securing the information. In Chicago
The fee for permits Is fixed by the size of the
building without reference to the cost. The
plan is to charge I'D cents for each 1000 cubic
feet of al ca in all buildings larger than 25x
40 feet and one story high. For buildiEgs
of this and smaller size a fee
of 81 is charged. Under this arrangement,
where the cost of the building does not Ia
any way interfere with or relate to the size
of the fee for the permit, 1t is almost impos-
sible to secure a reliable estimate of the cost
of buildings erected. The building inspector
of Chicago, in his report for 1889, discourses
at some length upon the trouble experienced
in his department in securing reliable Stats,
tics concerning the cosS of building improves
ments.
MI. Whltlock considers the New York city
ordinance regulating the building DEPART
ment the best that he has examined. In that
city the cost of the building to be erected 10
estimated by the department. The planS
pass through several branches. One man
another the masonry and so on
and the total of these 10
recorded as the cost of the structure. Nd
fee is charged for buildings. The depart
lations of the fire limit and building orji,
naces, and such cases have preference in any
of the courts over any other business.
In his Omaha experience Mr.. Whitloc4
says he has found 1t very difficult to prose.
cute v~iolators of the building ordinance,
Cases when commenced usually hang fire I'd
the courts for weeks, until all interest in
the prosecution is gone, or else they ara
tried before a jury, which is equivalent
almost without exception TO an acquittal Vi
the accused.
In reply TO the criticism made by THE BgB
upon the poor quality of work that is being
done in the city, MIR. Whitlock says that nd
does all that can be done with
the help he has. He Is allowed but two as
s~istants, whose business it is TO inspec, work
in progress, when he could easily keep u hall
dozen men employed. Poor brick are daily
used and he Is powerless to prevent 1t under
the present ordinances. The ordinance
makes the sale of defective material a miade.
meanor and provides a penalty. He has
caused a number of arrests under the ordi'
nance, but the delays experienced in secur-
ing a trial of the cases has made his prose,
cution f~ruitless, and the brickmakers go on
furnishing poor material with impunity.
Very radical changes In the law and the
methods of enforcing 1t are necessary to Sc
cure the character of buildings that should
alone be tolerated.