The evening times., 1900-01-03
4 LARGER FORCE NEEDED
The Building Inspector Requires
Additional Assistants.
Over Twelve Thousand Structures
Examined by Five Men During One
Hear-ImpOssible to Avoid Delay i'm
the Work of the ONCE With
the Limited Number of Employees.

An interesting portion of the District
appropriation bill which will be discussed
| by Congress during the present session is
| that portion of it which bears directly up
on the office of the Inspector of Buildings.
| Inspector Brady shows in his annual re-
port that the business OF his Office has
greatly increased during the last few
| years, and that an increased force is neces-
sary. The volume of business has become
so great that the present force in the Office
cannot handle it.
There are at present in the Office of the
Building Inspector five assistant inspectors.
who have inspected Il, 1863 buildings during
| the year. The condition of affairs in the
| office is best explained by the Inspector in
! a report TO the Commissioners on this mat
ter. Inspector Brady says:
Year after year recommendations have
been made having in view an increse in the
number of employees for this Office, TO meet
the increasing demands of the public, with
out success. ! have been frequently con-
fronted with applications for examinations
of both new and old construction so numer-
Gus that the small force at my command
could not reach the cases with that prompt
ness that would avoid delay in the progress
of the work Of the applicants.
THE building community has always
conceded that this department has accom-
plished all that can be expected fro.l it,
equipped as it is with such a small force.
We have exercised all the physical energy
usually allotted TO man in meeting the de-
mands made upon us, yet find IL impossi-
bic 10 avoid arrearages in work and give to
the community that service it is entitled to.
The District of Columbia has passed its
era of inactivity, and its rapid develop
ment in both its business and residential
thoroughfares is shown by the many build
ings recently completed and in course OF
erection. To give this work the proper su-
pervision necessary 10 ensure its execution
in compliance with conditions eXacted by
the regulations, a force of inspectors must
be provided sufficient in number TO meet
the demands the Office is called upon TO
supply.
When you reflect that the building area
OF the District of Columbia covers sixty
two square miles it will be observed that
it becomes a physical impossibility for four
men TO supervise the construction of build
lngs in satisfactory manner. Ny assist
ants, both in the Office and in the field, are
constantly employed and ever on the alert
yet / find that there are not a sufficient
number of hours in day to give that In
specuOn the Importance of the work re-
quires. The number of inspections made
in the field is shown by the statement
above, namely. l2,369, and incidental there
10 there was great amount Of correspond
ence.
Il have visited the building departments
of other cities and find them well provid-
ed with employees. sufficient in umber to
render effective service. and / know of no
reason why Washington should not have a
building department equal in efficiency 10
that OF the best in any other city.
TO provide service that will be posi-
bic to meet the demands of the public,
beg leave TO recommend that the clerical
force be increased by the addition of two
men. one TO assist in the examination of
plans for buildings and the issuance of per-
mits and the other TO take care of the cor
reSpondeDce OF the assistants, to enable
them 10 devote their whole time to the
field. The situation at present is such as
to cause many builders and others to COM
plain about the length Of time Il takes 10
get through with this branch of the bust
ness. 1t is an urgent necessity to provide
q clerk TO assist the present efficient but
overworked gentleman in this par, of the
Office.
The corps Of assistant inspectors should
be increased by the addition Of four men,
inasmuch as at the present time each man
covers an area Of fifteen and one-half
square miles. and his duties comprise not
only The supervision OF the new buildings
and the alteration and enlargement Of ex-
listing buildings, but the examination and
disposition of complaints OF a miscellane
Gus character coming within the purview Of
the building regulations. The number o.
inspections thai these men have made has
NM nni to nd ehn hn rYpa
amount of work that has been attended to
and further emphasizes the fact that IL has
been sufficient in itself 10 justify the en-
ployment Of mere men, and as the city i'm
proves there is imposed upon the Office
more labor and responsibilities; so that the
request to increase the efficiency of the
field inspection is a reasonable one and
should be granted, especially as the safety
and security of the lives of the community
is in a great measure dependent upon the
substantial execution OF the work they are
required TO inspect. This result can only
be secured by close observation and fire.
quept inspection by a proper number OF
men. and the importance of the work GER
tainly justifies the recommendation here
made.
This office should be provided with an
electrician whose duties should be to in
spect the installation OF wires in buildings
for electric lighting. This important branch
of work in connection with building should
be subjected to a rigid inspection. to guard
against the possibility of fire originating
from defective workmanship of this charac-
ter. The building regulations provide rules
defining the method by which this work
shall be done, but as yet have not been
furnished with an assistant
Il beg leave to call your attention to an
other important matter, namely, the prep
aration of a card index to include the re-:
ords of this Office since its creation. in
1876 The card index was commenced in
1898 and l find that information can be
obtained theTefrom more expeditiously than
from the book records that were kept up
10 that date, so / deem it expedient and for
the best interest of the District to transfer
the old index to the card system, so as to
provide a complete and valuable record OF
the building operations. To accomplish |
this il will require the services Of two men
for one year, and an appropriation of $4,000
will be necessary to cover all the expenses
connected herewith"
Patents of Local Interest.
Patents have recently been granted to
the following residents Of the District Of
Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland: AL |
phonso r. Allison and c. E. Buck, as
signees to the Universal Stripping Ma
chine Company, Richmond, Va, tobacco
leaf-stemming machine; Mathew Becker, |
Va, hillside double-shovel |