Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-04
NEW BUILDING CODE
Aim Should Be to Prevent I'm
proper Construction.
HOUSE LABELS ADVISED
Character of Every Structure Ought
to Be Posted on It.
WHAT DOES FIREPR00F MEANT
Views Of a Practical Builder on
Vital Matters Affecting the
Public Safety.
WHAT DOES FIREPR00F MEANT

Some views as to methods of bringing
about the erection in cities OF better
class OF buildings are expressed by +. w.
Fitzpatrick the executive officer OF an
organization. with offices in this city,
known as the International Society OF
State and Municipal Building Commits
sioners and Inspectors.
Here in Washington there was enacted
the farce. a couple OF years ago. OF Great
ing a building code commission. What
has II done in two years? And what would
it be doing today If this accident mao not
occurred? The chances are that we would
wait another two or three, or four years
for some masterpiece in the way OF an
original and wonderful code! There are
already two codes-one written Tor inc
national underwriters and one for the city
of Cleveland-that were gotten up by real
experts, men Of national fame. and al
great expense. and that ii ought NOT TO
take more than fifteen minutes work on
the part of an intelligent COMMITTEES OF
citizens to adapt them. with slight modi-
fications to suit local conditions here.
The License System.
Much ado is being made by the local
architects anent the licensing of the pro-
fession and OF all builders IL is desiraoN
that both architects and builders pass q
thorough examination and be licensed be-
fore being permitted to do any work here,
but such licensing would not De com,
plete panacea. You must give them gooo
laws to build up to- and let the penalty
for wrongdoing be the extinction OF the
license Elaborate plans are being MADE
to fight fire Wonderful fire escapes are
being devised. new water towers ana al
that sort of thing.
.True much of this is necessary TO pro-
tect the old buildings. but people make the
mistake of putting the cart before the
horse and believing that THIS cure DUST
ness for fire is the all importane t.i"s,
Ia
build so that buildings cannot burn. that
life will be secure in them ana. iast out
not least, that they will not IAN down.
Therefore. the very beginning OF ine
fair is to have sound building regulations,
So sound indeed that 1t will be utterly I'M
possible to build finder box. comoustnie,
IRE trap or shoddy structure in the city
of Washington The OLD ones VIII W
eliminated quickly enough.
Fireproof Stairways.
lone regulation of Importance would be
~ abolish at least on the new buildings.
the delusion and snare Of external nre
escapes, particularly the LADDER lorH tnat
requires an acrobat to make any eHectlNe
use of them. People will always seek
to escape from a building by the means
or route through which they enter mat
building Therefore, TN, the r nam be dome AZ
COMPARATIVELY little cost even In the. oio
buildngs) should be made the principal
means of escape, the natural one ~
should be absolutely fireproof IN tselt
smoke as we'll from fire by self
closing doors at every story Ana me
stairs should abut either directly on the
street or into an Independent ana nre-
proof hallway leading to the street. This
is simple and effective, and as II Is being
done elsewhere in the best buildings, why
should il not be done here in all Of them!
There is another point that ! should
a
least every one hereafter put up tand II
could easily be done for them all IN the
business districts. the new ones and the
old ones as welD should be labeled In
some conspicuous place to show to what
class il belongs, as 'fireproof, class Is, or
C. or dangerous These labels shouid
be affixed by the building department,
and would serve a twofold purpose: IL
would keep the building department on
the alert-to mislabel building would
be palpable and easily punishable OF
Tense and one about which there could be
no question. Then IL would be preventive
of one of the worst frauds perpetrated
upon the suffering public today. that OF
Misrepresentation of class.
To Be a Basis of Taxation.
LAS It is now, If a man but puts a tin
roof on a building. he confidently adver-
tises IL as an absolutely fireproof struc-
ture however much of a trap IL may be.
He gets tenants under false pretenses, and
there is nothing TO prevent his doing SO.
With the label any man who can read
will know what sort of building he ID
going into. And TO advertise a building as
belonging to some other class than that to
which il really belongs should be made .
very serious offense.
There are other and advantageous
points that could be Incorporated In our
regulations that would serve as induce
ments to other cities to follow suit For
instance. we have long advocated a slid
ing scale of taxation upon real property.
The man with firetrap. the one for
whom fire departments and all that sort
of thing have to be maintained. should
pay a higher rate upon his property. Q
direct contribution toward the mainte.
nance of all this protection, than should
the man who has been sensible and pub
lic-spirited enough TO put up an unburn-
able building. one that requires no pro-
lection or expense on the part OF the
community"