Evening journal., 1914-04-02
WILMINGTON LABOR
ON JOINT BUILDING
Commission Announces That
Every Local Interest viii
Be Considered


iodnty Building Commissions. following
with the architects. and I
announced that local labor and loca
upplv houses viii be given every con
liberation. In order TO do this, the com
MISSIONS have decided to execute IN
iork under segregated contracts. I'm
is made;
The Wilmington and New Castle
County Building Commissions have
been in long consultation with the
architects. Mcssrs. John Dockery
Thompson. Jr.. and Palmer. Hombos'
tel and Jones OF New York, Asso-
eiated. perfcctng details of the con
tract covering the erection OF the
new City and County Building. This
conference has resulted in the set.
Element OF a great many points OF
keen interest to the citizens OF WI
mineton. among which may be emu
mcrated the following
Frst-The working drawings and
snccilications are TO be- completed
within three months so that actual
bnilding operations should be under
,,av In the early summer.
Second-ro meet the very strong
public demand for the employment
oi local labor and materials in the
construction of this building the
following clause has been inserted
IN the contract with the architects;
An plans and specifications shall
b. so prepared by the architects as
to admit OF bidding by New Castle
county contractors and the employ
inent Of New Castle county work
men and mechanics, 10 this can be
accomplished without in any way
affecting the kind or quality of the
work and materials desired ana
without increasing the cost OF the
building on amy part thereof
Third-ln order TO further IN
sure and make possible the use
of New Castle County materials
and labor the Commissions have,
after the most careful consid-
Grafton and consultation with
their professional adviser, de-
cidcd 20 execute the work under
aggregated contracts, rather than
under one general contract. I'm
der this plan fairer and more in
telligcnt bidding is possible than
under general contract, and M
rect control of the persons or
firms actually doing the work Is
secured instead OF having to deal
through a middleman tthe gen
eral contractor), who Is most in
terostod I'm securing as large a
profit as possible. and we avoid
what is known as Shopping In
the building business. shop
ping" consists of the general
contractor taking bids from ev-
cry available firm in any parti-
cular trade until some one bid
der makes a mistake In quanti-
ties In judgment, or in his inter-
probation OF the contract require
ments. or puts In a low bid as a
result of misrepresentation
made TO him, and oftentlmS
such a bid Is submitted by con-
tractor whose work would not
receive the approval Of the Archi-
tecct or of the Commission, and
Il is then used by the general
contractor as a club TO beat down
prices asked for the same work
by reputable contractors. The
result of the method Is that the
work suffers. Those Characters
tics which make the difference
between good and poor work
cannot be described in specifica-
tions. Good will and conscien-
tous effort in the employed can
be bought, but they cannot and
never are secured through abu-
sive treatment, which is what
sub-contractors so often receive
from general contractors.
Fourth--ln order TO secure the
best heating. ventilating and
electrical work. the Commission
have selected as engineers to
look after these installations.
Messrs. Henry c. Meyer. Jr., and
Bassett Jones, Associated, Of
New York City. who are special
lists in this work.
Messrs. F. A. Burdett &
Company, Structural Engineers,
have been employed TO design
the steel structure and Will also
prepare shop drawings and de-
tails for the fabrication of the
steel The preparation Of these
shop details is an indispensable
part Of the work OF developing,
labricating and erecting every
steel structure and in the major
iiy OF cases the preparation of
these shop drawings is made part
OF the structural steel contract
and the cost of them Is included
m the amount OF the contract
aud is, therefore. paid by the
Commission. The advantage OF
selecting a detailer. whose SER
vices are paid by the Commission
direct, is that all economies af-
fected accrue TO the Commission.
II is not possible TO control the
adjustments in the steel unless
the detailing is controlled. In
this way the commission will pay
only TOT the actual steel incor-
porated in the structure. where
as. If the detailing was left To
the steel company sending the
contract all savings affected
would swell the profits OF the
steel company at the expense Of
the Commission.
- The work Of preparing the site
Is progressing nicely and It is
expected that the buildings on
the corner Of Tenth and Kine
streets will be completely re-
moved within the next ten davs