Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-04
BUILDING COSTS
COMING DOWN
Demands for New Construc-
ton are Going Up Accord
ing to Trade Reports

Building costs are coming down. The
recession In the prices both OF labor
and of materials began several months
ago and still continues. Demands for
new construction are going up. Brad
streets compilations, weekly reports
by such trade journals as the Amert-
can Lumberman. studies Of the gen
eral situation by architects and engl-
neers, all imply that the resumption OF
building ought not to be far ahead
Money for new enterprises is nkeiy
soon to be available once more. Care
full bankers have been unwilling to
make mortgage loans based upon the
inflated valuations OF the last three
years; today, while they are watching
the descent in prices and calculating
where the new permanent level Will
be found, they agree that 1t will be
higher than the level Of 1913 but much
lower than the dizzy attitude of the
years Immediately following the war:
AS to the cost of materials: The
peak advances for materials OF every
kind made an average Of 240 per cent.
By the middle of the present year the
tendency to a general lowering of rates
had brought the cost of materials down
to an average of ITO per cent over the
pre-war figures. and they have been
declining ever since that time. Con-
tractors even declare that lumber Is
back to the 1914 level. Concerns that In
August, 1920, quoted reinforcing steel
for concrete work at $106 a ton offered
precisely the same material In Sep
tember of this year at $40 and $56 a
ton. Barreled lime came down seven
per cent between April and July last.
wood lath 10 per cent, common brick
IA per cent. stucco board 16 per cent.
A contractor now can shop around
among his bidders. Few manufacture
ers these days maintain the "take-tt-
or-leave-it' attitude. Statesmen are
anxious to shade" their figures rather
than risk the loss of even small con-
tract. The most astute student OF the
oscillations OF prices cannot guess pre-
cisely where the pendulum will come
to rest after tho present backward
swing. The estimates Of two hundred
architects, engineers, and contractors
the country over range all the way
from 30 per cent to 100 per cent above
the 1918 level. and the majority place
the stationary point at so per cent.
This is a distinctly. hopeful omen. in
dicating an enormous decline from the
high levels Of 1919 and 1920 and The
early arrival OF conditions manifestly
favorable to the person who wishes to
build either home or business
structure.
AS to labor: Tho peak advances in
the wages of labor In all the two-score
building trades were approximately 30
per cent. A conspicuous factor in the
present situation Is the continuing d.
luton OF these excessive labor costs
Architects. having analysed the cost Of
all the labor entering Into the erec-
| ton of a Notwithstanding not only
| the labor on the Job itself but the la
Dor required for the production OF the
materials. In mining. numbering. man
ufacturing. and delivering-conclude
that labor makes no less than IS per
| cent of tho total cost on an average
| construction. An engineering expert
employed in the Hoover Survey OF
Waste in American Industries finds
per cent by which he represents the
completed building must stand for Ia
Dor: the balance he apportions be-
tween the raw materials in their orig
innl state and the use OF funds for
their development. He shows that
three ffths OF the cost OF a brick and
So per cent OF the cost OF steel must
be charged to direct labor. With 10 per
cont added for indirect labor in tho
form of supervision and clerical work.
he reaches the same total as does the
architect and makes the entire labor
clining. No one expects them to go
back 10 the rates paid in 1913. Amer
leans want labor In the building trades
and all other departments OF industry
to be justly paid. and no one denies
the proposition that wages should keep
In ratio with the cost Of living. AZ an
illustration OF the prevailing condi-
tidns, the members OF such a COM
pact organization as the Plastersrs'
Union. who last January In Boston
struck for an advance from 81 to $150
an hour and fought hard to get It. are
content today to work for 20 cents an
hour pr less. and their helpers are
now receiving two thirds of that sum.
Also labor Is more efficient and is re-
spending to that other American de-
mand that It shall render a just days
work for the compensation It receives.
Last season multifarious jurisdictional
disputes between tho unions. the as
sigrment of unskilled men to tasks re-
quirtng technical efficiency, the gencr-
nj and generally admitted practice Of
slowing down the gang to the speed
OF its least competent member. the
frequent recurrence OF petty strikes.
and the limitation of output that these
tactics caused. combined to bring
about an increase In costs that COM
petent Investigators place at 81 900 for
every 81, 900 OF outlay. The unions. In
self defence, II for no other motive.
tend toward the abandonment Of these
policies today, Owners now are pay
Ing lower wages and getting better
values for their investments than at
any time in recent years.
Wisely, therefore. may one get ready
to build, The grand average of price,
of every kind in 1870 was higher than
II was In 1860 and lower than IL was in
h.~ ~f.sA- 4