The Washington herald., 1922-10-16

| Increase In the personnel OF the
District building inspectors office is
not the prime solution of the faulty
construction OF buildings, in the
opinion of a technical expert.
The big need is more attention to
the stability OF the structure, whicn
Is now being sacrificed in favor Of
lower costs and of the exterior
beauty of the building, he points
out He makes the following argu-
ment in a letter to The Herald:
Modern building design is the
result of the ideas OF two separate
and distinct professions, one the
rchitect who makes the general
plan design and outlines the pro-
portions and details OF the struc-
turc to give II a pleasing appear
ance. and the other the engineer.
who is required to design the ele-
ments of the building that give
strength and stability.
This division OF the work has been
| brought by several causes. the most
important OF which are:
First, the mental viewpoints OF the
two professions are entirely differ
ent, the architect being mainly the
artist. whose primary interest is in
the beauty of his creation and. as
| he rarely has engineering training,
the support of the elements OF his
structure is left for the engineer
to solve later.
Engineer II Practical.
on the other hand the engineer
lis practical minded and his interest
| lies in the safety and stability OF
the structure and desires OF the
architect that he keep his elemental
lines and details of such form and
shape that they can be economically
supported.
Second. the necessary studies and
! researches one must pursue to ht
himself for either profession have
become so great that II is almost en-
| tirely impossible for any one person
! to become efficient in both.
This difference in viewpoint often
lead- to trouble. The architect is
directly retained by the owner,
while the engineer is engaged by the
architect and rarely has dealings
with the owner. The engineers only
recourse. failing to convince the
architect of his wrong standing. Is
to give in or throw up the work.
Engineer Lowest Paid.
1t might not be out of place tn
mention here the difference in the
amount the architect will receive ou
an average structure costing $500 600.
The architect. depending upon his
reputation, will receive from 81. per
rent to per cent of the cost Of the
completed building, the smaller
amount il he furnishes only plans
and specifications and the latter
amount IL superintendent during
construction is furnished. The en-
gineering features OF a building OF
this class will cost about $4,000 to
$4,000. and the engineer is ex-
! tremely fortunate if he can obtain
for his fee 2A per cent of this
amount. 1t is thus seen that while
the architect receives commission
of from $1,000 to $1,000. the engi-
neer receives from Loco to $1,000
and to him must go the responsible
ity of the safety of the whole struc-
ture. This condition is partly due
to competition among engineers. the
architect accepting the proposition
that is the cheaper. partly due to the
indifference of some engineering de-
signers as to the responsible pos--
| ton they have placed themselves.
and partly to the effec: caused by
certain concerns furnishing material
who will furnish engineering de-
. signs free II given the = ork.
. One of primary causes of build
! ing failures lies with the owners.
In many instances they are too
prone to instruct their agents to
keep the cost down" and too fire.
! quently is this done at the expense
! of the stability Of the structure.
Cut Into steel Work.
! Often has the writer been asked.
| when the bids for a building come in
higher than expected and = cut"
! has to be made how much can you
cut from the steel work" That
seems to be the first place thought
| OF and not he very expensive orna-
mental finish. The cost CT the
steel work of a large building rare
! ly is over 10 per cent cf the entire
cost. If saving of 10 per cent is
made in the cost of this material.
saving in the cost Of the entire
building of only l per cent is made
and the strength and stability of
the building is sacrificed. Many
owners will persist in employing
incompetent and indifferent design
ers to perform their work at cheap
er prices than are ordna r:iy charged.
These designers perform only the
minimum amount of work they can
get by with. and in too many in
Rt 20 "