Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-26

system of lien laws. for such citizen:
seldom are informed as to legal pro-
cedure and their work does not appear
sufficient In size to justify legal advice
The larger private construction prof.
ects usually are protected by bonds OF
other safeguards; public works are pro-
tected adequately.
Many millions of dollars are paid out
annually because of the default Of q
contractor or Observation-Disclosures
paid twice for the same thing by the
building owner Originally. the me-
chanicS' alien law was designed to as
sure labor Its wages. II has spread tc
include payment for supplies going into
the construction work. and more thar
30 per cent of all liens nowadays are
for the latter-labor seldom finds II
necessary to exercise a lien to get its
pay.
This extra cost in individual cases
may prove disastrous. In the aggre-
gate, Ii is a load of waste which in
creases all building costs and discour-
ages home ownership. The United
States paid out $4,000 900 900 last year
for building construction, besides So
DOC. 900 900 for public works. This year
win see aggregate contracts probably
exceeding these figures--~contracts
awarded In May were record-breaking
and June awards smashed records fol
that month, while In July. In 81 States
contracts totaled SSH 900 900. With
adjustments for differences in prices
construction in this country now Is two
and a quarter time. the volume of that
in the pre-war year 1913.
u y ~
Laws on the responsibility of the
owner for the payment of labor and
materials used In his building differ
widely In the various States Some
queer interpretations have been placed
upon some of these statutes. Cases are
on record where liens have been placed
against buildings. and the land on
which they stood. for payment for
shirts purchased by workmen engaged
on the construction job; others for feed
supplied horses hauling material to the
job
Michigan. Illinois and Ohio have
laws requiring the contractor to present
the owner with sworn statement of
his unpaid obligations when he asks
for payment of his contract These
make the owner a general paymaster.
unless he trusts the contractor To pay
his workmen and the supply dealers
with the money paid him. Louisiana
has bonding law. which requires reg
istration. About half the other States
have laws requiring that due notice be
served upon the owner of an unpaid
debt by the contractor, SO that money
may be withheld before final settlement,
or else lien will not apply~~and 1t Is
this notice clause which appears In the
draft OF the proposed model law which
will be taken up at the final sesslon OF
the committee, and regarding which
there Is some lack of agreement. There
is controversy also about proposed
clause by which the owner would re-
tain 10 per cent Of the contract price
for his work until satisfied no liens
would apply. Congress has approved
the due notice" principle. for 1t ap-
pears In the lien law applicable to the
District of Columbia.
All interests IN the construction IN
dustry are working 10 make things
easter for the building owner; they dit
fer only as to methods The inno-
cent owner undoubtedly Ii subject 10
hazards under the laws of certain States
He should first exercise care In chooS-
ing hts contractor but he cannot al
ways know whether the contractor Ii
responsible or not. and frequently does
not investigate as he should.
tCcpyrisht. lsaal