Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-25
CENSUS D|SCLOSES
D. c. BUILDING DATA
Reports on Construction
Firms, Their Affiliations and
Fields of Activity.
BY DIR. ALANsoN d. MoREHoUsl

BY DIR. ALANSON ID. MOREHOUsE
Chief Construction Section. Census Of Dis
tribution, United States Bureau OF th,
Census.
firms of the District Of Columbia con.
tain some interesting information re-
garding the character Of organization
field Of activity and affiliation with To-
cal and national organizations. OF the
90 reporting operative builders, IA are
conducted by individuals, IL are part
nerships and Is are incorporated COM
panies. Among the 81 general build
ing contractors from whom complete
reports have been received, 81 individ-
ual operators predominant over 10 in
corporated companies and only part
nerships. Highway and street eontrac-
tors, on the other hand, show q gen.
eral tendency toward Incorporation
with Of the reporting firms incor-
porated and the remaining 2 under
individual control.
The situation among subcontracting
firms with regard to character OF
organization, Is comparable with that
of general building contractors, 50 OF
the 1913 such firms reporting that they
are operated under individual manage
ment, 16 as partnerships and 48 a. in
corporated companies.
Individual Glasses Listed.
Among the individual classes Of sub
contracting firms, however, there Is
considerable deviation from this aver
age. Reports of plumbing contractors,
for example, show that 10 per cent Of
the total number Of these firms are
operated by individuals. only 10 per
cent as partnerships and 20 per cent as
incorporated companies, whereas in the
case of marble and thing contractors,
81 per cent are incorporated companies
and only Is per cent are operated ny
individuals.
1t is found that among general con-
tractors there Is tendency toward
specialization In a particular type OF
construction. OF the 81 reporting gen.
eral building contractors only four state
that they engage in more than one
principal class Of construction work.
This does not mean that building con-
tractors as q whole specialize exclus-
lively In one particular type Of building,
but that those who are engaged In
building construction do not overlap
into highway, bridge and culvert rail-
road or other remote fields. Among the
highway contractors there Is somewhat
broader field Of operation, six or seven
reporting firms stating that they en-
gagged In other lines besides strictly
highway work, but these are ordinarily
closely related to the main type Of work.
Trend Of Subcontracting.
Subcontractors, on the other hand,
show @ greater tendency toward diver
sification, 81 of the 123 reporting sub
contractors indicating that they engage
In more than q single line Of work. It
has been observed. however, that the
subcontractors also usually limit them
selves to two or three related types Of
work.
The census tabulation showing the
affiliation of construction Arms with
local or national contractors organiza-
lions, indicates that only lis, or . little
more than half Of the total number OF
Arms reporting, belong to such associa-
tons. OF these As reported such MEM
bership IN both national and local asso-
Citations, o in only national associations
and So in strictly local organizations
Among operative hnilders. there 10 app
parently q very slight tendency toward
Identification with contractors, only }
OF the 40 firms from whom reports were
received stating that they were men,
bers of local contractors' organizations
A much higher percentage Of general
building contractors belong to Local
associations. 20 Of the 81 reporting frma
being so reported. AmCng the highway
contractors 5 Of the z report member
ship In either local or national organi-
cations.
The group Of reporting subcontrac-