Evening star., 1934-02-24
ADOPTION Of CODE
FRIDAY EXPECTED
TO STIR BUILDING
Agreement After Long De-
bates Called Nearest Ap-
proaCh to Ideal.
APPREHENSION END
HOPE OF ITS SIGNERS
Effects on Employment Will Be
Significant, Declares Ken.
meth K. Stowell.
BY VINCENT TUTCHING.

BY VINCENT TUTCHING.
Removal of apprehension and in
decision, which is held by some as
partly responsible for retarding build
ing construction in recent months,
will come about when the code of
fair competition for the construc-
ton industry becomes effective Fri
day,
Hope is held out for marked in
creases in construction activity fol-
lowing the signing of this code by
President Roosevelt. Owner investors,
looked upon as vital factors in the
condition of the building trades. are
expected to renew their interest in
the field of building as an investment
medium.
The construction code has been 'in
the hopper for seven months, and
has been the subject of bitter debates
between labor and industry before the
N. r. A. 1t emerges, in the opinion
of the Construction League of the
United States, one of its sponsors, as
the nearest approach to the ideal
master code"
Projects Held Up.
The opinion is expressed in some
quarters that hundreds of privately
financed projects all over the country
have been held up pending signing
of this code. 1t is anticipated that
its approval will be responsible for
the Unemployment of thousands of
the 100000 men normally employed
by the construction industry. but who
have been idle for months.
Kenneth K Stowell, editor of the
Architectural Forum, says the signing
of the code sis not only significant
for its effect on employment, but also
because of the unprecedented con-
cessions granted to labor"
Although there are 80 or 40 more
chapters to be added to the basic
code" he says, each covering a di-
vision Of the industry, many of these
will probably be signed this month. On
many of them, only one point remains
to be settled. An example of this is
the architects code, delayed because
of the insistence of the N. r. A. that
to write a per cent minimum fee
into the code would be illegal price
fixing"
In a bulletin issued this week, the
Architectural Forum points to 10 i'm
portant code features:
l. Trade jurisdiction disputes will
be fewer and less costly. When the
TaI Of
signing the construction code, he said
lone of the problems most in need of
solution is that of trade jurisdictional
disputes. The effect of such contro-
versies are uniformly injurious to all
interested parties and I therefore
suggest that one of the first duties of
the National Construction Planning
and Adjustment Board should be that
of making thorough study of dis
putes, their causes and origins, and
of methods of their prevention
Pay Rate to eB Legal.
q Labor costs will rise. 1t will
now be illegal for an employer to pay
less than the quoted union labor rate.
The consensus is that the first rates
to be settled by area agreements will
be below the old rates but good
deal above present unofficial rates.
8. Labor costs will be steadier. Sud
den fluctuations in labor costs will be
made practically impossible by the
necessity of fixing new official rates
when economic conditions demand a
change.
4. Unions will be greatly strength
ened. The unions are given full rec
ognition. Where unorganized labor
exists it will have to organize to reach
area agreements. This gives the un-
ions great opportunity to expand
S. Collective bargaining will in
crease. The construction code, like
all codes, indorses the principles of
collective bargaining.
6. Bids will be fairer. BY demand
ing that duplicate bids be filed, the
provisions eliminating bid shopping
and peddling and other forms OF
"chiseiing" will be enforced unless
the entire spirit behind the code col
lapses.
7. The construction Industry will
become more integrated. The code
will bring about a closer personnel
mixing between the various divisions
OF the industry.
8. Trade organizations will be
strengthened. Representative trade
organizations have been given i'm
portant recognition by the code
authority system. They will become
simpler in number and type and more
essential to their members.
9. Strikes will be greatly reduced.
The principles of bargaining and the
elaborate arbitration machinery with
labor sharing control with manage
ment should greatly reduce the num-
Der of strikes.
10. The industry will be given new
information. The required registra-
ton of all jobs of over $4,000 will
afford vast amount of hitherto un-
available statistical information. The
Planning and Adjustment Board will
study the labor-employe relationship
and may eventually vastly broaden
its scope.