BUILDING ADMINISTRATION The Builder.—The builder is the person chiefly concerned in the submission of a tender for the erection of a building. The term builder, though in common use, has not a very exact con notation, and in this it differs from the term architect, which may be strictly defined in the professional sense. Industrially the term is considered applicable to a person (or firm) employing labour from more than one of the building trades. The size of such a business may range from the very small firm occupied mainly in the repair of small buildings, to the large firm undertaking sub stantial contracts at widely separated centres.
A builder who initiates building projects on his own behalf is known as a "speculative builder," but the term cannot logically be applied exclusively to the erector of small and cheap property. The speculative builder with knowledge and vision may do and has done good service, as is proved by the well-known work of the Adam brothers at the Adelphi, of Grainger and Dobson at New castle-on-Tyne, and of Allen and Wood at Bath. These works were "speculative" in the sense defined above.
A builder whose establishment and command of capital enable him to accept ordinary building contracts is usually called a building contractor. If, in addition, he undertakes comprehensive work such as road-making, drainage schemes, waterworks and storage reservoirs, he is called a public-works contractor. All the above descriptive terms apply to businesses having similar working organizations, and differing in scale or degree rather than in kind.
The Preparation of the the actual exe cution of building contracts, the preparation of a tender or esti mate of the builder's price for the proposed work is a vital opera tion. The problems involved cannot be detailed here; they require much knowledge and experience, and their solution imposes a severe test upon the organization of the business. An experienced builder readily determines ordinary item prices in simple ways, but in large organizations estimating is done by delegation to sev eral persons. The former method of estimating would be impos sible and fundamentally wrong for large contracts. Delegation requires system, and the system must permit the two fundamental operations of costing and estimating or pricing to be properly done. Costing is the operation of ascertaining the actual cost to the builder of an individual piece of work. The process may con sist of totalling the expenses incurred in the execution of a whole contract in order to compute the total profit or loss on the work; or it may be a detailed analysis of cost, under known conditions, of many smaller operations. In modern practice the latter form of costing is sometimes called production costing, in which by careful and immediate analysis of actual cost, waste may possibly be prevented and the cost made to fit the price. It is only on the second system of costing that reliable item prices may be de termined for use in pricing bills of quantities. Special factors which affect costs and require careful consideration when prepar ing tenders are the nature and accessibility of the site, the free dom for delivery and storage of materials, the supply of labour and of water and power, the time allowed for completion of the contract, and the disposal of surplus material from the site. The time limit is a vital matter (especially where a builder has under taken several contracts) and serious difficulties often arise in or ganizing an adequate supply of materials and specialities in the order required and in time to avoid delay.
The time element is, to the estimator, an important factor in many cases. Business premises and places of entertainment in big cities may be projected on very expensive sites; there are high capital charges which, with the absence of revenue during erec tion, may justify exceptional methods of procedure to hasten com pletion of the structure. Such methods may involve greater but justifiable expense to the builder and would result in a higher tender for the work. In America the question of rapid construc tion has been investigated for economic reasons, and special methods have been adopted to shorten the period of erection. These include the use of time schedules or charts which schedule the time allotted for the completion of each important subdivision of the work. The dates for the ordering and delivery of building material and of fabricated work are thus clearly indicated. It is usual, in American practice, for the contracting firms, when tender ing, to submit a time schedule to indicate their proposals for the progress of the scheme within the time limit. In British practice at present, a schedule, if used, is prepared after consultation be tween the interested parties subsequent to the signing of the con tract.
The Contract.—After the decision of the owner, with the ad vice of the architect, to accept a particular tender, the acceptance should be made legal by the execution of a formal contract be tween the owner and the contractor. Many legal issues may arise even in the smallest contracts, and it is of importance that the form of contract should be drawn up with care and its provisions based upon the best legal advice. To combine economy with safety and to take advantage of common experience in the building in dustry, it is now usual to adopt an agreed form of contract which has been approved by the associations and federations represent ing architects, contractors and sub-contractors. Such forms of contract were adopted in Great Britain, and in America, after joint discussions between architects and contractors.
The contract documents usually state the price which the owner undertakes to pay, and the contractor to accept, upon satisfactory completion of the work being certified by the architect. The archi tect undertakes to supply certain drawings and details, a specifi cation and copies of the bill of quantities; he further undertakes to supervise the work. Other important contract conditions pro vide for the periodic payment of the contractor as the work pro ceeds on the issue of certificates by the architect, the amount of the payment being usually limited to an agreed percentage of the value of work so certified. The date of completion is embodied in the contract, which also provides for proportionate penalties and bonuses payable or receivable for overrunning or keeping with in the time limit. A clause is also inserted defining the arrange ments for arbitration upon disputes which may arise between the architect and the contractor.
The previous paragraphs have dealt with the procedure of letting a contract by a fixed sum tender. For some kinds of work, particularly in the repair of large and old buildings, where the nature of the proposed work is known, but not the quantity, two other forms of tender are recognized. In the first, known as the priced schedule, the contractor tenders an estimate containing prices for each item of work of a specified kind. On completion the items of work are measured and the total liability ascertained. An accurate forecast of the cost cannot be expected on this basis. The second method of tender is termed actual cost plus profit, by which the contractor undertakes to charge only the actual cost of executing the work, together with a fixed profit, the rate of which is embodied in the contract.
Relation of the Architect to the Contractor.—Prior to the signing of a contract, the architect acts as the professional adviser to the owner, but when the contract has been signed, the rela tions necessarily change. The architect is, by custom, the person responsible for interpreting the conditions of the contract and of deciding the manner in which these conditions shall be complied with. It is generally held that, in spite of the fact that he is paid by the owner, the architect should act impartially towards both parties, thus ensuring a faithful observance of the contract.
Sub-letting.—The range of constructional trades is now so ex tensive that most building contractors confine their direct activ ities to a few trades. Sub-letting of portions of contracts is thus a common practice. The employment of certain specialist sub contractors may be dependent upon the architect's selection of certain methods of construction. The contract figures, or approx imate values, for these sub-contractors' work are usually included in the bill of quantities under the heading of provisional sums. The employment of other sub-contractors by the builder is , usually subject to the approval of the architect. The general con tractor not only assumes legal responsibilities under a contract, but may be held responsible for the general progress of the work, which requires co-ordination of the functions of sub—contractors; he should therefore provide by separate agreements for the observ ance of the general conditions of the main contract.
The Building Contractor in the United States.—In the United States of America much more emphasis is laid upon organ ization for production than in Great Britain, and consequently there has developed a professional type of building contractor, who may or may not possess works, but will undertake the re sponsibility for a complete contract and possibly sublet the whole of the work to sub-contractors. The reputation of such a con tractor will depend upon successful completion of contracts within predetermined limits of time and cost ; the system tends to focus attention on methods, processes and business organization for ex pediting the erection of the building. Remarkable results have already been achieved by reducing the period of time required for the completion of large buildings. Whatever the means adopted, the duties of the general contractor are so important that special attention should be given in the future to his selection and training.
On important contracts the architect is represented by a clerk of works, whose duties are to ensure that the material used and the methods of construction employed are in accordance with the terms of the contract. The clerk of works is paid directly by the owner.
Local Building Regulations.—The plans of a building must be approved by the local authority in whose area the building is to be erected. The same authority will exercise control during erection, and to some extent will be responsible for certifying sat isfactory completion. It is important that the contractor should be reasonably acquainted with the local regulations controlling building work. These are incorporated in building by-laws, which range from the relatively simple by-laws of small towns to the complex regulations made under the various Building and Health acts of London. Supervision for a local authority is conducted by building inspectors, and for London by district surveyors act ing under the superintending architect. The duties of the latter officers are specified and regulated by clauses of the Building acts.
There are regulations affecting the prosecution of building work on a town site such as those concerning the provision and use of hoardings and scaffolding, the demolition of old buildings, the necessity for shoring and gantries, and the use of cranes and machinery. The builder must comply with these.
Various details of materials and construction are dealt with under separate headings.