12 IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, The said 13 14 , principal , and 15 16 and , Buret 17 have hereunto subscribed their hands and affixed their seals the day first 18 above written 19 Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of will be observed that on each page, both of form of contract and of bond, each type line is numbered. 1, 3, etc. This is customary in all such government doc uments, and is for the purpose of locating references. iuterlineations, etc.
At first glance, this contract appears to be one-sided in that it confers on one side certain seemingly arbitrary power which, if used in the extreme, would be disastrous to any Contractor; but, as a matter of fact, the Department uses its extreme rights with the utmost caution, and generally goes more than "half-way" in disputed settle ments.
Where disaster occurs—such, for instance, as in a cyclonic wind, wrecking work in place, as happened at the Pan-American Exposition; or in damage by fire, as in the Baltimore conflagration—the Depart ment promptly recommends that Congress snake a reimbursing appropriation to be used in replacing work damaged; and that body always responds, recognizing a moral if not a legal obligation.
Part I was intended to initiate the student in the fundamental principles of specificatio.i writing, by setting forth the nature of the preparation desirable and necessary for successful work.
The entire field was by no means covered, nor was it the intention to state the only lines which could be followed.
Part II has been compiled from various sources with the intention of showing different phases of the work, and aiding those students who have carefully worked out the more fundamental lines.
Because some things are stated differently in one part from the other, is no reason for considering either line wrong. No one set of rules or directions will apply to all cases; and therefore the differences between the two parts, it is believed, will lead the student to compare in each case the two lines, and choose the one best adapted to the case he may have in mind, or else to go on and work out some third or independent line which will better than either fit the case. The man who thinks and reasons, provided he is well grounded in fundamentals, will rarely make a mistake.
A Specification is a statement of the conditions under which a building is to be constructed, and of the items necessary therefor which are not indicated on the contract drawings.
A Contract is a detailed statement of the agreement between the Owner and the Builder, for the execution of the project as required by the drawings and by the specification.