"The work is to be executed strictly in ac cordance with the drawings and specifications, and any work made without or not in strict con formity with the drawings, or differing from the requirements of the specifications, will be re jected, and must be removed and replaced by work in conformity with the requirements of the drawings and the specifications; and all work of all kinds injured or destroyed thereby must be made good at the Contractor's expense." This paragraph is superfluous, as the con tract is the statement of exactly the same thing.
"The Contractor must, at all times, properly protect his work from injury, and he will be re sponsible for its condition until the final com pletion and acceptance of the same.
"Any damage done to work of other con tractors by the Contractor, his sub-contractors and employees, will be made good at the Con tractor's expense." The contractor is in turn protected against damage done by his sub-contractors, by the contract he has made with these sub contractors, protecting his own work and the work of other contractors.
"The Contractor must give his personal at tention to the work included in this specifica tion, and he must supervise the work of his sub contractors; he must have at the building a skilled Foreman, who must carry out the direc tions given by the Architect. The Contractor must keep at the building, in charge of his Fore man, a complete set of drawings and detail drawings and a complete copy of this specifica tion, to which the Architect is to have access at any time.
"The true meaning and intent of the draw ings and the specification, or any part thereof, shall be interpreted and determined by the Architect, and his decision thereon shall be final.
"Materials and Workmanship—All mate rials, of every kind and description, are to be of the very best quality; and all work necessary to the complete finish of the work included in this specification, as shown on the drawings and as specified, is to be executed in the most thor ough, substantial, neat, and workmanlike man ner, to the entire satisfaction of the Owner and the Architect, to whom every facility is to be afforded by the Contractor for inspecting the work as it progresses." "Very best quality," "the most thorough, substantial, neat, and workmanlike man ner," and "to the entire satisfaction"—these are in themselves very ambiguous expres sions. In most branches of the building
trades, common practice has defined these terms more or less; but, as practice varies very widely among contractors, and as "en tire satisfaction" varies quite as widely among architects, and is liable to be even more erratic among owners who are inex perienced in building operations, the con tractor is liable to find trouble with them. This is, of course, a very general 3lause, too general to safely hold water.
"The Contractor is to furnish all necessary materials and labor, and he is to provide all tools, scaffolding, planks, and all necessary ap pliances, mechanical and otherwise, for the proper prosecution of the work. All necessary freights, cartages, transportation, and all handling of materials, must be paid for by the Contractor.
"The Contractor must erect and construct his work in a proper and orderly manner, and must not in any way obstruct or interfere with the progress of the work of other contractors.
"In all cases where the terms `proper,' suit able,' and 'equally good' are used, the nature, quality, and character of the materials to be fur nished, and the work to be done to which these terms are applied, shall be determined by the Architect; and his decision shall be final. In ea21 case, the approval of the Architect must be in writing; and no material or work will be accepted unless the same has been submitted and the Architect's approval has been obtained before the work is commenced." Here is a clause which admits, in effect, that certain terms used above are ambiguous; but, instead of removing the ambiguity by limitation, it says that the architect will de cide what these terms mean when any ques tion in which they are involved shall arise. If the difficulty be due to a previous error of the architect in the plans or specifications he becomes an interested party, and his de cision cannot be impartial. A specification should, as far as possible, describe by quanti ties or by comparison with some well-estab lished standard, just what quality or what style of practice is to be enforced.
"The Contractor will procure and pay for all necessary permits in connection with his work. The Contractor must procure the vault permit, and pay for same. The certificate for the vaults and receipt must be delivered to the Architect.