To carry. the designs of an architect into effect many mechanical operations are necessary, to all of which collectively the term building is ap plied. The principal materials used in building are stone, burnt-clay products, cement and lime mixtures, wood, glass, and metal. In addition must be considered secondary building materials, among which are included a variety of mineral, vegetable, and animal products, of which paint, varnish, papier-mach6. cloth. and leather are familiar examples. Building operations in their broadest sense include all the operations neces sary to shape these materials into suitable structural forms, and to combine these forms into a finished structure or building. Nowa days, however, the shaping of building material into structural forms suitable for building pur poses is done wholly or in great part in factories and workshops, thus leaving only their erection and some small part of their shaping to be ac complished on the site of the structure being built. Building operations in their narrowest sense, therefore, include only the erecting and shaping operations actually carried on at the site of the building. To illustrate, the cutting and dressing of stone; the molding and burn ing of brick and tile: the rough-sawing and dressing of timber into beams, boards, clap boards, lath, and shingles; the turning of wooden balusters and pillars, the making and glazing of window-sash, the making of doors, mantels, moldings, newel-posts, railings, etc.; the rolling
and framing of steel girders and columns; the forging and founding of grill-work, screws, nails, hinges, and builders' hardware generally. are to-day carried on in factories and workshops. and are essentially manufacturing processes. On the other hand, the laying up of stone and brick into walls, columns, and arches; the framing of timber into beams, joists, and rafters, erecting them and covering them with sheathing, clap boards, and shingles; the erection and fire-proof ing of steel beams and cohnnns; the setting in place of doors and windows, are of course all done on the site of the building, and are essen tially building processes.
These building processes alone, as distin guished from the manufacturing processes indi cated above, and as applied to the construction and erection of buildings for the housing of per sons and property, are considered below. The principal building processes inav be enumerated as follows: Stonelaying; bricklaying: fireproof ing; lathing and plastering; carpentry; glazing; plumbing; painting; and decorating.