BUILDING METHODS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 299, 11 September 1908, Page 7

BUILDING METHODS.

QUANTITY SURVEYOR SYSTEM. NOT FAVOURED. SOME WELLINGTON OPINIONS. V 'Mention was made quite recently, in thcso columns of a'suggestion in favour of the appointment of a Government quantity surveyor, to-be attached to the Public Works Department. Tho quantity surveyor, an institution at flome, is almost an unknown quantity in Wellington, which fact '' may ' be attributed to the system of tendering which lias' growii up with tho place.- The founders of Wellington had no such person aboutsthe 'premises.' as a Quantity surveyor — the builder took out his own quantities, right or wrong 'as they may have been,, and he builded as, truly and sturdily as circumstances permitted.- But times change, and one of the ..most.certain.. signs of change—progressive change—is in a. city's buildings. ' How often one hears' the "remark— I "Wellington- lias becomo quite a city," by a visitor, who knew the r . place- when a brick building'was considered a menace on account of the fear of earthquakes. •• Quantity -Surveying. •" The .system of building "by tender must al- ' ways 1 and to make out his tender for a building the quantities of material of all - kinds must .bo'taken, out as accurately as •possible. Excepting in rare cases the builders of Wellington,take, out their own quantities a's r 'the', basis of their tender. It is generally not-so''in England.' There the quantity sur- • veyor is a recognised profession. He goes into detail far more minutely than do our builders', and holds his own, as builders are given more accurate figures on which to base their calculations as to .cost-. In the Old Country, such ,men. draw as .much,. aB 1} per ,'cent. oh the accepted contract price of the job, and get their money whether the tender theyvhavo surveyed for, is accepted or not. It,will, be,seen by a simple process of calculation that a quantity surveyor - with a good connection is on an excellent wicket. So rtl-.ey..believe in Melbourne,' where, such men "do not leceivo more than 1 per cent., and in Sydney, Where the ■ sale: of remuneration ranges from J to 1 per cent. The New. Post Office." .< " Tbio subject of this article was suggested by ir.ore than oue builder speaking'of the vast amount of labour entailed in getting out tenders for tho new General Post Office.;' Some took tho best part of three weeks to make .their .calculations, and others worked night and day for a fortnight at the same job. The time taken in getting out a tender depended a good deal 'on 'qUantity-taking, arid-:the extent to which-detail was gone into ih so doing. Only one tender can bo accepted. When there; are twenty, the labour of the.nineteen goes for nothing, but if in the case of the ' General Post Office a quantity surveyor had been employed each tenderer would, have been supplied with tho quantities, and tho work entailed in getting -out the tender would have . been reduced to ..a shadow of what it was. . Work Not Charged For. A member of a very well-known firm of builders, who was approached by a represen- ' tative' of The Dominion to his views on the subject, -stated that his firm had never "employed a quantity surveyor, and never would. He considered that the taking out of quantities was part of the business, and' tho loss entailed in the case of un- . successful.tenders was "part of the game." ' He' corrected the impression that when making. up tenders builders include an amount 'for latour spent in getting out the tender. Ho had,never done anything of tho.sort, nor had he heard of others in Wellington doing so. He argued that the introduction of the quantity surveyor system only tended to in- : crease tho cost of building, and thatU'as high enough, now, as everyone" knew. Saves a Lot of Fag. ; ■ - Another builder- in a big way, said that to ■ get; the quantities 'from a surveyor saved ;a 10t,,0f fag-and , midnight oil, but before ' he would Employ , one , he would insist on a 'guarantee : -that -his- quantities, were correct, ..perhaps by way of : a,deposit or bond, Then you had to know how he worked. All quan- ' 'tity -surveyors- had different methods, and he would have to know the man's method of getting'iis'results:-before he would tender on them with confidence. Another View. j vYijt another builder (who has piles of work - to s fiis credit in this city) did not favour the .'■"quantity,surveyor. He liked to take out his own quantities, not because he was particularly fond' of stewing over .the figures, but because it enabled him to get a good grasp of the work to be done. In the case ■ of-the General Post. Office he had, by the time his tender was handed in, in his head, ciactly. how to go about tho job. Ho was go strong 9n this feature that he thought- • if .a'-;'quantity surveyor was employed lie " would feel, inclined to go over his figures for • hisrown satisfaction.:; It had meant a lot of'"Work-rflibC turned: over soino hundreds of ■sheetp pfjfigures (including tho cost of each block of 'stone to be used in the building), , anduit was all for nothing, his deposit cheque had been returned. This builder also maini tained that it was- not- the practico to add' anything for tho work entailed in getting _put the tender. T r 'Vj?ith thesfo!'.'opinions from those who would " gam most- by the system, it does not look . as if there is a very lively outlook for i quantity surveying as a profession in Weliliiigton. ~'Stost of-, the.building firms, are the ; iproduct of the-place,: and.-have become used :.-.t0:,-.their .ovrn . methods of getting out tenders, and-.so regard the surveyor as a luxury the building public in ordinary cannot afford. . An Architect's Views. —- An architect on being 'consulted stated' \ welt able to take out ■ their own'quantities. In any caso they were 1 not so badly off as tho architcct when com- ■ petitive work was in question. He had onca takcn-second prize in a competition; and so . won, £75, but to win that .£75 it had cost ■ him V over- £200. , He did not favoiir open competitions involving, complete-plans—that Was' asking too' 'much brainwork frbm tho K ;nwjny!' , A.',,better plan, would 'be' to': invite 'sketch plans'from anyone, : and" from those i selcct half-a-dozeii L for the f -final competition, _. where. plans would have to be furnished." The present competitive'system for architectural work was quito wrong.