TIMBER IN BUILDING

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 121, 26 May 1925, Page 6

TIMBER IN BUILDING

Publication of the report of the Building Conference held in Wellington some months ago should remind us that we have'yet a long way to go before we can be satislied that our timber-using- methods are as economical as they should be. The Conference referred to was convened by the State Forest Service, and it justified itself by the consideration it gave to wasteful practices imposed by out-of-date building bylaws and by the coutinuaiicu of milling methods which do not take account of the increasing scarcity of timber. The work of (he Conference will not be effective, however, unless interest is sufficiently, uiaiutaiaed jto ensure

that the recommendations are brought into operation. We are not aware that much has yet been done in this direction. Certainly there is room for action. It is not. denied that building bylaws in many boroughs contain numerous provisions which could be amended, in the light of present-day conditions, without lowering the standard of sound construction. It is to the advantage of the public that this revision should be undertaken promptly, and to be thorough it should take account both of wooden building and . of the alternative methods which are rapidly coming into more general use. Wellington's new City Council proposes shortly to give attention to the housing problem in this City. It is to be hoped that the investigation will not be centred only upon a municipal house-building scheme, but will result in a close examination of those factors which make private building so expensive. If the examination discloses where expense is being unnecessarily incurred, and suggests methods productive of greater economy, it will be of much greater public benefit than a municipal housing scheme which produces at most a score of dwellings.