BUILDING BY-LAWS

Evening Star, Issue 24005, 2 October 1941, Page 5

BUILDING BY-LAWS

PROGRESS OF STANDARDISATION (P.A.) WELLINGTON, October 1. A very substantial and valuable contribution to the welfare of the Dominion as a whole had already been made by the committee that has been working on the development of a standard code of building by-laws, said the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Mr Sullivan, to-night, when surveying the position of the standard code at the present time. During the four years the committee had been working on the code, the Minister said, seven of the original 10 parts of the standard model building by-laws had been completely revised, and five of seven additional parts had been formulated. In addition two parts were in the process of development, and New Zealand standard specifications had been issued covering cement, methods of testing, concrete test, sieves, steel for reinforcement tubes, structural steel, and rivets. After referring to the inadequacy of the by-laws previously in existence, the Minister said that 48 local authorities, representing 500,000 inhabitants, were adopting the code. The general adoption of the code would effect enormous savings by ensuring that specifications relating to materials, equipment, construction, installations, and general procedure would satisfy the requirements in each district. Mr Sullivan paid a warm tribute to the work of the members of the committee. They had given their time and knowledge without thought of reward, he said, and their work represented a fine record of public service. The progress made had been mast satisfactory.