RATE OF BRICKLAYING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19625, 2 May 1927, Page 11

RATE OF BRICKLAYING.

RECENT "WORLD'S RECORD."

" AVERAGESOUT OF QUESTION TRADESMEN DOUBT CLAIMS. Suggesting that the facts were oi' "some public interest and importance," Mr. Reginald Ford, architect, drew attention in the Herald to the performance of a London bricklayer in laying 1121 bricks an hour, which a recent cablegram described as a world's record. Probably since a start was made on the Tower of Babel, this has been a topic that awakens occasional interest. That it is also important is disputed by authorities who were consulted on Saturday-. "I doubt it," said an architect. "It is 'good going,' no doubt —but I know a bricklayer who beat that every day when we had him on the job at an Auckland racecourse!"

A prominent builder remarked that it was »all a question of the nature of the work, and the condition under which that work was performed. On a straightout job a good bricklayer would exceed 1500 bricks a day. But on intricate jobs he was lucky if he could exceed 400.

The same view was shared by Mr. T. Bloodworth, who is secretary of the local branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. "I am not a bricklayer, but I know the trade, and it is surprising that these old jibes on the output of the bricklayer should bo continually revived," he said. "The bricklayer is one of the most hard-work-ing tradesmen, and he is one of those who still takes pride in his craft. To talk of averages is out of the question—before an average is attempted one must know the class of work that is being considered."

llie largest all-brick contract in Auckland being the erection of the now St. David's Church in Khyber Pass Road, the foreman there was next questioned on the subject of Mr. Ford's remarks. What he said was largely a repetition of the other opinions. In supporting tfeem, however, he pointed to a task in which he was engaged at the moment —a type of bricklaying known as "pier work," requiring, he said, not only strict attention to plans, but also careful judgment of the quality of bricks. The tradesman disputed Air. Ford's suggestion that 600 was the average for the daily output of a bricklayer. " How he arrives at an average is a puzzle to me," added the foreman, "but in ordinary work the output is well over that. People who make these suggestions ought to try first handling 1000 bricks a day and they would not be so critical perhaps. Anyway I can safely say that if Mr. Rotherham Champion was on the job on which I am engaged at the moment," he concluded, "he could not do better than 500!"