BUILDING A HOME.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 October 1921, Page 7

BUILDING A HOME.

A CONTRACTOR’S CLAIM. THE CO-ST OF MATERIALS. The rise in prices of building materials was a much-discussed point in a case heard in the New Plymouth Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The action under' consideration was a claim for £l2O 16s 6d, which was made by Bertie C. Wheeler, builder, of New Plymouth, against A. L. Picard, of Eltham, and arouse out of a contract for the building of a house. Mr. A. McCormack appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. T. P. Anderson represented defendant. According to counsel, Picard, who was a returned soldier, obtained a loan through the Land Board for the purpose of erecting a house. He approached Wheeler, and the parties entered into a contract, Wheeler agreeing to erect a house for £9BO. The contract, however, included a clause that any increase in the pi-ice of materials was to be paid for by Picard. Wheeler now claimed for additional costs incurred through rise in prices, and also for some extras which were not included in the specifications. Plaintiff said the contract was first discussed in October, 1919, and drawn up about November. Picard said he had a section and was going to secure a loan under the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act. Plans and specifications were prepared, Picard asking that, the cost be kept down as much as possible. The tender was made up on the ruling price of timber, and witness was not to get. any profit out of the contract. He had some work on hand at the time which had to be completed before he started Picard’s house, and this was understood. He commenced the job in the first week in April, 1920. Witness had seen the various firms from whom he had purchased materials and had ascertained what the difference in price was between the time the contract was entered into and when the goods were actually supplied. ADVANCE JN PRICES. Continuing, plaintiff gave evidence regarding the advance in prices. He said that in ziugust, 1920, the iron for the house cost him £22 5s 6d more than it would have at the time the contract was signed. Beaver boards, for the ceiling, advanced hQs per 100 feet, meaning a total of £5 Bs. There was a3O per cent, rise in the price of joinery; this item actually cost £l5B 4s 6d, and he estimated that the price at the earlier stages would be about. £l2l 14s 2d. Plumbing, hot water fittings, bricklaying, etc., also showed increases. The house was completed some time in December of 1920. Picard saw the house a good deal while the work of construction was going on, and did not raise any objection, except in one or two instances as regards pieces of timber, which he said were not quite up to the mark. These were taken out. Picard saw the house when finished and did not express any objection as to the workmanship. Witness rendered his account for .6xtra costs which defendant said he would not pay, but offered £5O in settlement. When seen on another oecasiop, Picard contended that the account was incorrect in respect to the percentage of increases, go witness had the account adjusted by a public accountant.

To Mr. Anderson: There were complaints about the construction of the ceiling, but he rectified this; there was also trouble regarding the painting of the roof, arid this was put right. He remembered Picard coming to see him before the vrork was started and saying that the Land Board objected to the clause about the increase in the prices, but witness did not agree to cut it out. He told Picard that if it was going to prevent the loan being put through they could cut out the clause and he would rely on Picard’s word. It was not a fact that it was agreed to delete the clause altogether in consideration of Picard giving him extra help in the matter of progress payments. He had agreed to do as cheap a job as possible, hut it was not his fault that it was nearly 14 months from the time the contract was signed till the house was finished, as when he did start, it was very difficult to get materials. BUILDERS’ TROUBLES: Fred Archer Coleman, builder and contractor and Government inspector for houses erected for returned soldiers, said the list of extras produced by plaintiff was a reasonable and correct statement. In answer to Mr. Anderson, he said the period during which the house was being built was a particularly difficult one in regard to securing supplies of timber and joinery. At certain times it was impossible to secure seasoned timber. and joinery was consequently hard to obtain. Under normal conditions a house of the kind in question should be built in roughly three months. Victor Griffiths, architect, said it was quite a common thing for houses at the period mentioned, to be in the building stage for twelve months or more. He sand he had had experience of numbers of contracts the clauses of which relating to time limits had to be struck out before contractors would sign up. After hearing detailed evidence, chiefly relating to the percentage of rise in the price of building materials in certain periods between 1919 and 1920, the Magistrate commented strongly o*i the unimportance of the details and expressed the opinion that the whole claim should have been settled by arbitration. On the application of Mr. Anderson for a few minutes’ grace so that counsel might shorten the evidence by eliminating some of the witnesses and thus bring the points at issue to a head, His Worship said he would give counsel till 10 o’clock this morning, and the case was accordingly adjourned at 5 p.m. till to-day.