H—44A

Light Timber Construction, of the Standard Code of Building By-laws, effects an approximate saving of 33 per cent, of timber. The specification also defines tongue-and-grooved flooring of 1 in. nominal thickness in 4, 5, and 6 in. widths, and matchlining of fin. nominal thickness in 4 and 6 in. widths. ' Still further substantial economies and increased production will result from the simplification of types of weatherboards, flooring, and matchlining, which will correspondingly reduce the number of different settings of cutter heads required for different runs, and the stocks timber-merchants are required to carry. The standard specification will have the further advantage of assisting building contractors to match weatherboards, flooring, and matchlining produced by different mills. Profiles of Joinery and Mouldings.—This specification similarly simplifies the range of profiles for joinery and mouldings. It incorporates detailed requirements in respect of units for casement and double-hung windows, door-jambs, sills, architraves, cornices, dados, picture-moulds, scotias, half-rounds, and skirtings. Templates for Profiles. —The Profiles Gauges Sub-committee is drafting a standard specification for templates and gauges to facilitate the production of profiles conforming to the relevant standard specifications. The sub-committee is working in close consultation with the Dominion Physical Laboratory, which gained valuable experience in designing gauges and other instruments for production control during the war years. Asbestos Cement Sectional Committee Asbestos Cement Roofing-sheets Committee .. .. .. One meeting. This committee made minor amendments to the standard code of practice for the fixing of asbestos cement roofing-sheets, which has now been incorporated in N.Z.S.S. 282, Asbestos Cement Unreinforced Flat Sheets and Corrugated Sheets. Paints and Coatings Seetional Committee (Two meetings) Paints and Coatings Executive Committee .. .. .. One meeting. Parent Committee.—The Paints and Coatings Sectional Committee examined two British standards relating to lac, a consideration which also arose in connection with a United Nations Standards Co-ordinating Committee project for the unification of standards for this commodity. The committee also advised the Government Purchasing Standards Committee on the provisions of a specification for red-lead paint for structural steelwork, and directed a preliminary circulation of a proposed standard specification for spray painting to affected interests for comment. Ready-mixed Paints. —Further serious deterioration in the -supply of white lead necessitated reconsideration of the provisions of N.Z.S.S. E. 32, Ready-mixed Paints for Finishing Coats for Woodwork (White and Light Tints). Finally it was decided to withdraw the existing specification and to replace it with a new specification (N.Z.S.S. E. 229) in simplified and more effective form. Adherence to this standard specification ensures the most economic use of the limited supplies of raw materials. The economic importance and value of the standardization of paint, and paint materials, is evidenced by the fact that, if each dwellinghouse in the Dominion is painted at intervals of six years at a cost of, say, £6O a house, the total yearly expenditure would amount to approximately £4,280,000. If, however, through the use of inferior paint, each house has to be painted each three or four years, the approximate yearly expenditure would be increased to £8,560,000 and £6,420,000 respectively, involving a national loss of £2,140,000 to £4,280,000. Even if one-half of the houses were painted with inferior paint the loss would amount to between £1,070,000 and £2,140,000. Moreover, this still does not account for the cost of painting buildings other than dwelling houses.

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