BUILDING BY-LAWS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 178, 14 August 1937, Page 3

BUILDING BY-LAWS

-Press Association.)

Mr. Lee Explains Efiect on Housing Scheme PLANS ALL RIGHT

(By Telegraph-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. Statements made by the Lower Hutt Master Builders' Association to the effect that breaches of the local bylaws are involved in the construction of the Government houses in the Hutt Valley were the subject of a reply by Mr. J. A. Lee, Parliamentary UnderSecretary in Charge of the Ministry of Housing. Mr. Lee stated that no breaches were being committed and pointed out, ia addition, that there was a bewildering lack of uniformity in the buil£!ng by-laws of local bodiejj "First of all, I want to make it clear that the State is not bound by the bylaws of local authorities," Mr. Lee said. " Consequently, it. cannot be guilty of a breach of those by-laws. On the other hand, the Housing Construction Department is adopting methods and materials which, in most cases, are definitely superior to all the by-law requirements. " Unfortunately there are probably upward of 100 sets of building by-laws in New Zealand, all of them different. The dspartment will be building houses in probably 100 towns, but it has no intention of preparing 100 different specifications to agree with the by-law requirements. Neither is it prepajed to attempt a ' blanket ' specification, which would cover the requirements of all boroughs. Such a document would contain many contradictions, and its provisions wrould be wasteful in the extrerne. "It is a fact," Mr. Lee continued, "that important features of construction, which are perfectly satisfactory to such an authoritative body as tho Auckland City Council are not recognised b'y the Lower Hutt Borough Council and ' the Johnsonville Town Board. "A statement that the department is building brick houses at Lower Hutt is misleading without further information. The houses aire not being built of brick in the ordinafy sense of the term but of brick veneer — a totally different form of construction, which has appreciably greater earthquake resisting qualities than are possessed by • ordinary brick. Brick veneer construction is well-known abroad and is in common use in some parts of the Doxninion. In others it is unknown, and local body by-laws do not always make provision for it. "With regard to drainage, which has also been the subject of criticism, I can say that ail installatdons under tho department 's schemes will eomply with the best modern engineerlng practico and will meet satisfactorily all the requirements of the Health Department." Mr. Lee 'added that he believed" the department would be coriferring a great benefit on the country if, as a result of its operations, public attention was focussed on the extraordinary variation in the requirements o£ local authorities with regard to buildings and on the urgent necessity for greater standardipation. In fact, the department had already bcen approached on severn! occasions in an endeavour to improve the existing state of affairs.