BRICK BUILDINGS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4978, 24 May 1926, Page 2

BRICK BUILDINGS.

SAVING IN INSURANCE. EXPERIENCE OF PAEROA MAN. In connection with the modification of the brick area by-laws, information in regard to .the cost of insurance on brick buildings in comparison to wooden ones is given. So far as Paeroa is concerned the difference is astounding. If for no other reason than the saving to be effected in insurance the brick area by-law- should be enforced in its entirely. The most that can be said for wooden buildings is, that they are cheaper and quicker to construct, and! lend themselves more readily .to ab teration. Against this class of building, they depreciate rapidly, require considerable expense for maintenance, and are a great menace from the viewpoint of fire. From the standpoint, of the individual owner and shopkeeper, a brick building for business premises is a sound and profitable investment. At the present time one business man here is having built at considerable expense and great inconvenience brick walls to the two sides df .his" property, in addition to a new brick shop-front. The ; work was commenced .without any thought of the brick side-walls being built, but a careful Calculation revealed the fact that the saving in fire insurance alone, on the building and stock, at compound interest, would be sufficient to pay for the whole expenditure in about seven years, by which time the total expenditure will be covered by a saving in insurance, and the assiet will* be as good as it l was. on the day of its erection. Being a business proposition, the work was authoriseld. - With the brick walls .there is .also the benefit to the adjoining owners, who will find that their buildings and stocks will cost 7s 6d a £lOO less to insure when next the renewal falls due. This reference indicates a direst ' community benefit attaching to. the enforcement of a brick area, bylaw. ' It must also be admitted'that the erection of a brick building constitutes a permanent while the erection of jvooden buildings effects only a temporary improvement. _ - If a brick area was desirable eight years a,go, tvhen the firpt by-law was passed by the elected representatives of the burgesses, it is much more, desirable now that Paeroa is showing actual signs of progress .and development a.s a business centre.