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H. —44a

new by-law is based to- a large extent upon various regulations at present in force, which have been co-ordinated and amplified where necessary. In this way the requirements of different authorities, which may in some cases be confusing and even conflicting, are embodied in one comprehensive document,' which will enable more effective control. Standard Method for the Measurement of Buildings.—At the request of the Quantity Surveyors' Institute, a committee has been set up to formulate a Standard method of measurement for buildingwork. In the absence of a method of measurement for building-work, according to the nature of the work and the varying conditions and circumstances under which it is carried out, there can be no common basis upon which to estimate costs and charges, with the result that disputes and conflict must necessarily arise in this regard. Although a British Standard method of measurement has been available for some years, this is not entirely suitable for use in New Zealand owing to the different materials used and the different trade practices followed here. The committee therefore took the British Standard as the basis for its deliberations, and is amending this where necessary to bring it into line with local practice. Plumbing Sectional Committee. —During the year the review of the draft Standard Code of Plumbing and Drainage By-laws, in the light of the extensive comments received during its circulation to affected interests, has continued. As anticipated in the last report, this has proved a lengthy undertaking, with which, however, the committee has made very satisfactory progress. Adoption of Standard By-laws by Local Authorities—Parts I to VI of the Standard Code, which were issued in 1939, have now been adopted by fifty boroughs and cities, which, with seven exceptions, include all municipalities with a population of five thousand or over. There is every indication that Parts VII to IX will be adopted on at least as wide a scale, and probably more extensively, since Parts VIII and IX in particular apply to the great majority of small buildings, of the type with which the smaller boroughs are mainly concerned. Already forty-two boroughs and cities have intimated that they intend to adopt Parts VII, VIII, and IX, and have placed orders for reprints of these Parts in the form of their own by laws. In this way each local authority concerned avoids the necessity to make its own printing arrangements, thereby saving the cost of resetting the type for each job. The preparation of the Standard Code by each local authority independently would greatly increase the cost to the community, since the preparation of comprehensive and up-to-date building by-laws requires the_ services of highly trained technical experts. In the absence of the Standard Code, each local authority would bo in the position of having to arrange for its own by-laws to be prepared at considerable cost. Moreover, no single local authority can draw upon the collective experience and knowledge of the most competent engineers and architects, both in New Zealand and overseas, which is made available through the Standards procedure. Consequently, even at greatly increased cost, by-laws prepared independently could not be nearly so comprehensive in scope. The economic savings to the country as a whole resulting from the preparation of a single Standard Code by the Standards organization, and its adoption by the various local authorities on a wide scale, are incalculably greater than the savings in the cost of preparing and printing the by-laws referred to above. Since each local authority would otherwise prepare a different set of by-laws citing different specifications and calling for the use of different materials, dimensions, types of equipment, and methods of installation and construction, architects, engineers, and builders would be called upon to work to these different requirements, involving varying costs for the same class of work. This, in turn, would result in needless diversification of the types and classes of material and equipment required to satisfy the by-laws of each separate authority, and would mean that manufacturers and distributors would be called upon to make and stock an unnecessarily wide range of commodities, with consequently greatly increased production and distribution costs. Prior to the formulation of the Standard Code of Building By-laws, the majority of local-body by-laws were seriously out of date and did not include provisions for modern methods of construction. Consequently, they did not take into account many of the hazards involved, and, in particular, very few by laws required buildings to be earthquake-resistant. This is well illustrated by the experience in Wellington during the earthquake shocks experienced some two or three years ago, which caused damage amounting to some £1,000,000 in Wellington City alone, and to approximately £2,000,000 in the Wellington Province. It is noteworthy, however, that buildings which complied with the Standard Code of Building By-laws suffered, at the most, superficial damage only which did not require structural repairs. For example, chimneys constructed in accordance with the principles laid down in the Standard Code suffered relatively little damage, whereas the cost of replacing the thousands of other chimneys which were destroyed must have been considerably in excess of £100,000. There could be no clearer evidence of the value of the Standard Code in monetary terms alone than the established fact that the Dominion would have been saved perhaps £2,000,000 if all buildings had been constructed in accordance with its principles. Of far greater importance, however, is the value of the Building Code as a safety precaution against injury and loss of life. Had the recent earthquake been of longer duration the monetary loss would have been very much greater, while the loss of life and personal injury would have reached catastrophic proportions. Building Materials Sectional Committee.—Complementary to the formulation of the Standard Code of Building By-laws and the related Standard by-laws, the standardization of building materials, processes, and methods of test has proceeded with the object of providing the various Standard Specifications which are required for citation in the Standard by-laws in order to ensure the use of the most suitable and adequate materials and methods. Roofing-tiles. The Standard Specification for Earthenware Roofing-tiles, referred to in the last report, has been completed, while that for concrete roofing-tiles, and also the Code of Practice for the Fixing of Roofing-tiles, are Hearing completion.