(2)

1 and shall perform all the undertakings therein stipulated by...

2

6

to be performed, and shall well and truly comply with and fulfil the con3 ditions of, and perform all of the work and furnish all the labor and 4 materials required by, any and all changes in, or additions to, or omissions 5 from, said contract which may hereafter be made, and shall perform all the undertakings stipulated by......to be performed in any and all such 7 changes in, or additions thereto, notice thereof to the said suret . . . . . . being hereby waived, and shall promptly make payment to all persons 9 supplying..........labor or materials in the prosecution of the work 10 contemplated by said contract, then this obligation to be void; other11 wise, to remain in full force and virtue

8

17 have hereunto subscribed their hands and affixed their seals the day first

NOTE. It will be observed that on each page, both of form of contract and of bond, each type line is numbered, ', 2, 3, etc. This is customary in all such government documents, and is for the purpose of locating references, interlineations, etc.

At first glance, this contract appears to be one-sided in that it confers on one side certain seemingly arbitrary power which, if used in the extreme, would be disastrous to any Contractor; but, as a matter of fact, the Department uses its extreme rights with the utmost caution and generally goes more than “half-way” in disputed settle

ments.

Where disaster occurs—such, for instance, as in a cyclonic wind, wrecking work in place, as happened at the Pan-American Exposition; or in damage by fire, as in the Baltimore confur-the Department promptly recommends that Congres make a reimbursing appropriation to be used in replacing work damaged; and that body always responds, recognizing a moral if not a legai obligation.

FRONT AND REAR VIEWS OF RESIDENCE OF MR. H. T. LOOMIS, MAGNOLIA DRIVE, CLEVELAND, OHIO

Watterson & Schneider, Architects, Cleveland, Ohio.

Cost, about $35.000. First-Story Walls of McCausland Brick, Made at Akron, Ohio. Roofs of Combination Red Tile.

ESTIMATING*

PART I

INTRODUCTION

The ability to estimate may be considered as the dividing line between the journeyman and the master builder for, no matter how skilful a mechanic may become, he can never “hang out his shingle" and invite patronage in his distinctive line of work unless he becomes. able to make reliable estimates of material and labor to be furnished. To do this, something more than mere accuracy and quickness in figures or a mastery of mathematics is needed; the estimator must have also experience and judgment, an understanding of the more or less complicated details which go to make up a building, and a knowledge of current prices and discounts in the trade. It is the object of this text to point the way toward the acquirement of such of these essentials as may be imparted by words or figures, that is, to put in condensed form some of the common methods by which estimates are made up, and to point out some of the things which are to be avoided.

As prices of labor and materials are constantly shifting with the times and with the location of the job, the figures quoted in this work must be taken only as proportionate, to be used in comparison with known quantities and methods, and not as a basis for making actual estimates. On account of the variableness in price, it is better, in general, to make estimates on the basis of days or hours of labor and of quantities of materials, so that they may be used for comparison in future work, and to this end all estimates should be carefully labeled and filed away for future reference. This should be done whether the bids were successful or otherwise; if a bid is successful, there will arise a good opportunity to compare the estimates of cost of the different items with the actual cost of execution; if a bid

*There is no such a thing as a universal or permanent standard price for anything. vary in different localities at the same time and in the same locality at different times. estimator must therefore acquaint himself with local market conditions in every case.

Prices
The

fails to win the job, satisfaction and experience may be gained by noting the items which may have been priced too high or too low. This data will be of great service in preparing future estimates, especially in the comparisons between estimated and actually executed work.

GENERAL FACTORS IN ESTIMATING

Use of Catalogues and Price Lists. Catalogues and price lists of all standard articles are easily obtained and should be kept at hand, properly indexed, for ready reference, as they contain a great deal of specific information. For close figuring, however, it will not do to rely upon these prices, as the amounts of trade discounts are not always included. These vary greatly from time to time, and often there are two or more discounts-a trade discount, a cash discount, and a variation in discounts made by different merchants-all of which the contractor must be familiar with to obtain bottom prices.

Data of this sort should be carefully tabulated for constant reference, in such a form that it may be easily revised and kept, so far as possible, up-to-date.

Time and Manner of Payment. The manner and time of payments is a matter to be considered in this connection, so that the contractor can take advantage of cash discounts, which often make a great difference in the cost of certain materials.

Determination of Profit. Lump-Sum Method. To the actual price of labor and materials must be added the profit and this will need careful consideration. A common method is to add a lump sum to the estimated cost of labor and materials, this amount varying with locality and customer, with the probable sharpness of competition, and with the circumstances of the contractor. This is a careless method, as it leaves no means for future comparison and no certain knowledge of just what the profits of a given job are.

Percentage Method. A better way is to base the profits upon a percentage of the estimated cost. This will vary, in ordinary cases, from 10 to 15 per cent. Ten per cent is the least that should be expected on any work, and is not enough for small contracts of two or three thousand dollars, but for large work, where there is a great duplication of parts and processes, it will generally prove sufficient.