For sewer and drain work lump sum contracts are often undesirable: it is better to work according to a schedule of prices, and periodical measurements.
It must not be forgotten that in all contracts the contractor seeks to make a profit out of the work; if there is no intermediate contractor this profit goes to the ratepayers. In most sanitary works also the men employed by the local authority are more skilled in that particular class of work than the chance men employed by a contractor, and for this and many other reasons, administration by the local authority is in most cases preferable to contracts.[252]
Where tenders have been invited by advertisement or otherwise, the successful person should be written to, apprising him of the fact, and requesting him to call, sign the necessary specification, deeds, and drawings; an intimation should also be made to the unsuccessful competitors that their tenders have not been accepted.
In conclusion, let me thank the authors of the following books for the useful information which I have gained in perusing them for the purposes of this work, and, let me add, they can be studied with advantage by every “Town Surveyor”:
- ‘American Sanitary Engineering,’ by E. S. Philbrick.
- ‘Annales des Ponts et Chaussées,’ published in Paris.
- ‘Annual Reports of the Local Government Board,’ published in London.
- ‘A Practical Guide for Inspectors of Nuisances,’ by F. R. Wilson.
- ‘A Treatise on Roads,’ by Sir H. Parnell.
- ‘Cremation of the Dead,’ by W. Eassie.
- ‘Experience sur le tirage des Voitures,’ by M. Morin.
- ‘Healthy Dwellings,’ by D. Galton.
- ‘Health of Towns Commission,’ sundry reports.
- ‘Law of Public Health and Local Government,’ by W. C. and A. Glen.
- ‘Local Board Manual,’ by Owen Harris.
- ‘New Mode of Constructing Streets,’ by J. Edgworth.
- ‘Plumbing and House Draining,’ by W. P. Buchan.
- ‘Practical Treatise on Roads,’ by A. Penfold.
- ‘Repair of Main Roads,’ by W. H. Wheeler.
- ‘Roads and Streets,’ by D. Kinnear Clark.
- ‘Roads, Streets, and Pavements,’ by Q. A. Gillmore.
- ‘Roads and Roadways,’ by G. W. Willcocks.
- ‘Remarks on the Present System of Road Making,’ &c., by John Loudon McAdam.
- ‘Sanitary Engineering,’ by Baldwin Latham.
- ‘Sanitary Engineering,’ by Bailey Denton.
- ‘Sanitary Work,’ by Charles Slagg.
- ‘Suggestions as to the Preparation of District Maps and of Plans for Main Sewerage, Drainage, and Water Supply,’ by Robert Rawlinson, C.B., &c.
- ‘Street Pavements,’ by G. F. Crosby Dawson.
- ‘Steam Road Rolling,’ by Fred. A. Paget.
- ‘The Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris,’ by W. Robinson.
- ‘The Public Health and Local Government Act,’ by J. Vesey Fitzgerald.
- ‘The Interments Act 1879,’ by T. Baker.
- ‘The Plumber and Sanitary Houses,’ by S. S. Hellyer.
- ‘The Maintenance of Macadamised Roads,’ by Thomas Codrington.
- ‘The true system of Wood Pavement,’ Anonymous.
- ‘The Surveyor of Highways,’ by Alex. Glen.
- ‘Tree Pruning,’ by A. des Cars.
- Various papers in the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
- Various papers in the Proceedings of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain.
- Various papers in the Proceedings of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers and Surveyors.
- Various papers from the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.
- Various papers from the Reports on the Application of Science and Art to Street Paving.
- Various reports by Mr. Haywood, Engineer to the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London.
- Various reports by Mr. Till, Surveyor of Birmingham.
- Various reports of Commissions, etc.
[252] Mr. Parry, C.E., Borough Surveyor of Reading, says, “My experience of such works is that town authorities can obtain both labour and materials cheaper than contractors, and with efficient supervision the work costs less money.” (Vide ‘Proceedings of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers and Surveyors,’ vol. iv. p. 89.)
INDEX.
