124. Building Specification and Contracts.
124. Building Specification and Contracts.—The specification for the building on which builders are required to tender will be prepared by the architect, and it is usual in most cases to have the quantities abstracted by a surveyor, so that contractors can all tender for the same thing. The surveyor’s fee, 1 per cent. to 11⁄2 per cent., according to the total amount, is usually included in the specification, as are also allowances for other extras, such as foundation-stones, memorial tablets, and such items as presentation trowels, etc., if a foundation-stone laying is made a public ceremony.
Fig. 18.—St Pancras Central Library (a proposed building), showing Lending Department arranged for Indicator Charging (Section 122).
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125.
125. The contract for the building may be publicly advertised in such journals as the Contract Journal, Builder, Building News and the local newspapers, or may be confined to a few selected firms, and the tenders should, when received, be opened at a meeting of the library authority, to which the firms who tender may be invited. When a contract is accepted and signed it should contain a clause specifying that all extras must be sanctioned by the library authority before being put in hand, and must be certified by the architect when completed. It is well to avoid extras by making a careful estimate in advance, but if they are supplied, great precaution must be used to see that they are limited and strictly watched.
Fig. 19.—Glasgow Branch Library, Plan and Elevation ([Section 122]).
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