shall be made to and the approval of the building materials section of the War Industries Board first obtained.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

BUREAU OF INDUSTRIAL HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION.

UNITED STATES HOUSING CORPORATION,

13TH AND G STREETS NW., P. O. Box 1903,

1

WASHINGTON, D. C.

OCTOBER 1, 1918. DEAR SIR: You will find described below additional conservation measures which this corporation has been requested to follow by the War Industries Board. We ask your careful consideration and fullest cooperation possible in carrying these into effect.

1. Exterior painting (or staining).—(a) White-lead paints to be used only for door and window trims, porches, cornices, eaves, or other "trim" (three coats).

(b) For the "bodies" of painted frame buildings, light shades are to be used sparingly and the colors are to be obtained with a paint made on a leaded-zinc base (three coats for new work).

(c) The colors generally for "bodies" of painted houses as recom. mended by the War Industries Board are shades of buff, brown, and that can be produced from domestic oxides and other earth pigments. This would point to the more general use of shingles and stain as against siding and paint.

(d) The use of chrome yellow and chrome green should be avoided.

(e) Exterior paints as above should be specified to be made from Government formula semipaste, mixed with linseed oil extended with suitable thinning liquids according to Government `standards. (The nature of these ingredients will be taken care of by the governmental purchasing agencies and on small projects the paint may be furnished all ready mixed to the contractors.)

(f) In the case of stained siding or shingle stains, confine treatment to one coat or dipping, in which light effects may be obtained. 2. Interior wood finish and wall treatments.—(a) Paint is not to be used for general finishing of interior wood work in houses and where used, as in the case of the woodwork and the plaster walls and ceilings in bathrooms and toilets and of the walls and ceilings of kitchens or other places designated by this corporation, is to be made on a lithophone base. Two-coat gloss finish over one coat of sizing varnish.

(b) For general finish of interior woodwork, including kitchens, use one coat of oil stain, specified to be "Government formula, one-coat stain," which will be of such a nature that, if desired, upon return to normal conditions, it may then be either varnished or painted without detriment to such subsequent application of material.

(c) Where it may be essential to use paint on interior wood work other than before noted, apply two coats of lithophone, flat or gloss. (d) The use of shellac to be avoided as far as possible.

3. Floor finishing.-Only in exceptional cases shall wood floors in houses be finished. Whatever the wood, floors should be left bare under the contract; finish, if any, to be applied by the occupant. Yours very truly,

BURT L. FENNER, General Manager.

REVISED STANDARDS TO BE FOLLOWED IN HOT-AIR HEATING. NOVEMBER 5, 1918. 1. Furnace.-Furnace to be of standard design with cast-iron fire pot and cast-iron radiator of make most readily obtained in the locality in which the project is located. The diameter of grate of furnace for each house should be specified and shown on the plan. 2. Air supply. No outside cold-air boxes to be provided. Air supply for furnace is to be taken from first-floor front hall at a point near the stairs going to second story. Where the securing of such location is not possible or practicable, the air supply may be taken from the living room at a point adjacent to the outside wall.

3. Size of air supply.-It is important that the net area of the register and duct for air supply should be equivalent to the sum of the areas of all the hot-air pipes leaving furnace.

4. Hot-air pipes.—Each room to be heated is to be provided with an individual hot-air supply pipe run in as direct a manner as possible from the furnace casing, avoiding all unnecessary elbows and turns. Not more than one room is to be supplied from any hot-air pipe.

Hot-air pipes from furnace casing to vertical risers are to be given as much pitch up to the riser as conditions will permit, and due care must be exercised to interfere as little as possible with the head room.

Where it becomes necessary to offset any hot-air pipe above the first-story ceiling, such offset shall have an area 50 per cent greater than the area of the vertical flue.

5. Kitchen.-All kitchens are to be heated.

6. Hot-air register.-Hot-air registers are to be located so that the horizontal runs of pipe from furnace may be as short and direct as possible, due regard being given to probable location of furniture and swing of doors. In no case should hot-air register be located at or near an outside wall. In all cases they should be located on an inside partition. In general, first-story register, except in kitchen, should be located in floor. Those for kitchen and secondstory rooms should be located in walls.

7. Locating furnace.-Furnace is to be located as near the center of distribution as possible.

8. Pipeless furnace.-Pipeless furnace shall be used only in small houses specially adapted to it. Such special cases would be those of a house having only a hall and living room in first story, or hall, living room amd dining room being connected by a large cased opening. It is desirable also when pipeless furnace is used that the staircase be open to living room.

9. No automatic regulators are to be used..

10. Rules for determining sizes of flues, registers, and furnaces: Hot-air flues. To ascertain area of hot-air flues for first-story rooms in square inches, add exposed wall surface in square feet to four times exposed window and door surface and divide by 5. For second-story rooms use divisor 6 in place of 5. For example:

A=net exposed wall surface in square feet.
B=exposed window and door surface in square feet.
Then-

A+4B

6

=flue area in square inches for second story.

Net exposed wall surface is taken to mean the total exposed wall surface minus total exposed window and door surface. In no case should a hot-air pipe smaller than 8 inches in diameter be used.

Recirculating air-register face and duct.-Recirculating air-register face and duct is to have a free net area equal to the sum of the areas of all hot-air flues leaving furnace. These ducts should be made air-tight and may be constructed of matched sheathing or wall board.

Furnace.-Indicate size of furnace on plan by naming grate diameter, which should have an area equal to eight-tenths of the combined area of all hot-air flues.

The specification hereto attached provides for furnace adapted to the burning of anthracite coal. When furnaces are to be used in a region where soft coal is burned, the specification shall provide for furnaces having grates specially adapted for such use.

ADDENDA TO STANDARD SPECIFICATION FOR PLUMBING, GAS FITTING, AND SEWERAGE FOR DWELLING HOUSES. NOTE. This addenda is to apply until regular forms of specification are adopted after final standards of plumbing fixtures have been approved by the War Industries Board. Unless specially mentioned, the clauses in the original standard specification are to remain as written.

1. In general. No change. 2. Guaranty.-No change.

3. Permits and certificates of inspection.-Contractor shall take out and pay for all permits and certificates of inspection required by authorities having jurisdiction for connections to sewerage, drainage, water, or gas systems.

4. Tests and cleaning.-(a) The house drain shall have a full size Y branch just inside the building for a test opening, this branch to be permanently sealed after final smoke test is made. At the foot of each stack there shall be an extra heavy cast-iron bend and cleanout of pattern to allow testing of house drain and stack separately. The house drain shall be tested with a 10-foot head of water, or if weather prevents, with a 5-pound smoke air pressure test.

(b) The entire piping system above underground line shall be tested before fixtures are set by filling with water, or if weather prevents under a smoke air pressure test of not less than 5 pounds. Any leaks showing must be repaired and tests continued until pipes stand tight.

(c) When the work is complete and fixtures set, the piping above ground shall be given a final smoke test with pressure equal to 1-inch column of water.

(d) When all work has been finally tested, contractor shall clean all fixtures, slate, pipes, and other exposed work.

(e) All traps, wastes, drains, supplies, etc., shall be shown to be free and unobstructed, and all plated, polished, bronzed, or painted work shall be thoroughly cleaned.

5. Protection.-No change.

6. Street connections.-No change. 7. Storm water.-No change.

8. Excavation.-No change.

9. Drain pipes.-Lay pipes connecting with each downspout and discharge according to one of the methods outlined above. Pipes shall be 4-inch (or size as marked), salt-glazed, socket vitrified or Portland cement concrete laid on solid bed with strong, even fall and with all joints made as for house sewer or drain. All bends shall be made with bends, all branches with Y branches, and all upturns to receive downspouts with long bends well blocked against settlement. Wherever tar and gravel roofs occur under condition (7-A) as above, drainage system shall discharge into grease trap, which will act as gravel basin. Under condition of system (7-B) a separate crock gravel basin will intercept all gravel. A separate gravel basin shall be required on (7-A) where grease trap is omitted. Downspout stubs shall be extended at least 2 inches above finished grade. Contractor shall cooperate with sheet-metal contractor in locating same.

10. House sewer and house drain.-Below ground to be saltglazed, vitrified, earthenware pipe, or Portland cement concrete pipe. The joints shall be made by first inserting a strand of picked oakum or hemp, dipped in neat liquid cement for a cement joint and by filling the hub with a 1 to 1 cement mortar or grout, or the joints may be made with an approved compound. Pipes shall be laid on a solid bed of earth with even, strong fall of not less than 1 inch in 5 feet. All changes in direction shall be made with Y branches. Where traps or upturns occur on underground house drains or rain-water pipe, the same are to be bedded in a 12-inch cube of concrete. No house traps or fresh-air inlets shall be used. 11. Waste-pipe connection.-Omit.

12. Clean outs. Place cast-iron combination clean-out Y's or test fittings with brass screw caps at the foot of each riser. 13. Floor drains.-Omit; do not apply to houses. 14. Catch basins.-Omit; do not apply to houses.

15. Subsoil drainage.-Others will place open-tile drain where same is required around footing trenches on inside of walls and extend through wall. This contractor shall provide deep seal trap and connect to sewer.

16. Back-water gates.—Omit; do not apply to houses.

17. Soil, waste, and vent stacks.-(a) Nothing larger than 4-inch diameter or heavier than standard plain cast-iron soil pipe is to be used for vertical stacks above ground, full size of stack to be carried

through roof. All joints shall be calked with oakum and poured with lead. Extensions through roof shall not be less than 6 inches above surface. The weight of pipe specified does not preclude the use of existing manufactured stocks.

(b) Standard weight wrought-iron or steel pipe, galvanized inside and out, with all joints screwed with standard fittings.

(c) Where not more than two water-closets and six smaller fixtures, in which case the fixtures on the lower floors shall be circuit vented, occur on one stack, and, where local ordinances permit, 3-inch pipe will be permitted. Otherwise soil pipes shall be not less than 4 inches and wastes not less than 14 inches. Vents shall be not less than 1 inches and increased as ordinances or good practice require.

(d) Soil and waste pipe shall continue through roof as a vent and shall be provided with an increaser where ordinances so require, and shall be flashed at roof with adjustable No. 24 galvanized-iron flashing with lead caulking ring of approved make.

(e) There shall be no back vents used. 18. Revents.-Omit.

19. Pipe supports.-No change. 20. Supplies. No change.

21. System, cold.—Bring in 4-inch supply for single houses and extend underground in asphaltum-coated galvanized pipe to convenient location and furnish and set nonfreezing type of main shut-off and drain cock. Furnish and connect meter wherever same is required by local rules. Where houses have basements, shut-off valves shall be set in basement. Where not excavated, shut-off valve handle shall be extended up through floor. From main supply take off and run branches to heating boiler, sill cocks, hot-water heater tank, coil in furnace or boiler, and to all fixtures. 22. System, hot.-Take-off of hot-water tank and run supplies to all fixtures except water-closets.

23. Air chamber.-Provide adequate air chambers by extending top of run 18 inches above highest fixture.

24. Valves. Place shut-off valve on main supply just inside the front wall and a shut-off valve on supply to hot-water boiler and a stop and waste cock supplying sill cock.

25. Hot-water tank.-Hot-water tank will be specified later under fixtures.

26. Valves.-Omit.

27. Sill cock.-Sill cocks shall be brass body, lock-shield type with 4-inch hose bibb, and set to drain toward inside.

28. Arrangement.-All piping shall be firmly held in place by approved hangers spaced not more than 8 feet O. C. Where possible, pipes shall be run in gangs and spaced for covering; all pipes shall be laid out with consideration given to appearance, to conserve headroom, avoid interferences, and to have all control valves easily accessible.

29. Sizes.-Run branches in the following size internal diameter pipe for hot and cold water: inch to hot-water tank and to bathroom; inch to sill cocks; inch to bathtubs, lavatories, laundry trays, water-closets, and sinks.

30. Covering. To be determined and specified by the architect for each project, according to exposure requirements and localities, being careful to insure adequate protection against frost.

31. Roughing-in.-Rough-in for all fixtures as shown on drawings. 32 to 40. Fixtures.-New standards for fixtures now being prepared by the War Industries Board and will be a subject of future communication.

41. Gas fitting.-Supply will be brought through wall of building and capped. Contractor shall provide shut-off and meter loop and shall extend lines to location shown for gas range and hot-water heater and extend branch capped at wall to each bathroom in all stove-heated houses. He shall also leave capped T in furnace room in basement for future hot-water heater connection. All work shall be installed in full accord with the rules of the company furnishing gas, and contractor shall make all tests and pay for any inspection required.

PURPOSE.

The United States Housing Corporation was formed primarily for the purpose of housing the surplus of war workers called from all parts of the country to the congested centers where war machinery was busy night and day producing materials for war purposes. In time of peace construction efficiency means economy; in war time efficiency means speed. The Construction Division was given the problem of building the necessary shelter for war industry workers, furnishing as much comfort as economically possible but with speed as the main object. The first plan worked out was to utilize all houses and buildings already constructed in each locality needing more housing. This was done in every way possible-vacant houses for rent were listed in local registries; where necessary houses were commandeered or acquired by lease; and under the Construction Division repairs and alterations were made to make them tenantable. Hotels were purchased, remodeled, and used to house workers.

The final method of meeting the needs of the community, where other devices could not solve the problem, was by the acquisition of land and construction of houses thereon. Where the other methods mentioned above were inadequate it was necessary for the Housing Corporation to embark upon the building of houses for the accommodation of war workers, and in some instances this practically involved the building of complete new communities. Each enterprise was termed a "project." Before determining upon the construction of permanent houses in such a project, however, the corporation satisfied itself, after careful

investigation, as to the industrial stability of the community and the probable existence of a normal population in non-war times which would justify such an addition to the local housing so that the enterprise would be a safe investment.

Permanent construction in such a project usually included all the house combinations, single, double, or grouped in varying numbers in rows, boarding houses, apartments, and sometimes dormitories. Dormitories, however, have been employed only where there was the clearest assurance of their being urgently needed, where great speed was essential, and especially where the nature of the industry indicated an unstable post-war existence.

While these plans were being formulated by the engineers, town planners, and architects, the Construction Division, which was to act in the capacity of a general contractor for all the different projects, was busy creating an organization to do the actual construction work.

The formation of the Construction Division began about March 15, 1918. The details of organization were not decided upon until the latter part of April, as the Bureau of Industrial Housing restrained the activities of this division until a definite policy of action could be determined. This policy, in turn, was dependent on congressional action and had to await passage by Congress of the bill authorizing the activities of the bureau.

In the meantime, the problems incident to the handling of a great volume of separate and diverse projects over a wide area, for which no ordinary con

tracting experience offered an exact precedent, disclosed themselves. As the magnitude of the work became evident, it was found necessary to frame and create the nucleus of an administrative staff and to secure the services of well-qualified men as chiefs of different branches in order to be prepared for the anticipated requirements when actual construction work should proceed, and also to prepare for the formation of the field executive staffs.

ORGANIZATION.

The Construction Division as fully organized at the time of the signing of the armistice consisted of the following executives and divisions:

General executive:

Manager.

Seven traveling supervisors.

Three assistants to the manager.
Contract section.

Assistant manager.
Field organizations.

Branches:

Cost-report engineers.

Materials procurementMaterials section. Requisition section.

Priorities section.

Traffic section.

Emergency and powder-plant construction.
Repairs.

To handle the surplus materials resulting from the cancellation of projects after the signing of the armistice and to negotiate settlements with contractors and vendors for work and materials canceled, two more branches were added: Adjustment committee and sales branch.

In the personnel list accompanying this report are given the names of all those who from time to time held the various positions named. (See Vol. I, Appendix III.)

The manager not only supervised the general work of the division but also controlled the policies and directed the activities of all branches and sections. All directions to those in the field had to receive his approval. He selected all contractors in the manner hereinafter described; he interviewed all bidders, heard and adjusted all complaints, and passed on all reports. For a while he also personally supervised all mail. When this task became too great for one man, in addition to his other duties, part of the work was taken over by the assistant manager. No letter or telegram was allowed to leave the office until it had been personally read and approved by either the manager or one of his assistants.

The general policies to be observed by the field forces were controlled by the manager through the traveling supervisors. The details of field work were

under the direction of the assistant manager. He controlled the work through the project managers, who were in fact district managers, each having general supervision of and responsibility for the projects in a given territory.

The manager's three assistants aided him in handling the mail, in consultation and interviews, and in the preparation of orders for changes in the field work. They also kept general check on the relative progress and costs of the projects for the purpose of keeping the field work as close as possible to schedule as to both time and cost.

The following composed the executive personnel of the Construction Division at the time of the armistice: Manager..... .Daniel T. Webster. William C. Lewis. .W. J. Thistlewaite. .T. E. Videto. Wm. C. Bradbury. .H. McLaren.

Assistant manager.. Assistant to manager

Assistant to manager.

Assistant to manager.

Chief, contract section
Coordinating officer...

Chief, cost-report engineer branch..
Chief, materials procurement branch..
Chief, materials section ......

Chief, powder-plant construction branch.
Superintendent, repair branch.

Chief, requisition section...
Chief, traffic section...

Maj. James E. Schuyler.

.J. C. Prior. .C. Birdseye. .G. A. Porter.

W. S. Painter. Capt. A. T. Moore. A. M. Worthington. Sidney King.

TRAVELING SUPERVISORS.

Directly under the control of and reporting to the manager was a corps of traveling supervisors, who spent their time on the road and whose business it was to see that the work was carried out well, rapidly, economically, and without friction. They heard all complaints and all disputes between the contractor's and the Government's forces, and in so far as possible settled these in the field.

The traveling supervisor's functions are best shown by the following extract from the manual of instructions issued to each supervisor by the manager:

The manager of the Construction Division will appoint competent men, to be known as traveling supervisors, who will be vested with authority to represent the manager in the field.

Certain defined projects will be assigned to each supervisor, who will visit each project periodically.

The supervisor will be authorized to adjust and settle differences of opinion between the works superintendents and the contractor, defining the policies of the corporation and interpreting the contracts when called upon to do so.

After the contract is awarded, the project manager, works superintendent, and contractor, or his representative, shall meet in conference with the traveling supervisor relative to a program to be followed out in the execution of each contract. The minutes of these conferences shall form the basis for the operative plan and are to be submitted to the manager of the Construction Division for approval. Thereafter the project manager, works superintendent, and contractor shall confer with the traveling supervisor, individually or in joint conference, as the traveling supervisor may elect, so that he will be thoroughly conversant with the various questions or decisions that may arise.

The traveling supervisor shall arrange to preside at conferences o be held at the site at a stated time each week, and his decision

and an extract of the important parts of the minutes of such conferences shall be considered as decisive, subject, however, to an appeal to the proper authority at Washington.

When occasions arise wherein it is deemed advisable on the part of the supervisor to make changes of plans and specifications' in order to effect economies or facilitate the progress of the work, it is deemed advisable that the supervisor shall discuss these matters with the architects or engineers and obtain their concurrence, or if there is a difference of opinion the matter shall then be referred to Washington for final decision.

The main idea of having a traveling supervisor is to centralize the authority in the region to which he is assigned and to assist the works superintendent to adjust differences of opinion between the contractor and himself, as well as to obtain the result of his major duties in regard to the execution of the work in an economical and diplomatic manner.

The following were the traveling supervisors: G. B. Beaumont, A. M. Ganson, Walter Reid, jr., J. M. Murphy, J. H. Nolan, M. C. Reynolds, and J. C. Vreeland.

LETTING CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.

As a necessary adjunct to the actual work of construction in a corporation undertaking building operations of such a magnitude as was contemplated by the United States Housing Corporation, it must be easily appreciated that not the least important part of the labors connected with this work was awarding of the contract itself; to make proper award is a matter of sufficiently serious consideration to any one engaged in building work; to make an award under Government supervision with funds furnished by the Government under regulations more or less stringent needs more than ordinary care.

One of the most important items of the Construction Division's work was the selection of the contractor. Conditions made it necessary to select a contractor for a given project before the drawings and specifications were entirely completed, and there were certain war restrictions imposed upon the corporation in the purchase of materials and the securing of labor which made it impossible to follow usual peace-time methods of competitive public bidding and still keep within reasonable bounds as to cost. A method was therefore devised to enable us to make the best selection as to responsibility and low cost on a truly competitive basis. This method comprised, first, the compilation of a list of available contractors within a reasonable radius of the project. Private and confidential reports concerning the financial standing and business ability of these contractors were secured, together with statements as to other Government contracts upon which they were then engaged, it being the desire of the management to secure as contractor one who would be able to give his undivided attention to the work in hand. Questionnaires were then sent out to all contractors making application to the corporation in Washington and to those whose names were given to us.

These contractors were then investigated, their financial standing inquired into, and other inquiries made to establish their ability to handle, the class of work contemplated. Through the courtesy of the emergency construction committee of the Council of National Defense, we were able also to make use of their questionnaire files and data. Bradstreet's and Dun's reports were referred to for the financial standing of those under investigation. Confidential agents made particular inquiry of those who were not otherwise known to the officials of the corporation, and every effort was made to put on the available list only contractors who could show that they were reliable, capable, and qualified to undertake the contracting management of our work. When the Production Division delivered to us the drawings and specifications for a project, five or more contractors who were located within a reasonable radius of the project were selected from the available list by the manager and submitted to the president of the corporation for his approval. These were then furnished with drawings, specifications, and all necessary data to enable them to understand the scope of the contemplated work and to make estimates of plant and time requirements, cost, and fee. The list of these selected was in each special instance made up from the contractors best suited for the particular class of work contemplated, bearing in mind the location of the work to be done and, as a general rule, making an effort to select contractors familiar with the locality and the conditions to be met at the place where the construction work was to be done. As a result of this method of selection the keenest competition existed among the contractors selected as best suited to handle the work in hand, and real competition was obtained at a time when labor conditions as well as the market for materials made ordinary contracting methods quite unsuitable and accurate estimating almost impossible.

Lump-sum contracts were practically out of the question, save in a very few instances, and no reliable contractor at the time would bid on a lump-sum basis unless his bid carried an assured profit out of all proportion. The system of cost plus a fixed fee and fixed plant rental was therefore adopted, the contractor's estimate of the entire cost of the work being recognized and accepted as purely tentative and subject to conditions over which he necessarily would have no control. It placed upon a competitive basis the only items in regard to which real competition could exist, namely, his contracting experience, for which he was paid a fee or practically a retainer, and the use of his plant, which, as a general contractor, he would have or be in a position to obtain. It eliminated entirely the principle of cost plus percentage contracts, in accordance with instructions from Congress. We considered the principle of cost plus a fee to be sound, since it tends to reduce the speculative