TRANSFERS TO OR FROM OTHER BUREAUS OR GOVERNMENT DEPART

MENTS.

18-30. Citation of statutes relating to transfer of supplies. Attention is directed to the statutes quoted in paragraphs 27-170, 27-171, and 27-172 of Chapter 27 herein, regarding the interchange of Government property between the Army and Navy and other departments.

18–31. Bureau action required in arranging transfers. The duties of the surplus property section of the bureau in arranging transfers to or from other bureaus or Government departments have been set forth in paragraphs 3-118 to 3-124 (Ch. 3) herein. While field organizations may make inquiries of the local area coordinators (see par. 27-75 of Ch. 27) regarding the availability of surplus material under other Government departments in their respective areas, material under the cognizance of this bureau may be declared surplus only by bureau action. In any case the actual request for transfer should be made to the bureau, in order that a complete canvass of available sources may be made. Adherence to this prescribed routing of requests is essential, and negotiations conducted in any other manner will only result in delaying fulfillment of the station's requirements.

CHAPTER 19.

FACTORY INSPECTION.

SECTION I. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

19-01. Factory inspection in the bureau's practice comprises inspection of raw materials and manufactured or partly manufactured articles before their delivery at the site of the work.

19-02. Bureau policy as regards inspection. All manufactured articles furnished under public works contracts or under requisitions approved by the bureau will be inspected at the factory, when practicable, for compliance with the specifications; certain of these articles may require inspection first at the point of original production or manufacture, and later as a part of an assembled machine or other finished product. Raw materials, similarly obtained, such as piles, timber, and stone, will be inspected at the point of original shipment, unless obtained from stocks in the immediate neighborhood of the work and unless delivery conditions make site inspection advisable. As a general rule, it will not be practicable to provide inspection at the sources indicated when the cost of such inspection is out of proportion to the value of the article, or when the time element makes it undesirable. In cooperation with the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, and other bureaus concerned, this bureau may also arrange for factory inspection of materials purchased for naval supply account stock when required principally for public works and public utilities.

19-03. When factory inspection is desirable. Factory inspection of material is desirable and advantageous when any of the following purposes can be fulfilled thereby: (a) To make use of inspection facilities regularly maintained at the factory; (b) to avoid shipment of unacceptable material with resultant expense and delay; (c) to allow defects to be remedied at the factory before shipment; (d) to secure uniform inspection of material or equipment requiring special tests or analyses; (e) to facilitate purchase and delivery generally.

19-04. Instructions and specifications. General instructions are published in leaflet form under the title "Instructions relative

to factory inspection of machinery and material coming under the cognizance of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Department." The general provisions forming a part of all public works contracts state that all inspection of material and workmanship will be made, unless otherwise provided, after delivery at the site, and that when material is to be inspected at the factory, the instructions previously mentioned will govern. There is also issued by the Navy Department a booklet entitled "General Specifications for Inspection of Material." These general specifications form a part of all Navy Department leaflet specifications, and are now referred to in and made a part of all contracts made by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts for material purchased for this and other bureaus of the Navy Department. It is intended that the practice of the Bureau of Yards and Docks shall conform, as nearly as conditions permit, to the procedure set forth in this booklet.

19-05. Bureau supervision of inspection. Navy Regulations, article 393-11, provides as follows: "Each bureau shall inspect all material for its use, except at navy yards, where inspection shall be made as provided for in article 1612. Controversial questions as to the acceptance of manufactured or purchased articles shall be referred to the bureau having cognizance." In executing this provision, the bureau directs inspection through a central office under the supervision of a chief inspector. The bureau maintains no field. factory inspection organization, but utilizes the services of inspectors of engineering material and inspectors of machinery jointly with the Bureau of Engineering.

19-06. Authority for such joint inspection is based upon a joint letter of the Bureaus of Ordnance, Yards and Docks, and Engineering (Bu. Navigation file No. 6074-11), dated October 22, 1910, to the Secretary of the Navy, reading in part as follows: "The undersigned request that orders be issued to the inspectors of engineering material at Harrisburg, Pa., and Boston, Mass., to inspect all material coming under the cognizance of the Bureaus of Ordnance and Yards and Docks, as may be directed by these bureaus, such inspections to be reported directly to the bureau concerned. This is in addition to their present duties; and that similar orders to inspect all material coming under the cognizance of the Bureau of Yards and Docks be issued to the inspectors of engineering material at Munhall, Pa., South Bethlehem, Pa., Brooklyn, N. Y., Hartford,

*

Conn., Chester, Pa., and Philadelphia, Pa. ** The object of this request is to eliminate unnecessary correspondence and to expedite business." Under date of November 5, 1910 (see Bu. Navigation file No. 1777-68), the Secretary of the Navy issued to these inspectors orders reading as follows: "You will inspect all material coming under the cognizance of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Department, at your station. Report such inspection directly to the bureau concerned. This is in addition to your present duties." As additional inspection offices have been established by the Bureau of Engineering, these arrangements have been concurrently extended. This bureau similarly utilizes the services of timber inspectors under the Bureau of Construction and Repair, as formally authorized in joint circular letter dated June 6, 1923 (Y. & D. No. 809-1, C. & R. No. 939-A 217-S), and also the cement testing service of the Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce. The bureau also arranges, in special cases, for direct inspection by its own representatives.

19-07. Organization; inspection districts. The Bureau of Engineering maintains an inspection division, with branch offices located in various industrial centers throughout the country. The districts covered by its various inspectors of engineering material and the location of its inspectors of machinery are designated in a booklet (Form N. Eng. 10) entitled "List of Stations of Inspectors of Engineering Material and Inspectors of Machinery." The Bureau of Construction and Repair maintains timber inspection offices at various navy yards and stations, and issues a booklet entitled "Inspection Districts," which includes timber inspection districts. The Bureau of Standards (Department of Commerce) maintains a cement testing service covering the principal mills of the country, which is available to all Government agencies, including the Naval Establishment. Arrangements have been made with a number of the larger mills for the segregation of Government-tested cement in sealed bins, so that orders from the Government or from contractors may be filled without delay.

19-08. Distribution of inspection instruction booklets. The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts regularly forwards to all yards and stations a supply of the booklets previously mentioned, viz: General Specifications for Inspection of Material (Navy Department); List of Stations of Inspectors of Engineering Material and