War Emergency Construction (Housing War Workers) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 Excerpt: ...be made of their ability or performance in this regard. Many of them lacked, however, the practical training in contracting superintendence necessary for the position, and in some cases changes had to be made, as the superintendent was not sufficiently familiar witli this part of the work to control and guide properly the contractors and the field forces. Later appointees were, men of contracting experience--usually independent contractors who surrendered their business to aid the, Government in its work. Many of them had also a professional training. These men were uniformly successful. The field auditor, though a member of the field force and under the direction of the works superintendent, was appointed by and reported to the chief auditor of the Fiscal Division of the Housing Corporation. He not only kept up an account of all pay rolls and labor costs, but also supervised the checking of all materials delivered to the work and audited and paid all bills for both labor and material. All orders for material placed and all bills and pay rolls, when audited, were approved by the works superintendent before the materials were actually ordered or any payment made. The field staff manual instructed the superintendents as to the arrangements to be made with regard to fire protection, hospital requirements, distribution of material, and the functions of the departments coordinating with the Construction Division. In beginning the work on each project, various and interesting problems presented themselves to be solved. In many cases the preliminary operations were as important as the actual building of the houses. Sites had to be cleared, barracks and commissary buildings erected, and other accommodations prepared for the welfare of the workmen engaged on the wor...