185 (69)
I
factors at work to account for the cost of buildings baving increased in a greater ratio than the labour and materials used in their construction and for building contracts to be notwith- standing less remunerative than formerly. No doubt this is partly accounted for by the condition of affairs which has already been dealt with at length by the Commission. refer to such matters as bribery, blackmail, unnecessary interference, delay in passing houses when completed, heavy fines, etc., all of which may and generally do in the aggregate, cost the Contractor a considerable sum. After one such experience the Contractor allows for such items in his next teuder. What other causes, if any, may be at work, it is not easy to discover.
The Public Health and Buildings Ordinances of 1901 and 1903 have been unquestionably responsible for a very real and permanent increase in the cost of buildings, as the statement attached hereto marked "B" amply demonstrates. The figures are taken from the estimate before referred to marked “A” and they show that the actual extra cost attributable to the New Ordinances amounts to the large sum of $536.86 or more than 40% of the whole cost of building a house of a similar type in 1891. In many cases the requirements of the New Ordinance appear to add unnecessarily to the cost. For instance the present Ordinance provides for Kitchen Walls to be cemented to a height of 4 feet; 18 inches would be ample. The thickness of walls, and especially of party walls, as laid down in the Ordinance, is excessive and could be reduced with ample safety. In view of the inferiority of the lime used in the construction of buildings, it would be well to encourage building in cement and to amend the Ordinances so as to differentiate between thicknesses of walls in cement mortar and lime mortar. There is, however, one instance in which the cost of Chinese buildings could be increased with advantage to the Public safety and the ultimate gain of the landlord, that is, it should be compulsory for the terminal walls of blocks of Chinese houses to be built in cement, these being the parts of the walls which are most exposed and bear the heaviest strains in cases of flood, typhoon or fire. The frequent collapses and loss of life which have resulted therefrom, would, in all probability, in almost every instance have been prevented if such walls had been built with cement mortar instead of lime mortar.
In the foregoing illustrations I have dealt almost exclusively with the ordinary type of Chinese houses because the large increase in the cost of erection of such can more readily be accounted for than in the case of houses of European design. The existing Ordinances do not increase the cost of the latter in the same ratio as the former, and it is therefore somewhat difficult to explain why the cost of building European houses should have gone up in the same proportion as Chinese and be still apparently unremunerative to the building Contractor.
8th March, 1907.
HENRY HUMPHREYS.