No_1_February_and_March__1941 — Page 16

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Hong Kong Builder

He has recourse to books upon the subject and text books upon building construction, but most of these include much knowledge which he does not require, or stop short of that particular knowledge that he wants. In England there are correspondence classes specially advertised for Clerk of Works.

While the matter taught may be good and useful, it does, in at least some instances, deal with matter quite outside his duties, and could therefore be most mis- leading.

There does not appear to be any means of gaining knowledge such as that the words gas, water and steam, when applied to tubing denote quality, that Plumbers generally speak of tubing as barrel, of what “L”, “M”, "H", denote on an iron soil pipe, or why bricklayers prefer to lay stretchers than headers, and prefer to lay them frog down, why plasterers may gauge setting stuff with human urine, and the results of this, that while lead and iron can be joined by a wiped joint, what the answer will be and what is liable to happen if there are bits of coal in the sand.

Knowledge such as this may not be of the highest order, but it is technical, and it does appear that, how- ever great the intelligence of the individual, it is know- ledge that can only be acquired by experience upon a building.

As it was put by one Member of an English Clerk of Works Association at the association's annual dinner, "The chief school of training for the Clerk of Works would continue to be the workshop and the job; it was

there that he must get the insight and understanding of the science and art of building, and nowhere else. Theirs was a peculiar occupation. There were few assistant Clerks of Works, no definite qualifications for the occupa- tion, the nature of the duties varied amazingly from job to job, and if he (the speaker) were asked by a young man how he could train for a Clerk of Works, he would not be able to tell him except in very general terms."

These views are not held by everyone. Building owners have been known to say "all he has to do is to see the work carried out as specified."

Equally, those who know nothing of building, by this very fact, consider they can supervise works in progress.

One firm of Architects, in the East, received a letter. "In support of this application, I have pleasure in stating I am an able correspondent in English, Portu- guese and Spanish, fluent Chinese linguist, fast typist and experienced general office clerk. In case you do not require an assistant with these experiences, you might, perhaps, need an overseer of works."

In England and the U.S.A. that many Architects do hold the view that a Clerk of Works should have been a tradesman, is shown by the frequency with which adver- tisements appear asking for a Clerk of Works from a particular trade.

The choice of a Clerk of Works from a particular trade is usually influenced by the type of job, such as a carpenter where a large amount of timber will be used, or a mason where there is considerable stone-work.

Examinations for Clerk of Works have been suggest- ed by several bodies connected with building, and the Concrete Institute (now the Institution of Structural Engineers) created a Licentiate Class, with a view to including Clerks of Works who had passed an examina- tion.

It appears that three men have been elected to this class and that the Council of the Institute changed its mind and closed the class of Licentiate.

It has been suggested, in the Journal of the Institu-

tion of Structural Engineers, that the Institute should issue licenses, after a proper investigation into each case.

The Incorporated Association of Clerks of Works have gone a step further and set up an Examination Board to conduct examinations for Clerk of Works, and H.M. Office of Works examine for appointments of Clerks of Works.

Salary

A Clerk of Works has to be adequately paid.

If he has that considerable knowledge of building, in all its various trades, that a good Clerk of Works should possess, he has other markets for his knowledge.

In England before the rise in wages during and after 1914, a Clerk of Works' salary was usually twice that of skilled operatives.

In 1920 a letter in the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects from the Secretary of the Incor- porated Clerk of Works Association suggested a scale as follows:-

"Skilled operative's pay of 2s. 4d.

per hour for 44-hour week...£5. 2. 8 66-2/3 per cent. increase.

3. 8. 5

(Say 8 guineas)..£8.11. 1 and a footnote to the letter read :— "The circular referred to sets out the following resolu- tion, carried unanimously at a General Meeting held at Carpenters' Hall on 5th July, 1920: "That the Association is of opinion that the minimum salary for clerks of works should be 66-2/3 per cent. increase on the local rates for skilled operatives per week, and requests members to base the salary asked for on these minima when making application for appoint- ments"."

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