INSTRUCTIONS TO BUILDING INSPECTORS.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BUILDING INSPECTORS.

COMMISSIONER WALLACE, of this city’s department of buildings, has issued a circular to the construction and special inspectors of his bureau,which, if acted up to, will prove of great service to underwriters, property-owners, and the fire department. In this circular the commissioner insists that the sections of the Building code which relate to chimneys,flues, fireplaces, and heating pipes must be strictly enforced by all inspectors, under penalty of instant suspension and dismissal. From the tenor of this document it is clear that due care in this line has not been exercised iu the past, and that, with the advent of a new commissioner, a new order of things has succeeded. It remains, therefore, with the insurance companies and, to a certain extent, with the fire department to co-operate with Commissioner Wallace and to keep a watchful eye upon the inspectors, many of whom have certainly been derelict heretofore in the performance of their duties. With the appointment of the new tenementhouse department,some of the work at present supposed to be done by the inspectors of the building department will be transferred to it; but those responsibilities which peculiarly belong to the department over which Commissioner Wallace presides will not be lessened one whit. As a matter of fact, the responsibilities of these Inspectors will rather be heightened, if only because they will be relieved of others by the tenementhouse bureau, and will, therefore, have more time to devote to the inspection of chimneys, flues, fireplaces, and heatlug pipes, which, owing to the past perfunctory—not to say careless and slovenly— methods pursued by the building department have undoubtedly been the active causes of many fires, which, for want of auy other and better knowledge, the fire department has been obliged to set down as of “ unknown origin.” If these instructions of Commissioner Wallace are carried out to the letter, and the inspectors themselves are kept strictly up to the mark, there should be no possibility of the existence of such collusion between architects (so-called), jerry builders, and building department officials as has existed in the past.

COMMISSIONER WALLACE, of this city’s department of buildings, has issued a circular to the construction and special inspectors of his bureau,which, if acted up to, will prove of great service to underwriters, property-owners, and the fire department. In this circular the commissioner insists that the sections of the Building code which relate to chimneys,flues, fireplaces, and heating pipes must be strictly enforced by all inspectors, under penalty of instant suspension and dismissal. From the tenor of this document it is clear that due care in this line has not been exercised iu the past, and that, with the advent of a new commissioner, a new order of things has succeeded. It remains, therefore, with the insurance companies and, to a certain extent, with the fire department to co-operate with Commissioner Wallace and to keep a watchful eye upon the inspectors, many of whom have certainly been derelict heretofore in the performance of their duties. With the appointment of the new tenementhouse department,some of the work at present supposed to be done by the inspectors of the building department will be transferred to it; but those responsibilities which peculiarly belong to the department over which Commissioner Wallace presides will not be lessened one whit. As a matter of fact, the responsibilities of these Inspectors will rather be heightened, if only because they will be relieved of others by the tenementhouse bureau, and will, therefore, have more time to devote to the inspection of chimneys, flues, fireplaces, and heatlug pipes, which, owing to the past perfunctory—not to say careless and slovenly— methods pursued by the building department have undoubtedly been the active causes of many fires, which, for want of auy other and better knowledge, the fire department has been obliged to set down as of “ unknown origin.” If these instructions of Commissioner Wallace are carried out to the letter, and the inspectors themselves are kept strictly up to the mark, there should be no possibility of the existence of such collusion between architects (so-called), jerry builders, and building department officials as has existed in the past.