Organization. CENTRAL HOUSING COMMITTEE The Central Housing Committee had its origin in the recognition, by staff members of agencies concerned with housing, construction, and finance, of the need for some coordinating agency to prevent duplication of effort, to make available for use a large amount of accumulated data, and to establish closer working contacts between technical men engaged in similar lines of activities. The need for such an organization was emphasized in the 1934 report of the National Resources Board. This resulted in action, and recommendations were made by housing agencies and other interested organizations for a committee on coordination of housing activities. Appointment by the President of the Central Housing Committee in 1935 followed. This Committee is an informal body concerned with exchange of ideas and with research in the field of housing. It is composed of executives of various Federal agencies dealing with housing, construction, and finance. Their technical assistants function through subcommittees and auxiliary groups of specialized interests, thus permitting exchange of experience and pertinent data and making available results of joint studies or compilations. The following Federal agencies are represented on the Central Housing Committee: United States Department of Commerce. Farm Credit Administration. Farm Security Administration. Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Federal Housing Administration. United States Housing Authority. The following list of committees of the Central Housing Committee and their subcommittees will give an idea of the scope and range of interests: Committees Ways and Means--- Appraisal and Mortgage Analysis--- Subcommittees Research, Design, and Construction___ Fire Resistance, Landscape (Grounds), Economics and Statistics_. Land Use and Site Planning.... Operation and Management--- Heating and Ventilating, Plumbing Planning Standards, Rehabilitation. Accounting, Maintenance and Operation. These committees and subcommittees have certain basic programs within the limits of which they are free to initiate discussions and make recommendations. In general, there is very little evidence of objections in expressions by agency representatives and many recommendations of considerable importance have been presented to and approved by the Central Housing Committee. Specifically, data have been shared, duplication of effort avoided, and joint or separate undertakings arranged where additional information is needed to deal with specific problems. The Central Housing Committee and its subcommittees are served by assistants contributed by the member agencies to meet needs as they develop. Publications include the Housing Index-Digest, the Housing Legal Digest, and Technical Bulletins, the latter being of limited, confidential circulation. Standardization Activities. The Central Housing Committee is contributing much toward increased standardization in the housing construction of the Federal Government, and its efforts have been directed toward reduction in cost of such housing. This standardization work includes many phases such as structural practices, plumbing, heating, and ventilating, test methods, fire-resistance classification of building types and constructions, terminology, building maintenance, and specification. While such standardization activities are intended primarily for use in Government housing programs, the public also benefits thereby first, through the provision of adequate housing at lower cost to the Government and consequenetly to the occupant and taxpayer; and second, through the availability to private industry of the standardized methods and practices thus developed. The various phases of these standardization activities are discussed briefly below. Structural practices.-A description of the structural practices of Federal agencies concerned with housing has been compiled for convenient comparison as a step in exploring possibilities of greater uniformity. This was reviewed by the National Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce, and the Forest Products Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, and returned to the Central Housing Committee with the comment that recommendations for greater uniformity could not be given until a study had been made of the problems peculiar to individual agencies which may have necessitated, to some extent, present dissimilar practices. When it is possible to complete these studies it is hoped that they will result in greater uniformity in structural practices of the Federal Government. Experience of many Federal agencies has also been utilized by the Central Housing Committee in the preparation of a check list, covering all stages of building construction. This check list, intended chiefly for use of those charged with inspection of Government building projects, is nearing completion and will aid in the prevention of costly mistakes in building construction. Plumbing. In order to facilitate further Government housing undertakings, a subcommittee was charged with development of a Plumbing Manual. Three recommended plumbing codes were used as a basis for discussion. The Manual, now available, is primarily intended for the use of Federal Government agencies. Fire-resistance classifications.-In 1938 Federal housing agencies requested the cooperation of the National Bureau of Standards and a newly organized subcommittee of the Central Housing Committee in the development of reasonable requirements as to fire resistance of buildings and constructions. The classification and definition of building types and constructions from the standpoint of fire resistance and the making of surveys of combustible contents related to representative building occupancies was undertaken. Surveys of school buildings, office buildings, dwellings, and apartments have been completed, and surveys of warehouses and other commercial buildings are in progress. Summaries of the surveys of schools and offices are available upon request to the Central Housing Committee. Compilation of fire-resistance ratings of building constructions, based on results of fire tests, acceptance tests, or recent research, has also been started. Heating and ventilating.-A heating and ventilating committee, recently organized, composed of representatives of Federal agencies dealing with problems in this field, is concerned chiefly with the development of performance standards, including correlation of existing data and the relation between thermal environment and health, and methods of testing and rating of equipment to determine conformity with these performance standards. This work was undertaken recently in cooperation with the National Bureau of Standards. Test methods.-The National Bureau of Standards' program of technical housing research, conducted with the cooperation of the Central Housing Committee, resulted in the development of standard test procedure for evaluating the structural properties of house constructions. Tests of new types of constructions such as prefabricated units, performed under this procedure, compared with similar tests on conventional constructions, afford a more reasonable basis for judging the value of new types of constructions than any other method available. Ultimately, such tests may find their way into building codes to replace present requirements, which specify sizes of structural members rather than performance. Terminology.-Lack of agreement as to definition of housing terms has resulted in much confusion. The Central Housing Committee found, however, that while the problem of terminology demanded immediate steps toward the development of greater uniformity, the work necessitated much study. A committee from five principal Federal agencies concerned with housing compiled a preliminary glossary of housing terms as a basis for discussion and constructive criticism prior to the drafting of a glossary which might serve as an official source of reference. This preliminary glossary was well received and constructive comments were made which are being incorporated in the final edition. In addition, definitions from all publications issued by Federal Government agencies concerned with housing are now being compiled to serve as a further basis for the establishment of uniform terminology. Building maintenance.-To protect large investments in housing made by the Federal Government, the Central Housing Committee is cooperating with the National Bureau of Standards and the Public Buildings Administration in the preparation of a building mainte nance or custodial handbook. This work will be based on wide experience in building maintenance and on the National Bureau of Standards' research in this field, and it is hoped that an important step toward standardization of building maintenance practice will result therefrom. Specifications.-At the request of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, a review of the section on appliances, equipment, and mechanical devices of its Master Specifications was made by the committee. A new subcommittee is being organized to bring together persons engaged in writing specifications in order to simplify specification writing procedure. This undertaking in no way conflicts with work of the Federal Specifications Executive Committee, which is concerned with description of the type and quality of materials purchased by the Federal Government, rather than with the form of specifications. It is expected that considerable attention will be devoted to possibilities of adopting for general use the "streamlined specification system" developed by the secretary of the Central Housing Committee, a system already adopted by the Veterans' Administration. A streamlined specification is one in which a sharp distinction is drawn between contractual and constructural elements, the former being covered by a single governing mandatory clause and the latter by a concise outline of materials and methods.99 Landscape (Grounds development).—A subcommittee is cooperating with the National Park Service in the preparation of a landscape architects' handbook, with special emphasis on cost estimating. Such a handbook, if generally adopted, should promote the standardizing of many practices in this field. There has also been prepared a check list for the use of landscape inspectors. "For a description of the procedure used in formulation of these specifications, see: "Streamlined Specifications," by Horace W. Peaslee, Pencil Points, vol. 20, pp. 533-538, August 1939. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS The National Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce, created by the act of Congress approved March 3, 1901, is charged with the custody of the standards; the comparison of the standards used in sclentific investigations, engineering, manufacturing, commerce, and educational institutions with the standards adopted or recognized by the Government, the construction, when necessary, of standards, their multiples and subdivisions, the testing and calibration of standard measuring apparatus; the solution of problems which arise in connection with standards; the determination of physical constants and the properties of materials, when such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of sufficient accuracy elsewhere. The Bureau shall exercise its functions for the Government of the United States; for any State or municipal government within the United States; or for any scientific society, educational institution, firm, corporation, or individual within the United States engaged in manufacturing or other pursuits requiring the use of standards or standard measuring instruments.1 The Bureau performs its functions through two major groups: Research and Testing Group, and Commercial Standardization Group. Research and Testing Group. The Research and Testing Group is subdivided into nine divisions: Electricity, weights and measures, heat and power, optics, chemistry, mechanics and sound, organic and fibrous materials, metallurgy, and clay and silicate products. This group handles all matters pertaining to investigations and research, testing and measuring. The organization of the Research and Testing Group is shown in chart III. The work of the National Bureau of Standards in establishing and maintaining standards of measurement, quality, performance, and practice serves not only Federal and tax-supported agencies, but the consuming public as well. The research and testing facilities of the Bureau are used to discover and evaluate material standards and to solve basic technical problems. The Bureau's work on standards of measurement is designed to assist in the standardization of containers and products, in promoting systematic inspection of trade weights and measures, and facilitate research in science and technology. The establishment of more precise values for the standard constants furnishes an exact basis for scientific experiment and design and makes possible the efficient technical control of industrial processes. The Bureau's work on standards of quality sets up attainable standards and test methods to assure high utility of the products 1Public Act No. 177, an act to establish the National Bureau of Standards, March 3, 1901. Amendments, June 30, 1932. |