Accidents in the construction industry have been steadily increasing according to such records as are available. There is need of new building codes, most of the State codes being out of date. The Commissioner of Labor Statistics suggests that now is an appropriate time for calling a council of all the States to review their building laws in consonance with the new methods and types of building. With building contractors engaged more and more in interstate business, the need for a uniform building safety code becomes more and more apparent. Page 63.

Labor unions have developed far beyond their original field of wages, hours, and working conditions. Beginning, generally, with benefits for strikes, death, sickness, etc., unions have steadily widened the scope of their activities. Labor banks are perhaps the best known of the union owned and directed enterprises. Other ventures, less well known, include credit unions, home-loan associations, union-label stores, insurance companies, health services, construction of homes, recreational activities, etc. Labor unions are also taking an interest in the conditions in industry and in broad social and economic problems. Page 26.

The existing legal restrictions upon the hours of labor of men, and the attitude of the Supreme Court toward such legislation, is reviewed in an article beginning on page 16. In general, it appears that the Supreme Court in recent years has upheld the right of the State to place reasonable restrictions upon the number of hours per day which adult males may work.

Labor turnover in American factories was lower in the first half of 1928 than in the corresponding period of 1927. Beginning with July, 1928, however, both accession and quit rates have been higher month by month than in the corresponding months of 1927. It is also noteworthy that this year, for the first time since 1922, the October accession rate exceeded that of September. This upward movement of turnover rates indicates a growing industrial activity. Page 41. Output per worker in the major American industries increased 34.5 per cent between 1918-1920 and 1926-27, according to compilations made by the Department of Commerce. The increase for agriculture over this period is estimated at 27 per cent; for mining, 38 per cent; for manufacture, 43 per cent; and for rail transportation, 12 per cent. Page 54.

Journalists are well organized in a number of foreign countries, especially in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. The collective agreements signed with publishers cover such matters as hours of labor, vacations with pay, settlement of disputes, and right of discharge. Page 45.

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STUDY of the relative cost of material and labor, and of the relative cost of each class of work in the building industry has just been completed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As the number of cities covered was necessarily limited, the cities of Washington, D. C., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Decatur, Ill., were selected as being fairly representative of the different types of urban communities. The data relate to the early part of 1928.

It is to be emphasized, however, that the totals shown in the tables below are totals of the three cities only, and should not be interpreted as applying to the United States as a whole.

Representative contractors in these three cities furnished to agents of the bureau data as to the amounts spent for materials and labor for each of the different parts of the building on which they did the work themselves, and also as to the amounts of the subcontracts and the subcontractors to whom let. The subcontractors in turn reported the amount spent for labor and material on that part of the building on which they worked.

The cost figures stated in the present article are the net cost figures, representing only the actual cost of the building from the time excavation started. They do not include overhead expenses, profits, cost of land, or finance charges.

The cost of the material is its actual cost as delivered to the job, including freight and hauling. The labor costs are costs of labor on the job, and do not include any shop labor such as the making up of millwork or the cutting of stone at the quarries.

The buildings selected for the study were chosen from the types usually built in the city and the number selected from each type was roughly in proportion to the number built in the city.

Relative Cost of Material and Labor in New Buildings

TABLE 1 shows the percentage of labor and material cost in the construction of residential and nonresidential buildings in each of the three cities from which data were obtained and the weighted total of all buildings in each of these cities and for the three combined.

TABLE 1-PER CENT OF COST OF CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS CHARGEABLE TO LABOR AND MATERIALS IN 3 SPECIFIED CITIES

In the three cities taken as a whole, material accounted for 54 per cent of the total cost of residential building and 61.7 per cent of nonresidential building, while labor accounted for 46 per cent of the cost of residential building and 38.3 per cent of the cost of nonresidential building. If we weight each class of building by the proportion it formed of all building in the year 1927 we find that of the total cost of all building 58.1 per cent is for material and 41.8 per cent is for labor.

It was found that the proportion of costs did not differ greatly in the different cities, but as regards the individual buildings for which data were obtained there was a moderate range in the proportion of material to labor. In Cincinnati the lowest material cost on any one residential building was 48.4 per cent and the highest 56.9 per cent, while the lowest labor cost was 43.1 per cent and the highest 51.6 per cent. In Decatur the range of material cost of residential buildings was from 60.7 to 66.1 per cent and of labor 33.9 to 39.3 per cent. In Washington the cost of material formed 49.7 per cent of the cost of the residential building where material cost was lowest and 56 per cent of the cost of the one where the material cost was highest.

Of nonresidential buildings in Cincinnati the building where material formed the highest portion of the total cost showed a ratio of material to labor of 65.1 to 34.9 per cent. On the building where labor formed the highest proportion of the total cost labor was only 46.6 per cent of the total cost, and material 53.4 per cent. In Decatur the difference in the proportion of material to labor in nonresidential buildings ranged from 56.4 per cent for material and 43.6 per cent for labor, to 65.3 per cent for material and 34.7 per cent for labor. In Washington this range was from 55.2 per cent for material and 44.8 per cent for labor to 61 per cent for material and 39 per cent for labor.

It was impossible to determine whether this range in material and labor cost is caused by more efficient labor on one building than on another or whether more costly materials were used in the construction of some buildings than others.

Relative Material and Labor Costs in Each Item of Building

TABLE 2 shows the percentage of material cost and labor cost of the different items in the erection of residential buildings in each of the cities from which data were received and in the three cities combined.

TABLE 2-PER CENT OF SPECIFIED CLASS OF CONSTRUCTION WORK CHARGEABLE TO LABOR AND MATERIAL IN THREE SPECIFIED CITIES-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

Considering the three cities as a whole, material formed a larger percentage of the cost than labor in all the items that make up the cost of residential building, except excavating, painting, papering, and plastering. In Cincinnati the labor cost was higher than the material cost in these four items and also in concrete work and roofing. In Decatur brick work as well as excavating, painting, papering and plastering showed a higher labor cost than material cost. In Washington only in the four last-named classes of work was the labor cost more that half the total cost.

Disregarding the cost of miscellaneous items, the installation of the heating plant showed the highest material and lowest labor percentage of any of the items that go to make up the cost of erection of residential buildings; in the three cities combined, 72.2 per cent was spent for material and 27.8 per cent for labor on this class of work. On the other hand, practically the whole cost of excavating is chargeable to labor. The highest labor percentage in any item of the building itself was for papering 77.7 per cent in Cincinnati and 68.5 per cent in Decatur. In Washington the cost of labor was a larger percentage of the cost of painting than of papering; the labor cost formed 74.7 per cent in painting and only 66.8 per cent in papering. In carpenter work, which is the largest item in the cost of residential building, the ratio of material cost to labor cost was 54.5 to 45.5 in Washington, and 69.3 to 30.7 in Decatur. In the cities taken as a whole, the ratio of the cost of material to the cost of labor in this item was 56.5 to 43.5.

In plumbing, and in electric wiring and fixtures over 60 per cent of the cost was for material in each of the cities.

Table 3 shows the percentage of labor cost and of material cost in each of the different items in the erection of nonresidential buildings.

TABLE 3.-PER CENT OF COST OF SPECIFIED CLASS OF CONSTRUCTION WORK CHARGEABLE TO LABOR AND MATERIAL IN THREE CITIES-NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

In the erection of nonresidential buildings, when the three cities are considered as a whole, only three items, excavating, plastering, and painting, show a higher labor cost than material cost. In constructing nonresidential buildings in these cities 67.7 per cent of the cost of painting is due to labor and 32.3 per cent to material, while 92.6 per cent of the excavating cost and 54.9 per cent of the plastering cost is for labor.

The proportionate cost of materials in the remaining classes of work ranges from 51.5 per cent in concrete work to 80.1 per cent in glass and glazing, and 83 per cent in the miscellaneous operations.

Excluding excavating and "miscellaneous," the highest proportion of material costs shown in Cincinnati was for glass and glazing, and the highest proportion of labor cost was for painting; in Decatur the highest percentage of material cost was for structural steel, and the highest percentage of labor cost was for painting; while in Washington glass and glazing showed the highest percentage of material cost, and plastering showed the highest percentage of labor cost.

How the Building Dollar Goes

TABLE 4 shows the percentage that the cost of each process in building forms of the total cost of residential building in each of the cities and for all three combined. These figures include both labor and materials.