Previous to the establishment of a Department for the Inspection of Buildings in the city of New York, every contractor to considerable extent engineered construction to suit himself, and at the time J. M. Macgregor was Superintendent of the Inspection of Buildings in the city of New York, and at the beginning of the term of his office, he had innumerable prejudices to overcome, endless work, and to contend with the obstinacy of builders. Walls had been constructed of soil and refuse lime; ordinary 8-inch walls of inferior brick were built for party walls to sustain the ends of beams on each side for floors, and every variety of insufficient construction. He succeeded in having passed good and sufficient laws relative to party walls and to the construction of buildings, which gave greater security to all classes of structures. I have known him to have to explain to the party soliciting a permit to build, what kind of foundations should be built, what kind of walls, what kind of timber, stone, brick, and in fact educate large numbers of those about to build what there is required in buildings. Without building laws in large cities, there is but little security for the solidity of structures.

BUILDING LAWS PASSED APRIL, 1871.

Abstract from the Building Laws of the City of New York in reference to Walls, Foundations, etc., now in force.

"SEC. 3. Depth of Foundation Walls. All foundation walls shall be laid not less than four feet below the surface of the earth on a good solid bottom, and in case the nature of the earth should require it, a bottom of driven piles or laid timbers, of sufficient size and thickness, shall be laid to prevent the walls from settling, the top of such pile or timber bottom to be driven or laid below the water line; and all piers, columns, posts, or pillars resting on the earth, shall be set upon a bottom in the same manner as the foundation walls. Rock bottom. Whenever in any case the foundation walls or walls of any building that may hereafter be erected, shall be placed on a rock bottom, the said rock shall be graded off level to receive the same. All excavations upon the front or side of any lot adjoining a street shall

be properly guarded and protected by the person or persons having charge of the same, so as to prevent the same from being or becoming dangerous to life or limb. Excavations. Whenever there shall be any excavation, either of earth or rock, hereafter commenced upon any lot or piece of land in the city of New York, and there shall be any party or other wall wholly or partly on adjoining land, and standing upon or near the boundary line of said lot, if the persons or persons, whose duty it shall be under existing laws to preserve and protect said wall from injury, shall neglect or fail so to do, after having had a notice of twentyfour hours from the Department of Buildings so to do, the Superintendent of Buildings may enter upon the premises, and employ such labor and take such steps as in his judgment may be necessary to make the same safe and secure, or to prevent the same from becoming unsafe or dangerous, at the expense of the person or persons owning said wall or building of which it may be a part, and any person or persons doing the said work, or any part thereof, under and by direction of the said Superintendent, may bring and maintain an action against the owner or owners, or any one of them, of the said wall or building of which it may be a part, for any work done or materials furnished in and about the said premises, in the same manner as if he had been employed to do the said work by the said owner or owners of the said premises.

"SEC. 4. Base course of foundation walls, piers, columns, etc. The footing, or base course, under all foundation walls, and under all piers, columns, posts, or pillars resting on the earth, shall be of stone or concrete; and if under a foundation wall, shall be at least twelve inches wider than the bottom width of the said wall; and if under piers, columns, posts, or pillars, shall be at least twelve inches wider on all sides than the bottom width of the said piers, columns, posts, or pillars, and not less than eighteen inches in thickness; and if built of stone, the stones thereof shall not be less than two by three feet and at least eight inches in thickness; and all base stones shall be well bedded and laid edge to edge; and if the walls be built of isolated piers, then there must be inverted arches, at least twelve inches thick, turned under and between the piers, or two footing courses of large stone, at least ten inches thick in each course. Construction of foundation walls. All foundation walls shall be built of stone or brick, and shall be laid in cement mortar, and if constructed of stone, shall be at least eight inches thicker than the wall next above them, to a depth of sixteen feet below the curb level, and shall be increased four inches in thickness for every additional five feet in depth below the said sixteen feet; and if built of brick, shall be at least four inches thicker than the wall next above them to a depth of sixteen feet below the curb level, and shall be increased four inches in thickness for every additional five feet in depth below the said sixteen feet.

"SEC. 5. Height, thickness and materials of walls of dwellings. In all dwelling-houses that may hereafter be erected, not more than fifty-five feet in height, the outside walls shall not be less than twelve inches thick; and if above fifty-five feet in height, and not more than eighty feet in height, the outside walls shall not be less than sixteen inches thick to the top of the second-story beams, provided the same is twenty feet above the curb level, and if not, then to the under side of the third-story beams; and also provided that that portion of the walls twelve inches thick shall not exceed forty feet in height above the said sixteeninch wall. No party wall in any dwelling-house that may hereafter be erected shall be less than sixteen inches in thickness; and in every dwelling-house hereafter erected more than eighty feet in height, four inches shall be added to the thickness of the walls for every fifteen feet, or part thereof, that is added to the height of the building.

"SEC. 6. Height, thickness and materials of walls of buildings other than dwellings. In all buildings, other than dwelling-houses, hereafter to be erected, not more than fortyfive feet in height, and not more than twenty-five feet in width, the outside walls shall not be less than twelve inches thick, and the party walls not less than sixteen inches thick; if above forty-five feet, and not more than fifty-five feet in height, the outside and party walls shall not be less than sixteen inches thick; if above fifty-five feet, and not more than seventy feet in height, the outside and party walls shall not be less than twenty inches thick to the height of the secondstory beams, and not less than sixteen inches thick from thence to the top; and if above seventy feet, and not more than eighty-five feet in height, the outside and party walls shall not be less than twenty inches thick to the height of the third-story beams, and not less than sixteen inches from thence to the top; and if above eighty-five feet in height, the outside and party walls shall be increased four inches in thickness for every ten feet or part thereof that shall be added to the height of the said wall or walls. Buildings over 25 feet in width to have partition walls or girders and columns. In all buildings over twenty-five feet in width, and not having either brick partition walls or girders, supported by columns running from front to rear, the walls shall be increased an additional four inches in thickness, to the same relative thickness in height as required under this section, for every additional ten feet in width of said building, or any portion thereof. It is understood that the amount of materials specified may be used either in piers or buttresses, provided the outside walls between the same shall in no case be less than twelve inches in thickness, to the height of forty feet, and if over that height, then sixteen inches thick; but in no case shall a party wall between the piers or buttresses of a building be less than sixteen inches in thickness. Corner buildings, thickness of walls. In all buildings hereafter erected, situated on the the street corner, the bearing wall thereof (that is, the wall on the street upon which the beams rest) shall be four inches thicker in all cases than is otherwise provided for by this act.

"SEC. 7. Partition walls of buildings over 30 feet in width. Every building hereafter erected, more than thirty feet in width, except churches, theatres, or other public buildings, shall have one or more brick, stone, or fire-proof partition walls, running from front to rear, which may be four inches less in thickness than is called for by the clauses and provisions above set forth with regard to foundations, thickness, and height, provided they are not more than fifty feet in height; these walls shall be so located that the space between any two of the bearing walls of the building shall not be over twenty-five feet. Iron or wooden girders, and bearing weight of same. In case iron or wooden girders, supported upon iron or wooden columns, are substituted in place of partition walls, the building may be fifty feet in width, but not more; and if there should be substituted iron or wooden girders, supported upon iron or wooden columns, in place of the partition walls, they shall be made of sufficient strength to bear safely the weight of two hundred and fifty pounds for every square foot of floor or floors that rest upon them, exclusive of the weight of material employed in their construction, and shall have a footing course and foundation wall not less than sixteen inches in thickness, with inverted arches under and between the columns, or two footing courses of large well-shaped stone, laid crosswise, edge to edge, and at least ten inches thick in each course, the lower footing course to be not less than two feet greater in area than the size of the column; and under every column, as above set forth, a cap of cut granite, at least twelve inches thick, and of a diameter twelve inches greater each way than that of the column, must be laid solid and level to receive the column. Walls to be braced during construction. Any building that may hereafter be erected in an isolated position, and more than one hundred feet in depth, and which shall not be provided with crosswalls, shall be securely braced, both inside and out, during the whole time of its erection, if it can be done; but in case the same cannot be so braced from the outside, then it shall be properly braced from the inside, and the braces shall be continued from the foundation upward to at least one-third the height of the building from the curb level.

"SEC. 8. Cutting of wall. No wall or any building now erected, or hereafter to be built or erected, shall be cut off altogether below, without permission so to do having been obtained from the Superintendent of Buildings. Temporary supports. Every temporary support placed under any structure, wall, girder, or beam, during the erection, finishing, alteration, or repairing of any building, or part thereof, shall be equal in strength to the permanent support required for such structure, wall, girder, or beam. Braces. And the walls of every building shall be strongly gly braced from the beams of each story until the building is