417 



BUILDING, ACTS FOR REGULATING. 



BUL. 



i reqi 



to extend iuch limiu, and otherwise to amend mieb AoU : 

 and funmnuch in many |*rU of the metropolis and the neighbour- 

 bnod thereof, the drainage of the hniuea U to unperfect u to endanger 

 the health of the Inhabitant*, it U expedient to make provision for 

 facilitating and promoting the improvement of nich drainage; and 

 forasmuch u bv reuon of the narrowne** of itreate, lane*, and alley*, 

 and the want of a thoroughfare in many place*, the due ventilation of 

 crowded neighbourhood* i* often impeded, and the health of the in- 

 habiunu thereby endangered, and from the dote contiguity of the 

 opposite DOOM the riek of accident by fire u extended, it u expedient 

 to make provision with regard to the streets and other ways of the 

 metropolis for securing a sufficient width thereof ; and forasmuch as 

 msny building* and parts of buildings unfit for dwellings are used for 

 that purpose, whereby disease is engendered, fostered, and propagated, 

 it is expedient to discourage and prohibit micb u*e thereof : and foras- 



, a* by the carrying on in populous neighbourhoods of certain 

 work*, in which materials of an explosive or inflammable kind are used, 

 the riik of accidents arising from such works is much increanetl, it i 

 expedient to regulate not only the construction of the buildings in 

 which such dangerous works are carried on, but also to provide for tin- 

 same being earned on in building* at safe distance* from other build- 

 baa which are used either for habitation or for trade in populous 

 neighbourhoods ; and forasmuch as by the carrying on of certain works 

 of a noisome kind, or in which deleterious materials are used, or 

 deleterious products are created, the health and comfort of the inha- 

 bitant* are extensively impaired and endangered, it is expedient to 

 make provision for the adoption of all such expedients aa either have 

 been or shall be devised for carrying on such businesses, so as to render 

 them as little noisome or deleterious aa possible to the inhabitants of 

 the neighbourhood; and if there be no such expedients, or if such 

 expedient* be not available in a sufficient degree, then for the carrying 

 on of such noisome and unwholesome businesses at safer distances from 

 other buildings used for habitation ; and forasmuch as great diversity 

 of practice has obtained among the officers appointed in pursuance of 

 the said Act* to superintend the execution thereof in the several dis- 

 trict* to which such Acts apply, and the means at present provided for 

 determining the numerous matters in question which constantly arise 

 tend to promote guch diversity, to increase the expense, and to retard 

 the operations of persons engaged in building, it is expedient to make 

 further provision for regulating the office of surveyor of such several 

 districts, and to provide for the appointment of officers to superintend 

 the execution of this Act throughout all the districts to which it is to 

 apply, and also to determine sundry matters in question incident 

 thereto, a* well as to exercise in certain cases, and under certain checks 

 and control, a discretion in the relaxation of the fixed rules, where the 

 strict observance thereof is impracticable, or would defeat the object 

 of this Act, or would needlessly affect with injury the course and 

 operation of this branch of business ; now for all the several purposes 

 above mentioned, and for the purpose of consolidating the provisions 

 of the law relating to the construction and the use of buildings in the 

 metropolis and it* neighbourhood, be it enacted," &c. 



By the present Act, the 18 ft 19 Viet. c. 122, every building and 

 work done upon it is subject to the supervision of a district surveyor, 

 who is appointed and paid by the Metropolitan Board of Works, under 

 the Metropolis Local Management Act (18 ft 19 Viet. c. 120), the area 

 of that Act being also the limits of the Building Act, comprising the 

 parishes of St. Mary lebonc ; St. Pancras ; Lambeth ; St. George's, 

 Hanover Square ; St Mary, Islington ; St. Leonard, Shoreditch ; Pad- 

 dington ; St Matthew, Bethnal Oreen ; St Mary, Newington, Surrey ; 

 Cainberwell; St James, Westminster; St. James and St. John, 

 Clerkenwell ; Chelsea ; Kensington (St. Mary Abbot) ; St Luke, Mid- 

 dlesex ; St. George the Martyr, South wark ; Bermondsey ; St. George 

 in the East; St Martin in the Fields; Hamlet of Mile End Old 

 Town ; Woolwich ; Rotherhithe ; and St John, Hanipstead ; with a 

 power to the Queen in Council to extend the area under certain cir- 

 cumstances. The first part of the Act with its schedules relates to the 

 " regulation and supervision of buildings, including alterations and 

 addition*, and provide* for the structure and thickness of walls and 

 their composition, roof, chimneys, accesses and stairs, rooms, passages, 

 projections, and a variety of other matter* securing ventilation, open 

 space*," Ac. Part II. of the Act relates to "dangerous structures;" 

 Fart III., to " party structures;" Part IV. contains miscellaneous 

 provision* a* to the payment of expense* by owners, legal proceed- 

 ings, ftc. 



ine provision* of the previous Act (7 ft 8 Viet. c. 84), for the 

 restraint and eventual removal from populous neighbourhood* of 

 trade* which are dangerous, noxious, or offensive, are retained. By 

 Him notions businesses dangerous a* to fire must not be nearer than 

 fifty feet to other buildings; and new businesses of this character 

 must be forty feet from public ways. Persons cannot estahlixh or 

 newly carry on any such busineese* within fifty feet of other building* 

 or forty feet from public way*; and all such businesses carried on within 

 the distance* limited by the Act must be given up twenty yean after 

 the mesing of the Act. A penalty of 601 U incurred for erecting 

 buildings in the neighbourhood of any such businesses, and 6<V. per 

 day for carrying on bunnene* of a dangerous kind contrary to the Act. 

 The person* offending may be imprisoned for *U months if the penalty 



be not paid. The businesses of a blood-boiler, bone-boiler, fell-monger, 

 slaughterer of cattle, sheep, or hone*, soap-boiler, tallow-melter, tripe- 

 boiler, and any other buuness offensive or noxious, are subject to 

 similar regulation* as those deemed dangerous as to fire, and are to be 

 discontinued at the end of thirty yean after the passing of the Act. 

 Trade* deemed nuisance* may be removed by purchase at the public 

 cost on memorial bv two-thirds of the inhabitants, and on the issue of 

 an Order in Council. Public gas-works, distilleries, and other works 

 under the survey of the Excise are exempted from the operation of 

 some of these provisions. 



"The Local Government Act, 1858" (21 ft 22 Viet c. 98), amend- 

 ing the Public Health Act, 1 848, empower* every local board to make 

 bye law* with respect to the following matter* : 1, with respect to the 

 level, width, and construction of new streets, and the provisions for 

 the sewerage thereof ; 2, with respect to the structure of walls of new 

 buildings, for securing stability and the prevention of fires ; 8, with 

 respect to the sufficiency of the space about buildings to secure a free 

 circulation of air, and with respect to the ventilation of buildings ; 4, 

 with respect to the drainage of building*, to water-closets, privies, ash- 

 pits, and cess-pool* in connection with building*, and to the closing of 

 buildings, or parts of buildings, unfit for human habitation, and to the 

 prohibition of their use for such habitation. The local board may also 

 prescribe the line in which house* shall be rebuilt, making compensa- 

 tion to the owners for any loss or damage sustained in consequence of 

 the building being set back. These powers are independent of various 

 provisions for the prevention and removal of nuisances. 



Scotland is under the operation of a peculiar statute passed in 1855, 

 the 'Act to facilitate the Erection of Dwelling Houses for the Wo ik- 

 ing' Classes of Scotland.' Under certain conditions, and with the 

 consent of the county and burgh authorities, four or more persona may 

 unite for the purpose of building workmen's dwellings. They are to 

 act as a joint-stock company with limited liability ; and may appro- 

 priate the profits of their enterprise in the form of dividends. To 

 ensure the carrying out of plans conducive to the attainment of the 

 proposed end, all the proceedings of these companies are controlled to a 

 certain extent by the sheriffs of counties, or the deans of burgh guilds. 

 Each separate dwelling is to constitute a distinct lot, to consist of not 

 less than two, nor more than five rooms with fire-places ; each such lot 

 or dwelling is not to be divided, but is to be held or transferred as an 

 undivided whole. One of the most remarkable clauses in the Act is to 

 this effect : " If any houses have fallen into a dilapidated or deserted 

 state, and if a building company calls the attention of the authorities 

 to this fact, the authorities may order the owner to rebuild or repair 

 the houses in a proper way ; and if he neglect to do so within three 

 months the authorities may compel him to sell the property to the 

 company for the purpose of being placed by them in proper condition, 

 and at a price determined by means pointed out in the Act." 



It may be here mentioned that the Building Societies, of which so 

 large a number now exist in England, are based on the fact that the 

 average rental of well-let houses is much higher than the average rate 

 of interest on a given amount of capital. A man may in ten years pay 

 as much money in the form of rental as the house costs to build. 

 Hence the plan of lending him the money, at 6 per cent interest, 

 wherewith to build a house for himself ; by paving a little more than 

 the ordinary annual rental for a house of similar kind, he may in a few 

 years pay off the whole of the debt, and become real owner of the 

 house he lives in. The principle U probably a sound one; but it 

 requires honesty and judgment on the part of the manager* of the 

 society. In some cases it has led to a species of speculation, not far 

 removed from gambling. 



BUILDING STONE. [STONE FOR BUILDINGS.] 

 BUL. The ancient name of a Jewish month, which is now called 

 Marchesvan, or by abbreviation Chesvan. It was the eighth month, 

 when the year began in spring, but after the transfer of New Year's 

 day to autumn it became the second month ; and in consequence of 

 the variation of the lunar year, it may begin as early as the first week 

 of October, or as late aa the same period of November. The word i* 

 written /13 in Hebrew, and BaaA, BovaA, or BovX, in Greek; and is 

 derived from the verb 7J3 to fall ; the name was probably given 



from the season of the year when it occurred, "as in our popular term 

 " the Fall." This appears preferable to the usual explanation, " the 



8, 



the flower 



rainy ; " a passage in Isaiah, ch. xl. v. 7 



fadeth," shows the precise kind of fall usually expressed by the verb ; 



and moreover, this can hardly be called the rainy season in Palestine. 



The name Bui is one of three which occur only in a very limited 

 portion of the first book of King* : Bui, in ch. vi. v. 38 ; Zif, in the 

 same chapter, v. 1 and 87; and Ethanim, in ch. viii. v. 2. As these 

 name*, together with A bib, are the only ones in any port of the Bible 

 written before the Captivity, while everywhere else months are desig- 

 nated by their number* only, and a* all these four terms have meanings 

 whii-h may relate to the Reasons, it has been thought likely that they 

 were merely such appellative* as we use when we say foggy month, or 

 rainy month ; but the very same words, be ycrarh but, or " in the 

 month of Bui," a* we have in 1 King*, vi. 88, above-mentioned, are 

 found in the inscription upon the sarcophagus of King Ashmunezer, 

 dug up in January, 1855, about a mile from Sidon, which proves ite 



