vi PREFACE 



engineer with regard to which it is possible to glean some 

 information from the books in a lawyer's library. When 

 employed in relation to works of any magnitude, he generally 

 occupies the position of ^uasi-arbitrator between the employer 

 and the contractor. In other words, he has to act in a 

 semi- judicial capacity. 



Again, he may come into direct contact with the administra- 

 tion of justice by being summoned to assist the Court as an 

 expert witness. 



Lastly, he is frequently employed as an arbitrator, or as a 

 member of a Court consisting of two arbitrators and an 

 umpire, in order to settle questions of a highly technical 

 character between employers and contractors. It is appre- 

 hended that the proper discharge of all these duties will be 

 greatly facilitated by some acquaintance with the law ; and it 

 is with the object of explaining his legal duties in these 

 particulars that the author was induced to embark upon the 

 task which is now completed. 



A considerable portion of the present work (Chaps. VI. to 

 XVIII.) is devoted to a general statement of the law relating 

 to the class of contract with which the engineer is likely to be 

 concerned in his daily work. It is only necessary to glance at 

 any common form of contract to realise that the position of 

 the engineer is of great importance. It is also a position of 

 considerable delicacy. On the one hand, he has to protect the 

 employer. He must take care that the specification is com- 

 plied with ; that proper material is used, and that time con- 

 ditions arerobserved. On the other hand, he is morally bound 

 to deal fairly by the contractor. An attempt has been made 

 to explain the duties of the engineer in relation to these con- 

 tracts in a style freed as far as possible from legal technicality. 

 Wherever possible the author has preferred to quote the actual 

 language used by the judges. Many of the cases cited relate 

 to architects and building contracts. This was inevitable, 

 and, it is submitted, justifiable. Inevitable, because cases 

 actually affecting engineering works are (for reasons already 

 given) few and far between ; justifiable, because the relation- 

 ship of engineer, employer, and contractor is closely allied to 

 that of architect, building owner, and builder. 



With a view to making his work as useful as possible, the 

 author has endeavoured to link up his propositions with forms 

 of contract which are in common use. The reader who is 



