SPECIFICATIONS 113 



either lettered or serially numbered. The clauses of a specifi- 

 cation should also be serially numbered, and to facilitate 

 reference it will be found most convenient to make a marginal 

 reference to the subject-matter of each clause. ' Marginal 

 sketches may be used if their insertion makes for greater 

 exactness. 



2. Commencement of a specification. Every specification 

 should begin with the particulars suggested by the blank 

 spaces in the following form : 



Specification of Works required to be executed in erecting (or altering, 

 extending, etc.] at in accordance with the terms of 



the Contract dated entered into between 



(Employer) of the one part, and (Contractor) of the other 



part ; and also in conformity with the Drawings numbered 1 to 

 ( inclusive), under the superintendence and to the satisfaction of 

 (Engineer). 



3. How far contractor is bound by specification. It is a 

 fundamental principle of the law relating to engineering- 

 contracts that the contractor must verify for himself the 

 possibility and feasibility of the works which are described in 

 the specification. Having made his tender in accordance with 

 the plans, drawings, and specification, he cannot be heard to 

 complain if he finds that his obligations are greater than he at 

 first anticipated. The law on this point is so well settled that 

 it is not necessary to do more than refer to one or two cases by 

 way of practical illustration. In Thorn v. Mayor of London, 

 1876, L. E. 1 A. C. 120, the Corporation of London invited 

 contractors to tender for the execution of certain works for the 

 building of Blackfriars Bridge, according to plans and specifi- 

 cations prepared by the engineer to the corporation. The 

 specification provided that the contractors were to take out 

 their own quantities, and that the accuracy of the plans was 

 not guaranteed by the corporation. The contractors were 

 warned particularly that they must satisfy themselves as to 

 the nature of the ground through which the foundations had 

 to be carried. Iron caissons were specified to be used in the 

 construction of the works, but when the contractors whose 

 tender was accepted proceeded to use the caissons as designed, 

 it was found that they would not resist the pressure of the 

 water, and the plan of the work had to be altered and the use 

 of the caissons abandoned. The contractors claimed for the 



L.A.E. I 



