CHAPTER XIII. 



SPECIFICATIONS. 



NECESSARILY the briefest allusion to and the faintest outline 

 of the fundamental principles of engineering jurisprudence, or 

 the law of contracts for constructive work is possible or allowable 

 here. 



Usually the construction of metallic reservoirs are incident 

 to the building of entire systems of water-works for municipal 

 supply, and the general agreement governing such construction 

 and incorporated into the forms of a contract apply equally to 

 this particular item of the whole work. 



Suitable forms of agreement are dictated by the necessities 

 and the general understanding of the particular case, covering 

 in a general way the character of the work to be performed, 

 whose details are more fully set forth and particularly described 

 through the wording of the "specifications." As the draft of 

 such an instrument as a legal contract for important work, such as : 

 the construction of a water system, falls frequently to the lot- 

 of the professional legal adviser, requiring of the engineer simply 

 the technical description or the specifications intended to govern 

 the constructive work, no analysis will be attempted of the forms 

 of contract and recognized procedure in such cases ; but since 

 it is the province and duty of the engineer to prepare plans and 

 to describe in detail the technical features of the work, and as 

 the incorporation of the principles and practices heretofore 

 enunciated in the preceding pages is undoubtedly pertinent; 

 and proper, a general form and brief discussion of the specific 



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