• • Just as in buying a car one considers not only the purchase price but also the petrol and oil consumption, length of life of the car, and probable repair bills, so also, in building a house or other structure, one must consider, in addition to first cost, economy or otherwise of running, useful and efficient life of the building, and maintenance and repair bills.

• • A wide variety of matters will affect the final cost—time required in working, whether it be house or commercial building, efficiency in keeping heat in or out, as may be required, protection against fire, which, of course, affects the insurance rates, efficiency, in relation to cost, of lighting or ventilation, quality of materials and possible necessity of replacements and such matters of maintenance as painting. All these aspects of the problem necessitate expert and unbiased assistance. It is here that the advice of a qualified architect is essential.

• • Only the architect is qualified by his training so to deal with the various scientific and economic matters involved that the final cost of the building is kept down to the minimum. It is obvious that a slight difference in first cost may be offset, year after year, by extra fuel bills due to faulty insulation, extra lighting bills due to bad arrangement of light sources, by higher insurance rates due to inferior construction, by extra expense in working due to inconvenient planning and by unexpected expenditure due to inefficient protection against the elements. Further, the architect gives you the advantage of impartial supervision during construction and sees that a carefully written specification of workmanship, materials and fittings is carried out to the letter, thus saving the cost of replacing inferior materials.

Remodelling

A return to normal business activity is indicated by the extensive and in many cases long overdue remodelling of a number of the older buildings in this city. The volume of this type of business handled by Auckland architects in the past 12 months, both in interior and exterior remodelling, is astonishing. Evidently the dictum, that "It pays to modernise," is strongly supported by local business men.