Dennis has this exactly right as I see it. Similar problem with highway construction even beyond the backtracking of TEA-21. For contractors not to have a legitimate beef there has to be a top-to-bottom coordinated program with teeth and funding so that everyday folks trying to make a living are not saddled with a crazy-quilt of "some of this and some of that" that ends up condemning them to the worst of both worlds. Even in the UK we see some of these same issues, which adds impetus to the notion of "finishing the job" over there. We're so far behind over here that we have to look at getting serious about "starting the job"! Ezra [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > We keep hearing that "billions of dollars of federal building construction"is now >metric (not counting highways). But reading between the lines in the latest issue of Construction Metrication (devoted to masonry) confirms my suspicions that this is largely a sham. According to the issue, hard metric modular components are not readily available in most areas. That's partly due to the 1996 "Savings in Construction Act" which exempted concrete block and suspended ceiling systems from the federal metrication mandate. Even where metric block is available, other key modular components (such doors, windows, and reinforcement) are not. So "the modular concept no longer exists," says the newsletter, and much extra labor and expense would be required in cutting and filling, and architectural [decorative] elements would not align correctly. In that case, the newsletter recommends that the easiest and most efficient way of building "metric" is: (1) The architect designs the building in conventional inch-foot modules. (2) The architect then soft-converts all the dimensions on the plans to metric, to comply with the federal mandate. (3) The contractor [apparently] converts back to inch-foot on the job. The newsletter recommends that every workman have a dual metric-inch tape measure, presumably to simplify conversion of the metric dimensions on the plans to the inch dimensions they actually use on the job. (As we discussed in USMA 8761 and later postings, working with soft metric dimensions on the job would be ridiculously awkward.) The newsletter then gives examples very similar to mine, with 16" block. It's no wonder that so many contractors are angry about metrication. It does no good for us to rag on them or dismiss them as ignorant bumpkins. The fault lies with Congress for backtracking and failing to mandate a coordinated, consistent, speedy conversion. When Congress passed the "Savings in Construction Act" 1996, it claimed that it was not their intention to repeal the metric mandate of the 1988 Omnibus Trade Act, but only to prevent undue economic hardship for some small business, as that law explicitly allowed. Well, I'm not sure if Congress was stupid or just trying to scuttle metrication by the back door. But concrete block is the most common structural wall material for light commercial buildings, and most such buildings also have suspended ceilings. As far as I know there has never been an attempt to metricate vinyl floor tiles (which usually come in 1 foot squares). So in the 1996 Act Congress basically said that, yes, buildings should be metric except for the walls, ceilings, floors, doors, and windows!!! I think there are two important lessons from the building metrication fiasco of the 1990s: (1) The technical problems are easy to solve. In a remarkably short time, government and industry working together developed detailed metric building standards, most of which were quite practical and efficient. (As we have discussed before, they wimped out in some areas, notably lumber). (2) You can't do it half-assed or grant exemptions for political reasons. The whole industry has to convert together at once; otherwise the parts won't fit and you end up with an aggravating, inefficient, costly mishmash which is far worse than wombat or metric alone--and you get the vehement political backlash we're seeing now. I don't think that most contractors were ideologically opposed to metrication when it began. But they said, if we're going to do it, let's do it quickly and get it over with so we are not saddled with endless conversions and compatibility headaches. As usual, Congress failed to follow through.
