real element and consideration in the proceedings, the contract should so state and the clause providing for damages for delay should be very carefully phrased.

This clause is commonly known as the "liquidated damage" clause of the contract. Unless it is properly phrased, however, it is likely to be held void. The courts have made a clear distinction between liquidated damages and penalties. If the contract is worded in such a way that the court considers that it calls for a penalty instead of for liquidated damages, it will not be enforced. On the other hand, if the provision is held to be reasonable, and to be a mutual agreement by the parties of liquidated damages, representing the actual damage which they agree shall be considered as incurred in the event of delay, the clause will be considered valid and the owner will be in a position to enforce it, in the event of the default of the contractor.

It is very advantageous to have a liquidated damage clause in a contract, irrespective of whether it is enforced or not. Repeatedly these clauses are inserted but the owner takes no action to enforce them, believing that the contractor has done his best and that the delay is not due to any wilful default on his part. If the clause is in the contract, however, it puts in the hands of

the owner and of the architect a weapon which may be used with telling effect, in case of need, as in instances where a contractor shows a disposition not to carry out in good faith all of the terms of his agreement.

A threat to invoke and enforce the provisions of the liquidated damage clause will often result in securing prompt and effective action by a contractor, where all other efforts to secure this result have failed. If such a clause is inserted in the contract, the owner will do well to have the clause checked and approved by his attorney, so as to make sure that it is enforcible and legal and that it is not so worded that it will be construed to be a penalty.

A point in the construction contract which is of somewhat minor importance, but which may lead to considerable annoyance if not properly covered and attended to, is that dealing with the removal of all refuse and unused materials on the completion of the job. Where the contract makes no provision with respect to this a contractor will often shirk his responsibility, and will leave the site of the building operation in such condition that the owner will be forced to go to considerable expense to clean it up properly and to dispose of the refuse and general building litter, left behind by the contractor.

The same is true of cases where the contractor is called upon to grade the property. If the contract does not cover this point clearly, the contractor is likely to leave the grading in incomplete shape and to make it necessary for the owner to incur considerable additional expense, to place the grounds immediately about the house in proper condition.

The Standard Form of Contract has a wellworded clause as follows:

"Art. 33. Cleaning Up.-The Contractor shall at all times keep the premises free from accumulations of waste material or rubbish caused by his employees or work, and at the completion of the work he shall remove all his rubbish from and about the building and all his tools, scaffolding and surplus materials and shall leave his work "broom clean" or its equivalent, unless more exactly specified. In case of dispute the Owner may remove the rubbish and charge the cost to the several contractors as the Architect shall determine to be just."

It would be well, for the sake of caution, to add to this clause a few words making the obligation of the contractor to remove the waste material apply not only to material "from and about the building," but to material anywhere on the property.

The time to provide for the final "clean-up" by the contractor and for any grading work which he is called upon to do about the house is when the contract is entered into. It is not a matter which will cause the contractor any great concern at that time. If the contract be properly drawn, the owner will receive a house which, in itself and in its surroundings, is free from rubbish and all of the accumulation of waste materials which follows in the wake of any building operation. If his contract is not specific on this point, he in all likelihood will receive quite the opposite.

The owner will do well to bear in mind that matters which are not covered by the contract will constitute extras and that extra charges have an uncanny way of multiplying and increasing, at a rate quite disproportionate to the contract price. A contractor who finds that he has figured a job a bit too fine will be tempted to make a liberal charge for extras in the hope of thus recouping his losses. The more fully the contract can cover all details of the job in the first instance, the better it will be for the owner and the greater will be his saving. Before the contract is let, therefore, he should go over all of the details of the work with his architect with as much care as possible, to the end that

all points may be covered and included in the contract so far as may be practical.

If one is fortunate enough to be in a position to pay cash for the construction of his home the financing of the building operation will be a very simple matter. In the great majority of cases the home builder is not situated so happily, however, and must give thought to the best methods of financing the job. He will, of course, be in a position to pay a substantial part of the cost in cash, but will often wish to cover the balance by a mortgage or building loan or by some other plan.

Where one purchases a house already erected, rather than a vacant building lot, the simplest method of financing a portion of the purchase price is to make payment of it in the form of a purchase money mortgage. This, as we have seen, is simply a mortgage given by the purchaser to the seller at the time the title to the property is closed. A purchase money mortgage and the ordinary mortgage both differ from a building loan in that the payments to the borrower, under the latter plan, are made in instalments and periodically as the construction work progresses.

A form of mortgage which will require a higher annual payment at first, but which will