ABSTRACT
The Health department may use private doctors and dentists on a sessional basis. Consultants may be brought in to advise on engineering projects. The inquiry sought to find out how much these consultants and private practitioners were used for building work, the various reasons for employing them and the advantages and disadvantages of so doing. Local authorities are responsible for so large a part of the building effort of the nation that their policies in employing or not employing firms in private practice can make a great difference to the volume of work available to these firms. The dividing line between the two big groups in the architectural profession, those in salaried jobs and those in private practice as principals or assistants, has moved noticeably in the last quarter of a century. The increase in the number of official architects is not confined to local authorities.
