A Manual Of Specifications And Quantities For Civil Engineers

A Manual of Specifications and Quantities for Civil Engineers (1951)
by A. Johnson & W. H. King
English Universities Press | ISBN: none | Condition: Good
Sold by Crappy Old Books

At last — the book that proves civilisation is held together not by heroics, but by clauses, sub-clauses, and a well-behaved bill of quantities. A Manual of Specifications and Quantities for Civil Engineers (1951) is the pocket-sized constitution of getting things built the proper way: no vague promises, no poetic hand-waving — just line items, tolerances, and the soothing rustle of measured certainty.

Johnson and King are the sort of authors who could stare down chaos with a neatly numbered schedule. They march you through the noble arts of describing precisely what you meant, pricing exactly what you asked for, and preventing the contractor from interpreting “good workmanship” as “a shrug.” Within these primly confident pages you’ll find specimen clauses sharp enough to trim a site meeting, methods for quantifying everything from earthworks to the last dab of bitumen, and rules that convert muddy intentions into crisp, invoice-shaped reality.

This is mid-century project therapy: rigorous, unfussy, allergic to ambiguity. The text hums with that post-war optimism that, given a drawing board, a slide rule, and a clause that begins “Unless otherwise specified…,” the world will retain its shape through frost, thaw, and spirited correspondence. The authors treat concrete like a witness under oath, masonry like a gentleman’s agreement with gravity, and drainage as both science and morality play. There are checklists that read like liturgy and examples that smell faintly of India ink and authority.

Condition: Good — meaning this stalwart veteran has survived decades of desk duty, site hut exile, and the occasional coffee ring of destiny. The spine remains upright (just like your procurement policy should), the pages are clean and legible, and there may be a discreet pencil tick beside a clause that once saved a budget. Expect dignified shelfwear and the faint aroma of drawing office tea.

Perfect for civil engineers, quantity surveyors, heritage spec nerds, and anyone who knows that the most romantic words in the English language are “measured to the nearest millimetre.” Leave it on your coffee table to frighten guests into respecting provisional sums, or keep it on your desk as a talisman against scope creep and enthusiastic improvisation.

Lovingly rehomed by Crappy Old Books, where we celebrate the quiet heroism of paperwork — because without specifications, bridges are just suggestions, and quantities are how you tell fate to send an itemised bill.

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