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ENGINEERING CONTRACTS 519
the work in detail; and follow these specific clauses quite naturally
with the general clauses setting forth the business relation of the
parties to the contract, such as price, terms of payment, delivery, time
of completion, guarantee, and other provisions which shall be touched
upon later.
Scope and Purpose.—Too much care can not be exercised in setting
forth as briefly, yet as clearly as possible, the extent and intent of
the work to be performed under the terms of the contract. It has
been pointed out that the first principle of the successful management
of any project is a thorough analysis of the job. That is to
say, it is necessary to know what is expected to be accomplished
before it is possible to work out an effective and proper plan for
doing it. The general clauses referred to may then be thought
of as the rules by which the work shall be done.
The general principles of technical writing can well be followed
in fixing the scope and purpose of the contract, as the chance for
uncertainty or misunderstanding at this point would be fatal to the
sales engineer. This is true not only from a legal and an engineer-
ing standpoint, but even more especially from a sales standpoint.
These introductory statements must be worded so as to infer the
quality of our mind, the measure of our ability, the responsibility and
integrity of our employer, in order to win instant respect and open
the door for a quick consummation of a profitable business transac-
tion; for if a prospective customer is entirely satisfied with the outline
of the scope and purpose of the contract, and the drawings, he
will frequently pass over the body of the contract proposal, or the
specifications, with but a hasty survey, and, if the price, terms and
other general conditions are satisfactory, will accept the proposal
with full confidence that he is quite safe in doing so. Needless to"
say, such confidence must never be violated, for the confidence of a
purchaser is the one BIG asset of the sales engineer. The value of
being able to execute a high class drawing, nicely lettered, as pre-
viously mentioned, is here emphasized in its true relation to sales
engineering work.
Specifications.—We have shown that the work to be done should
be described as a whole, and then in detail. That portion of an engineering
contract that relates to and describes the work in detail
is called the specifications.
The writing of specifications calls for the most careful application
of the principles of technical writing, and every portion and detail of
the work should be described in clear and simple language that can
be understood by all. The descriptions should have reference to
the ultimate end to be accomplished rather than to the means and
methods to be employed, unless some particular method is preferable
to all others. The clauses in the specifications should be made,
so far as possible, mutually exclusive; that is to say, no part of