Recollections

57 Generally at this time subordinate contracts were awarded independently for the various trades used on the general structure, but instead of this we awarded a contract to Mr. Fuller which covered heating, plastering, painting, cabinet making, everything except the elevators, contract for which was awarded independently.

The element of time was fully discussed with the contractor and the work was undertaken under penalty to deliver it by April 1st. This was the first building George Fuller built in Chicago, one of the first to be undertaken independently, certainly the largest. During the building of this building and during the following years I had a constant and active contact with Mr. Fuller. He was a man of sterling honesty, and had a grasp of building construction which made him one of the outstanding figures among contractors of that period. He was close mouthed, had not many friends, attentive to business, constantly using methods unknown to the older builders. He was particularly keen on the assembling of materials. Right at the start he made a record for speed better than anything that had been done. Fuller also made a strenuous effort to operate under cost and percentage. He hoped to show that by careful buying, painstaking guidance of the work and securing the intelligent cooperation of subordinate contractors, he could put up a building on a cost plus basis cheaper than at a fixed price. He did. He had a great faculty of making men work with him, be loyal to him. He was so zealous to save money and used such rare intelligence in the spending of what was spent, that he soon convinced people he could put up buildings on a cost plus basis cheaper than at a fixed price. He used to tell how, on his fixed price contracts, if gains were made, materials bought at a lower rate than he had figured on, he would transfer that gain to one of his cost plus contracts. Then when owners compared prices they would find that he had actually given better prices to those