The Yanks do make things difficult for themselves and for me

[nightjar]

The story is also here:

[Chris Bacon]

I used to use the "bypass paywalls" browser add-on.

[Andrew]

mints ?

[Vir Campestris]

Depends on what you mean by older.

Our doorways are a bit higher than the builder in his boots. Or something like that. The ceiling are roughly level; the floors have definite slopes. It was probably built to match the trees that were available.

I don't expect anything to be a round number in any measurement.

And it's only 300 years old...

Andy

[Max Demian]

'...concerns were dismissed because they "did not follow the rules about filling out [the] form to document their concerns".'

[NY]

The problem comes when sizes are not quoted as accurate numbers - in either imperial or metric. I've found things which are quoted in "metric feet" (30 cm, approx 1 foot) which are neither 1 foot exactly (equivalent to 30.48 cm or about 30.5 cm). Conversely I've found things described as 6 feet which are not 6 feet but a little bit more or less, rounded to the nearest 1 or 5 cm. I don't really care what units are used as long as the quoted sizes are accurate and not rounded. (*)

It is rather mind-boggling to find a civilised country which still uses imperial for scientific and engineering work. I can accept that the US (and the UK) may want to retain imperial units as "folk units" for common parlance, but anything which is built to an accurate size and is measured should use metric as an international standard. And if imperial *is* ever used, it should be regarded as a special case and not assumed that because the US uses feet, any length quoted by anyone else will be in feet rather than metres. Hence the importance of quoting units with every number (or at least as a column heading).

(*) We ordered a dishwasher that was quoted as 60 cm wide - a standard width - and was actually a few mm more, which made all the difference because the space was 60.00 cm. Luckily I was able to remove a board from the side of the space, so the gap was now slightly larger instead of slightly smaller than the dishwasher. Having said that, the joiner who made those worktops and cupboards should have made the spaces a few mm wider/taller than a standard appliance to allow for a bit of leeway if the appliance isn't pushed in exactly straight.

[charles]

When the BBC had its White City office block built (late 1980s), the Design & Build constructors used metric feet. The office furniture was bought from the USA which used real feet. Everything was just too big for the spaces. Mind you there was a lot of other things wrong with the building - cost of the remedial work far exceded any possible profits.

[Tim Streater]

Nothing international about one US entity talking to another. Anyway it was the company not NASA who supplied the info in "English" units. But the NASA guys admitted they should have checked anyway.

If something is "60cm wide", as in a kitchen unit or appliance, that's just a label so we know we're not talking about a 70cm wide item (such as our fridge/freezer). Still up to you to measure everything before starting work.