Then and now: construction management practices in Romania and the Netherlands

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast construction management practices in Romania and the Netherlands by focusing on the institutional context, used building systems, and labour organisation from 1945 until nowadays. Social, economic and historical aspects have also been taken into account, in order to provide useful insight on two countries that represent two 'worlds' (Western Europe vs. Eastern Europe), with different building philosophies. Data collection and analysis were based on interviews with experts in the field of civil engineering, correlated with various publications from both past and present times. The significance of this study lies in the fact that, although similar studies have been performed before, to the authors' knowledge there is little information about construction management in pre-1989 Eastern Bloc. This study compares an Eastern European country (Romania) with data from the construction management in pre-1989 Western European country (the Netherlands).