ABSTRACT
This chapter sketches the Belgian contractors' ideas on organizing the construction site, by focusing on three key issues, namely the (relations between the) different construction yard actors, the actual site organization and the risks and security measures. The concept of non-simultaneity proves relevant to study this complex picture of construction professionalization within the architects', engineers', general contractors' and subcontractors' professions. International scholars gradually captured this by writing biographies of major contractors, discussing definitional aspects, analyzing the contractors' intellectual profiles, and even offering an overall picture of the contractors. Contractors were working under continuous stress to finish their construction projects on time and were financially punished if this was not the case. The national contractors' association wondered in 1882 why this regulation was not applied in both directions, and thus why no bonus was given to contractors that finished their construction sites early.
