The turn of the twentieth century was a tuming point for the Belgian construction sector.The emergence of general contractors enacted a re-examination of job responsibilitiesamong general contractors, architects and engineers. This paper analyses how Belgiangeneral contractors claimed their new position as organisers and executors ofconstruction, and how they interacted with other construction actors. The analysis showsit took a long time to capture the gradual shift of tasks legally, started in the 1890s yetonly finalized by the 1960s. This slow legislative adaptation gave rise to many conflictson job responsibilities, yet also collaborative actions were undertaken. This allows us toconclude that general contractors, architects and engineers mainly engaged in conversationwith each other in order to identify and outline their changing functions andresponsibilities.
