Explanation of the impact of changes in construction methods on the demand for labor, materials and capital. The emphasis of this analysis is on substitution: much labor in civil and commercial construction has been replaced by subcontracting. For the period 1969-1980, the trends in material consumption, employment, investment by the construction industry and the prices of labor, materials and capital have been presented. Finally, the evolution of labor productivity in the construction industry has been compared with that in other industries. Attention has also been paid to the evolution of the radiant effect and the productivity development of the entire industry chain.