According to Mello and Amorim, "civil construction is compound for a number of activities where each one has different levels of complexity. These activities are linked through a diversity of products with a variety of technological processes, associated to different types of demand" (390). Representing a big importance in the economic section in the USA and Brazil, civil construction has enhanced a lot of investments in the recent years. Due to the superior development of the United States in relation to Brazil, the civil construction in America impacts the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country with higher values than in Brazil. The United States is ahead Brazil with respect to technologies and methods. For that reason, it is understandable that Brazil does not have the same potential and capacity of civil construction compared to the United States. However, despite this developmental contrast, both countries have a lot of similarities. At present in the economic scenario, the difference between the representation of civil construction in the GDP of Brazil is 5.2% according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2010), and in the USA is 8.47% (Construction industry roundtable, 2007). The differences from Brazil and the United States are basically related to the mentioned characteristics which each country have currently, such as economical power, technologies, and potential development. The differences are verified in the type of materials used, the time spend to finish a construction, the labor quality, the waste of material, and the cost. Cost is especially a consequence of the others. On the other hand, both countries have problems related to work security, quality, and worries in relation to environment. In addition, the area of civil construction in Brazil and in the USA is composed of small and big companies and it offers a huge portion of employment in both countries.
