Every developer in Romania uses the word “premium.” It appears in the brochure, on the website, in the sales pitch. It describes nothing. The way to test a premium claim is to ask for the technical specification sheet — not the marketing pack.

Here is what differentiates a genuinely premium residential building from one that looks identical in photographs:

The facade system. Most Romanian residential buildings use traditional exterior insulation — polystyrene bonded directly to the structural wall, finished with plaster. A ventilated facade is a different system: a continuous insulation layer, an air gap, and an outer cladding panel fixed on a metal substructure. The air gap allows moisture to escape, eliminates thermal bridging, and reduces heating energy consumption by up to 15% in winter. In summer, solar heat accumulated in the cladding is evacuated upward through the gap rather than conducted into the wall. The two systems look similar from the street. They perform differently across a 20-year ownership period.

Heating distribution. Underfloor heating operates at lower water temperatures than a radiator system, distributes heat evenly at floor level, and frees wall space. The difference in annual energy cost is material. Neither is visible in a photo.

Individual energy metering. In a building with shared heating infrastructure but no individual meters, tenants pay pro-rata regardless of use. Individual metering transfers consumption risk to the occupant and protects the owner’s yield.

Structural specification. Bucharest sits in one of Europe’s most active seismic zones. The concrete resistance class and reinforcement detailing should be stated in the technical documentation — not inferred from the price point.

Asking for these specifications at the viewing stage is not excessive due diligence. It is the minimum.