Direct labour
Civil Engineering Procedure, 7th edition, published by the Institution of Civil Engineers, defines the term ‘direct labour’ as:
| A promoter’s (client’s) own employees employed on construction, sometimes under the internal equivalent of a contract, otherwise as a service department. |
In June 2019, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) published Future Skills Report, calling for more direct employment of labour.
Mark Reynolds, chair of the CLC skills workstream said: “This important report clearly sets out the challenge the industry and our clients face and the actions that must be taken now to avoid significant skills shortages in the future. When we have seen projects with higher levels of direct employment the results are often better, the workforce more engaged and ultimately the client and end users are happier with the final product.”
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