A construction technology which aims to apply a labour/equipment mix that gives priority to labour, but supplements labour with appropriate equipment where necessary for reasons of quality or cost. While producing or maintaining infrastructure to a specified standard in a cost-effective manner, people are employed with fair working conditions.

If a piece of infrastructure is to be constructed or maintained, a choice can be made to use either labour or equipment as the predominant input in the process. Any decision should be objective and will depend on factors such as:

• the type of construction or maintenance;
• the relative costs of labour and equipment (true and un-subsidised) in the country or locality where the work is to take place;
• the availability of labour and equipment;
• the technical specifications for the completed works;
• policy objectives or directives on technology choice.

It is important to distinguish between an optimum and efficient use of labour (labour-based) and a maximum, and possibly inefficient, use of labour (labour-intensive). However, a maximum use of labour may be preferred to efficiency where income generation and job creation are the over-riding, short-term objectives - for instance disaster relief, or food-for-work projects.

The term labour-based on the other hand indicates that a flexible and optimum use is made of labour as the predominant resource, accompanied by appropriate light equipment to ensure cost-effective and quality aspects in construction. Labour-based technology therefore implies properly planned use of labour in an economically efficient, humanly fair, and hence sustainable manner. It must produce technically sound results and be socially and economically competitive with alternative equipment-based methods.

The use of labour-based methods also implies the increased use of associated local resources. These may include locally available materials, tools and equipment, skills and knowledge as well as finance. For example if in certain countries the agricultural sector is flourishing, then it should be possible to tap into and use the tools and equipment produced locally for agriculture, with perhaps some adaptation to make it suitable for use in labour-based infrastructure provision. This reinforces the amount of investment which remains in the country and often in the locality of the works, and reduces the dependence on costly imports.

The ILO promotes the use of labour-based methods as a regular component of recurrent public investment programmes for the infrastructure and construction sectors, and supports special training and awareness programmes for this purpose, as well as the development and use of technical and contractual materials for the realisation of such programmes. Experience gained over the years has shown that labour-based infrastructure provision is more successful where there is a supportive policy framework at the appropriate institutional level.

With 25 years experience in this area in many countries under varying conditions, the ILO and ASIST are world leaders in labour-based technology.

The policy environment for labour-based technology development is described under the ILO's Employment-Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) web page on Poverty and Investment Strategies.