Abstract:
Sustainable Development (SD) has become a major consideration due to low responsiveness of industries
to the natural environment and related social problems. The construction industry is a main natural
resource consumer and a major contributor to country’s economy. Hence, the sustainable performance of
construction industry is essential to achieve SD goals. The construction industry is a labour incentive
industry and therefore, the way construction works are planned, scheduled and controlled depends directly
on the labours performance. This research is aimed to evaluate the influence of labour factor in integrating
sustainability concept into construction industry practice. The literature review identified the mostly used
Sustainable Construction (SC) principles and revealed that Most of identified SC practices were influenced
by the labour performance. This research is conducted with a quantitative approach using a questionnaire
survey in two phases. Phase I was conducted with construction industry professionals, the sample size was
75, and Phase II was conducted with 50 construction labours. Findings revealed, labour having a significant
role in implementing SC successfully. Lack of awareness was identified as the main reason for a negative
impact from labour in SC. When integrating sustainable concepts into construction, labour management
strategies should be also focused apart from the sustainable building materials and technologies to provide
the best outcome for the client or society.
