On August 8th, the DOL finalized regulations under the Davis-Bacon Act, the common wage law for federal projects. ARTBA and other industry groups have commented on the DOL’s rules. These rule modifications include Expanding the DBA coverage sites; this rule allows a more narrow scope of coverage to locations where a significant portion of work is performed and where the site is established for the exclusive performance of said contract. The DOL also proposed to require prevailing wages for the time that off-site drivers and materials providers spend on the worksite – This was removed.
Additionally, the DOL can issue wage determinations when survey data is lacking, which leads to incomplete wage data. The prevailing wage will now be determined if paid to 30% of surveyed workers (formerly 50%), which causes an increase in wages. Contractors must ensure that they are compliant, or else they will face liability for unpaid prevailing wages.