Prevailing wage and wage determinations
Also called: prevailing wage, wage determination, WD, prevailing wage rate, state prevailing wage, SCA wage determination, Davis-Bacon wage determination
A prevailing wage is the hourly wage and fringe rate, set by the Department of Labor or a state labor agency, that contractors must pay workers in a trade or occupation on covered public contracts; a wage determination is the official document listing those rates for a locality and type of work.
Federally, Davis-Bacon wage determinations cover construction trades under 29 CFR Part 1 and Service Contract Act wage determinations cover service occupations under 29 CFR Part 4; both are published on SAM.gov and incorporated into the solicitation. Most states have their own prevailing wage law for state and local public works, administered by the state labor department with its own rate schedules, thresholds and certified payroll forms, and some cities add a living wage ordinance on top.
What to check: which wage determination the solicitation includes and its date, the classifications and fringe amounts for the work you will do, whether a state law applies alongside the federal one on a funded project (pay the higher), and how option year increases are passed through. Price from the determination, not from your current payroll, if the two differ.
What it is not: a suggested rate. Underpayment is recovered from the contractor, with debarment possible for willful violations.
See also: Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act (SCA), Labor category, SAM.gov
Questions that use this term
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