Attachment 10: Wage Rate Conformance

Wage and Hour Division
Davis-Bacon Wage Determination
Conformance Request Guide,
September 2021

This guide is intended as general information only and does not carry the force of legal opinion. The Department of Labor is providing this information as a public service. The information contained is of a general nature and should not be construed as legal advice. September 28, 2021

Wage and Hour Division
Davis-Bacon Wage Determination
Conformance Request Guide,
September 2021
What are the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts?
The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) require payment of local prevailing wages to construction workers performing work on federally funded construction projects. The DavisBacon Act (DBA) applies to each federal government or District of Columbia contract in excess of $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and decorating) of public buildings or public works and requires that contractors and subcontractors pay their laborers and mechanics employed under such contracts no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area. The DBA’s prevailing wage provisions also apply to “Related Acts,” under which federal agencies assist construction projects through grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance. Examples of Related Acts include the Federal-Aid Highway Acts, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor administers the DBRA.

What is a Davis-Bacon prevailing wage?
The Davis-Bacon prevailing wage is the combination of the basic hourly wage rate and any fringe benefits rate listed for a specific classification of workers in the applicable Davis-Bacon wage determination. The contractor’s prevailing wage obligation may be met by either paying each laborer and mechanic the applicable prevailing wage entirely as cash wages or by a combination of cash wages and employer-provided bona fide fringe benefits.

What is a wage determination?
A wage determination is the list of basic hourly wage rates and fringe benefit rates for each classification of laborers and mechanics (“labor classification”) in a predetermined geographic area for a particular type of construction. WHD conducts surveys of local wages to determine the prevailing wage rates that are included in wage determinations. There are two types of wage determinations: general determinations and project