Does Davis-Bacon apply to my project? Thresholds, Related Acts, and the 4 types of construction

Certified payroll is owed only on covered work. Before setting up a payroll, know which of 3 sets of rules the project is under: the Davis-Bacon Act itself, one of the Related Acts, or neither. The bid documents answer the question, and the answer decides whether you file a WH-347, what the overtime rules are, and which wage determination governs.

The Davis-Bacon Act: direct federal contracts over $2,000

The Act, at 40 U.S.C. 3142, applies to contracts in excess of $2,000 to which the federal government or the District of Columbia is a party, for construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, of public buildings or public works. The contracting agency puts the wage determination and the labor standards clauses in the contract, and the clauses flow down to every subcontract.

The $2,000 figure is the prime contract amount and has not changed since 1935. A $1,500 repair contract with the Forest Service is outside the Act. A $2,500 one is inside, with the same certified payroll obligation as a $250 million one.

Maintenance is not construction. Routine janitorial or landscaping service contracts fall under the Service Contract Act, with different rules. The line is whether the work alters or repairs the structure. Repainting a building is covered; washing its windows is not.

The Related Acts: federally assisted work

Congress has written Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements into roughly 70 other statutes that provide federal grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance for construction. These are the Davis-Bacon Related Acts; the Department of Labor keeps the list on its website, and 29 CFR 5.1 points there. Highway, transit, and airport programs, HUD housing programs, water and sewer infrastructure financing, school and hospital construction programs, energy programs, and many others.

Under a Related Act the federal government is not a party to the construction contract. A state DOT, a transit authority, a housing authority, or a private developer with a federally insured loan is the owner. The federal agency requires that owner to put the labor standards clauses in its construction contracts as a condition of the money, and certified payrolls go to that owner or its agent for transmission.

Each Related Act sets its own coverage rules and thresholds. Most follow the $2,000 figure. Several HUD programs apply only to residential projects at or above a unit count, 8, 9, or 12 units depending on the program. Federal-aid highway coverage under 23 U.S.C. 113 applies to projects on federal-aid highways. The bid documents state the applicable statute, and the labor standards clauses appear in the contract with a wage determination attached.

A project that is state-funded with no federal dollars is outside the Related Acts entirely. State prevailing wage law may apply instead. State requirements.

The overtime threshold: $100,000

Overtime on Davis-Bacon jobs comes from a different statute, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, and it applies to prime contracts over $100,000. Below that figure the FLSA still requires overtime after 40 hours for most workers, but the CWHSSA liquidated damages and the contract clause do not apply. The WH-347 has an overtime line either way. Overtime rules.

The 4 types of construction

Wage determinations are issued by type of construction, and the type decides which set of rates applies. The Department's All Agency Memoranda 130 and 131 define them.

Building. Sheltered enclosures with walk-in access, for housing persons, machinery, equipment, or supplies, and everything incidental: schools, offices, hospitals, warehouses, parking structures.

Residential. Single-family houses and apartment buildings of no more than 4 stories in height, including incidental items such as site work and sidewalks.

Heavy. Everything that is not building, residential, or highway. Water and sewer lines, dams, treatment plants, pipelines, tunnels, and often a catch-all for sitework that is not part of a building.

Highway. Roads, streets, highways, runways, taxiways, alleys, and similar projects, including bridges that are not incidental to heavy or building construction.

A project can have more than one type. A 6-story apartment building is building construction, not residential. A hospital with a new access road may carry a building determination for the structure and a highway determination for the road, and a sub working on both files against both. The contract says which determination applies to which work.

How to tell from the bid documents

• Look for the labor standards clauses. Federal contracts include FAR 52.222-6 through 52.222-15. Assisted projects include the clauses from 29 CFR 5.5 or an agency form such as HUD-4010.
• Look for the wage determination. It is attached, with its number, modification number, and type of construction.
• Look for the funding statement. Assisted projects identify the federal program. State-only projects cite the state law.
• Look for the contract amount. Over $2,000 triggers the Act; over $100,000 triggers CWHSSA.

If the documents are silent and you think federal money is involved, ask the owner in writing before bid. Under the 2023 rule the clauses apply by operation of law even when omitted, though a federal court vacated that provision in June 2026, so for now an omitted clause is added by contract modification under 29 CFR 1.6(f). Either way, the clauses have a way of being added by change order after award, and the wage cost is easier to carry when it is in the bid.

Who is covered on a covered project

On a covered project, the requirement reaches laborers and mechanics employed on the site of the work by any contractor or subcontractor, at any tier. It does not reach bona fide executives, administrators, or professionals, or clerical staff. Working foremen who spend more than 20 percent of their time on manual work are covered for that time. Working owners generally appear on the payroll with their hours and classification; a bona fide owner of 20 percent or more who is active in managing the business is an exempt executive, and HUD allows an abbreviated entry for owners. Ask the agency. Site of the work.

The clean energy tax credits

The Inflation Reduction Act ties the full rate of several clean energy tax credits to paying Davis-Bacon prevailing wages and meeting apprenticeship requirements on the project. The wage determinations are the Department of Labor's, but the enforcement is through the Internal Revenue Service and the taxpayer claiming the credit. There is no weekly certified payroll to an agency; the developer will ask contractors for payroll records to support the credit claim. If a private solar or storage project asks you for prevailing wage records, this is why.