CertifiedHours
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Is my project covered by Davis-Bacon? A 5-question check

Answer 5 questions about the funding, the contract amount, and the work. Get a plain answer on whether Davis-Bacon, the Related Acts, CWHSSA overtime, or state law applies, and what you have to file.

1.Where does the money come from?
2.How big is the prime contract?
3.What kind of work is it?
4.Are your workers on the site of the work?
5.Does the project's state have a prevailing wage law?
Answer the 5 questions and the result appears here.

The bid documents are the final word. If they contain a wage determination and the labor standards clauses, the project is covered whatever this check says.

The 3 sets of rules

The Davis-Bacon Act itself applies to construction contracts over $2,000 where the federal government is a party. About 70 other statutes, the Davis-Bacon Related Acts, attach the same requirements to construction paid for with federal grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance, where a state, a city, an authority, or a private developer holds the contract. Roughly half the states have prevailing wage laws of their own for state and local public works, with their own forms and portals.

What this check cannot see

It does not know your bid documents. If they contain a wage determination and the labor standards clauses, the project is covered and the answer here does not matter. If they do not and you think federal money is involved, ask the owner in writing before you bid; the clauses have a way of arriving by change order after award.

It also does not know your state’s thresholds. State laws range from covering every public dollar to applying only above several hundred thousand dollars, and a few states have no law at all. The 4 largest state systems.

If you are covered

You pay at least the basic rate plus fringe for each classification on the wage determination, keep the records the regulation lists, and file a certified payroll every week. What that involves. The thresholds and the 4 types of construction.

Read the rules

Your first certified payroll, in 5 short emails.

One a day: what you are filing, the wage determination, the overtime rule, fringe, and the signature. Written from the regulations. Free, and you can stop any time.

5 emails, then nothing unless you sign up. We never share addresses.

This tool applies the federal rules as written and is not legal advice. Your contract, the wage determination, and any state law control when they differ.