Prevailing Wage-Davis-Bacon Act - California

nuklenr

I have an opportunity to bid on a prevailing wage project, but the procedure is very confusing to me. How do I find out what I must pay my workers on a Davis-Bacon Act project in California? My normal rate for general labor/cleaners is $9-10/hr. For this project, based on my normal labor rate, my bid would be $3,500 for 21 units, 14,500 sf. But I have no idea what I must pay under this act. I'm assuming it would be general labor (unskilled). Can anyone lead me to the well of information?

I'm new here!

Thanks in advance! BTW, this is urgent, as I must turn in bid tomorrow.

DRButler

Hi, Our company had experience with a prevailing wage job in the Bay Area last year. The Dept. of Industrial Relations is where you can get info on prevailing wage in California. I would suggest calling them as well as google the site because you want to be positive that you have the correct figure because you will probably will have to file "certified payroll" reports and the job will be over and done before you find out if you've underpaid your employees! Hope this helps.
Melissa
DRBA, Inc.

nuklenr

Thanks Melissa.

Here's the table I found

W w w.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/PWD/Determinations/Northern/NC-023-102-1.pdf
(I broke the link so I wouldn't violate any rules)

I'm in Fresno County (Area 2) and I believe I fall into Group 4 with the basic hourly wage of 17.58. Since I offer no benefits, and hire people for specific jobs, can I pay at the apprentice rate? Do I add all the colums together so that the total is about $21/hr +/-? for journeyman rate?

Did you find your experience with prevailing wage worthwhile? What percentage did you bump your rates over what you would have charged without prevailing wage?

FYI, I am a licensed contractor, I carry general liability insurance and workers compensation insurance. I utilize a payroll service. Contractor will pay once a month on a 30 day delay. They will also withhold a 10% retention.

Chris Johnson

Your paying journeyman rate to everyone on the job working...don't mess up

10% retention is not law here, get it removed from your contract

__________________
Chris

BKFranks

"JUNE 29, 2008** THE RATE TO BE PAID FOR WORK PERFORMED AFTER THIS DATE HAS BEEN DETERMINED. IF WORK WILL EXTEND PAST THIS
DATE, THE NEW RATE MUST BE PAID AND SHOULD BE INCORPORATED IN CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO NOW. CONTACT THE DIVISION OF LABOR STATISTICS AND RESEARCH FOR SPECIFIC RATES AT (415) 703-4774."

Better call to get the new rate.

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nuklenr

Yes, I want the retention removed. Also I'm thinking I could pay apprentice rates because apprentice is in 500 hr. increments through 4 steps, and if I'm using new people and training them OTJ I think I could make this work. I figure the apprentice rate will be about $18-19/hr (can't remember exact amt without looking) and the journeyman rate is about $35/hr +/-. This is outrageous! I want to earn that, and I'm the owner.

PS, I did look up the new rate. $1 increase in hr. rate and $.85 in pension or health, I forget which.

Chris Johnson

If you are not a union contractor you can NOT pay apprenticeship rates.

__________________
Chris

JustaFramer

You can't classify anyone as a apprentice. All they would have to do is show the state they have past experience with hours and you are paying back pay.
Screwing around with pay on DB jobs and you may be barred from bidding on those jobs in the future.

Plus any way wouldn't paying guys more money make you more money? Unless you think you need to take a beating in profits to get the job.


Don't worry to much about the 35 dollar a hour thing it's not all it's cracked up to be. You'll just keep thinking you need more crap.

JSC

One downside to pw jobs, is that your employees may never be satisfied with regular wages again.
Playing games with apprentice rates as a non-union contractor will definitely get you in hot water. Your men will likely be interviewed by a govt agent, and where will the money come from to correct the deficiency if you never put it in your bid in the first place? As the others have stated, you must compute all hours at the journeyman rate to be legal, unless you are a union contractor.

LCP GURU

Hello all,

New to the forum. Here's some info for you although it might be too late.

Depending on the funding source; California = California prevailing wage law supersedes, or Federal = Davis-Bacon supersedes. The exception it seems is that Federal Projects in California will use the higher wage of either the Davis-Bacon or California DIR wage determinations. It is very important to understand this. The funding source determines what rules and regulations a contractor will have to abide by. Sometimes they are similar, but there are differences.

I would just pay close attention to the Scope of work within each wage determination to ensure you are correctly classifying your employees, so that you don't unknowingly pay your employees incorrectly. There are some instances where the State or Fed may name the trade something similar or completely different. Just be sure to read the scope that lists the type of work and try not to become to attached to a trade name, its the work the employees are doing that defines their wage, not their trade name or job title... even though many times they are one in the same, sometimes they are not, surprisingly.

With regards to apprentices on California Public Works Projects, in order to be paid as, and classified as, an apprentice, the employee must be registered with the Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS), otherwise the prevailing wage laws will only recognize that employee as earning Journeyman wages. Whether or not you are signatory to a union, this applies.

If anyone has questions regarding California State funded pw construction projects, post and I'll answer as much as I can. DB questions are welcome as well, but California PWs are my area.
I am new, so the system will not allow me to post weblinks yet. The Davis Bacon Wages can be found at double-u double-u double-u (dot) gpo (dot) gov / davisbacon /

rdell

I bid a job for a federal project under the Davis Bacon Act. As the owner, I was the only one working on the job but still turned in Certified Payroll with my hours.

Now that the work is completed, can the prime contractor pay me prevailing wage for the hours I worked rather than for the contracted price, which is greater?

Thanks.

spoon

You are the contractor. The prime has to pay you the contracted price. You have to pay your employees prevailing wage. You are the only employee, so it's all yours. Nothing more to it.

Dorman Painting

I've just bid a PW job, it's painting a US Army Reserve command post. Let me be the first to say, these PW jobs inflate labor so much that it costs taxpayers tons of money. I've talked to paint contractors in my area and we all agreed that if you don't bump your normal labor rates by thirty percent or more, you won't do well on these jobs.

I had to go through tons of red tape and paperwork to even put the bid in, it's crazy what the government expects from us.

spoon

Inflated labor costs? What are you talking about? PW is what is PREVAILING in your area... nothing is "inflated". Please don't take offense to this, but I think you are just used to the low wage that your employees accept from you. If anything, it's YOUR wages that are DEflated.

eastend

i don't see how a prevailing wage job reflects actual prevailing wages. Absolutely nobody I know of around here (NYC) is paying wood finishers $55 per hour to sand and stain. Yet that is what I had to pay my workers on a recent PW job. Guys would jump through hoops to get that job at $20 per.
PW , as far as I know, is in place to protect union workers working gov't jobs whose pay does not reflect what is going on in the real world marketplace.

Dorman Painting

What I'm talking about is the fact that I've got to pay a journeyman painter double what he makes on the free market. I'm paying a painter $15 per hour on the open market, but on PW jobs it's more like $30-35 per hour. So yes, the labor figures normally come in very bloated and top heavy because of inflated labor rates. This hits the local taxpayer in the wallet, these inflated rates don't reflect the open market rates.

Doodalou

You Damn right Dorman..... Bloated is the word that I would use to describe it. These PW jobs are for complete Meat-Heads.....

I have a guy that works for me and we call him "Bat eye" he scouts our jobs for us. He is always trying to get us to bid these things out. I just can't stand all the red tape.

Now it is a good piece of money when you get one and bid it correctly. I would rather just leave it alone.

Late

spoon

PW has little to do with Union workers. The Union is not a government entity and is not protected in any way by PW. Let's not confuse "PW" with "Union wages"... two different things.

Government jobs, in general, are paid by taxpayers. Correct? Now, if tax payers are paying for a job, it would make sense that the job is done correctly and is of a high quality. As a contractor, would you hire a couple monkeys off the street and pay them those high Prevailing Wages? Of course you wouldn't. But you'd hire those same monkeys to do the same (low quality) work for a alot less money though wouldn't you?

PW is in place to protect the integrity of the work being done. I hope this helps.

eastend

we're not talking about rocket science. You can get perfectly capable workers to perform jobs (identified under the Laborer category) and pay them $20 hr instead of paying those same capable workers $50 under PW. So why should the taxpayer pay an inflated wage?
I think it is complete BS that in every case, paying a higher wage insures a better, more qualified worker. It really depends on the task.
.
Would you pay a perfectly capable floor sweeper (laborer) $50hr, when you can get the identical performance at $20hr. Do you think the $50hr wage attracts a superior floor sweeper?
Or is it really more job-specific.

It has nothing to do with monkeys. The taxpayer is the one who ultimately suffers, and it, I think, just reflects the bloated inefficiencies of much gov't work.

spoon

Allow me to apologize about my links. I cannot post URLs until I reach 15 posts, so if any of you need one of my links, just let me know. Thanks!


Let's try not to think of PW as 'inflated'. They would call it 'inflated wage' if this was correct. I agree with you, this ain't rocket science. I know you're in NY, but here's a link and an excerpt from the California Dept. of Industrial Relations - Prevailing Wage FAQ. Read the first two FAQ's, they should help you develop a stronger understanding.

dir.ca.gov/dlsr/FAQ_PrevailingWage.html

"Q. What is the methodology for determining the prevailing wage rate?
A. The prevailing wage rate is the basic hourly rate paid on public works projects to a majority of workers engaged in a particular craft, classification or type of work within the locality and in the nearest labor market area (if a majority of such workers are paid at a single rate). If there is no single rate paid to a majority, then the single or modal rate being paid to the greater number of workers is prevailing.

Q. How does the prevailing wage affect me?
A. California’s prevailing wage laws ensure that the ability to get a public works contract is not based on paying lower wage rates than a competitor. All bidders are required to use the same wage rates when bidding on a public works project. California law requires that not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to all workers employed on a public works project."


DING DING DING! It is extremely job specific. According to the NYSDOL - Prevailing Wage Determination; Orange County; hourly wage for a building laborer (floor sweeper) is to start no lower than $16.84. In the same county, $39.15 is the hourly rate for (journeymen) structural iron workers. Here's a couple links for ya'. The bottom link was referred to in order to obtain the above wage rates. The top link is an overview of the NYSDOL prevailing wage system. There's a couple FAQ's in there as well.

labor.state.ny.us/workerprotection/publicwork/PWContents.shtm

labor.state.ny.us/wpp/publicViewPWChanges.do?method=showIt


There are many differing opinions on this. We can also agree on the fact that our government is cluttered with 'bloated inefficiencies'. But ultimately, I think it's the greed of contractors that initially begged for a Prevailing Wage system to be installed. Contractors see dollar signs, and they hire the cheapest monkeys they can get away with to get the job done. Jobs ended up coming out sloppy for example, buildings started catching on fire due to sloppy electrical installs, yada yada yada, money in the garbage. It all makes sense to me... and apparently to the creators of the PW system.

If any one of my dimes is going into a project, I'd want a system in place that would make absolutely sure that a construction project is completed safely and is of the highest quality. Wouldn't you?