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WHD Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Recovery.gov

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Overview

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. Division A of ARRA appropriates substantial funding for construction, alteration and repair of federal buildings and for infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, public transit, water systems, and housing. In accordance with existing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) requirements, federal agencies directly contracting for construction work using ARRA funds must ensure that bid solicitations and resulting covered contracts contain Davis-Bacon labor standards and wage determinations in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

Also, generally, Federal agencies must ensure that recipients of assistance funded by ARRA appropriations require contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers and mechanics employed on ARRA-assisted construction at least the Davis-Bacon prevailing wages. In addition, Division B of ARRA requires application of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements to projects financed with certain tax-favored bonds.

This portal contains information on prevailing wage labor standards applicable to construction projects funded under ARRA. The Copeland “Anti-Kickback Act” and overtime pay requirements under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act also apply to ARRA funded construction. In addition, ARRA appropriations will fund federal service contracts subject to the Service Contract Act (SCA), and federal contracts subject to coverage under the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA). Links to information regarding application of these laws and the Davis-Bacon Act are provided on this site.

Press Releases

  • Press Releases - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act press releases.

All Agency Memorandum

  • All Agency Memorandum No. 207 - Applicability of Davis-Bacon to Federal and federally-assisted construction work funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
  • All Agency Memorandum No. 208 - Applicability of Davis-Bacon labor standards to construction financed with the proceeds of certain tax-favored bonds under section 1601 of Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Advisory Letters

Prevailing Wage Conferences

Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act Online Training For Government Contracting Officials

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is pleased to announce that online training is now available to assist all federal, state and local contracting agencies with information on federal rules concerning prevailing wages and other labor law requirements. The training modules, presented by WHD staff and its federal agency partners, provide contracting officials with information on the process of obtaining wage determinations; adding classifications to wage determinations (conformances); compliance principles, and enforcement process under both the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) and the McNamara Service Contract Act (SCA).

Specifically, two training modules are currently being offered on line. A four hour session for the DBA and a second four hour session on the SCA. These training modules and accompanying power points presentations are available in their entirety at the following links:

Prevailing Wage Conferences – 2012

  • Fort Bliss, Texas
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Miami, Florida
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Seattle, Washington

Previous Prevailing Wage Conferences

Prevailing Wage Conference Comments

 

Videos

Guidance

Posters

Fact Sheets

DBRA Certified Payroll Form

  • Contract clause — see 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)
  • Revised WH-347 Form and Instructions Applicable to Contracts Entered into Pursuant to Invitations for Bids Issued or Negotiations Concluded On or After January 18, 2009. (This form has been submitted for renewal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). According to law [5 CFR 1320.10(e)(2)], the agency may continue to use the form while its renewal is pending at OMB.)

Davis-Bacon Survey Information

Following a Department of Energy (DOE) request for project wage determinations applicable to the DOE Weatherization Assistance Program, the Wage Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) completed an expedited prevailing wage survey of weatherization construction on residential projects in the United States. Data was solicited from interested parties specific to weatherization construction performed on residential structures in the United States from April 1, 2008 - March 31, 2009. The nationwide survey was conducted in two stages.

The first stage of the survey included the states of California, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Interested parties were notified on July 6, 2009 of this survey. Initially, the cut-off date for submission of data for this survey was July 15, 2009 but extended to July 31, 2009.

The second stage of the survey included the remaining 35 states of Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming as well as the District of Columbia. The survey start date of this survey was July 20, 2009 with a survey cut-off date of August 14, 2009.

WHD has published these rates in the form of project wage determinations at the following site: Davis-Bacon Weatherization Wage Rates. Following the narrative on the project wage determination is a listing of each county in the state. The heading of such listing contains two main columns separated by a bold line with the left column labeled Weatherization Survey and the right column labeled Existing Residential Wage Determination. The following links provide information on the appropriate use of each main column.

Weatherization Survey Column

Existing Residential Wage Determination Column

Any questions regarding this survey can be sent to the following email address - 09WeatherizationSurvey@dol.gov.

Additional information:

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