How to find the right Davis-Bacon wage determination
The right wage determination is the one incorporated in your contract. To check it, or to bid with the right rates, match the project's state and county, its construction type (building, residential, heavy, or highway), and the current modification on SAM.gov.
On a Davis-Bacon job, the wage determination that controls your pay rates is the one the contracting agency put in the contract. Start there. Bid documents usually list the wage determination number and modification. To check it or to price a job before the specs are out, go to the wage determination search on SAM.gov and filter by the state, the county where the work is performed, and the construction type: building, residential, heavy, or highway. Then confirm you are looking at the latest modification as of the bid date. The U.S. Department of Labor says the contracting agency is responsible for selecting the determination, so if something looks wrong, raise it with the agency before bid day.
Getting this right matters more than it looks. The wrong determination can mean the wrong classifications, the wrong rates, and a bid that does not cover the real labor cost. See how to price prevailing wage jobs.
The four construction types
General wage determinations are issued county by county and split by construction type. DOL Fact Sheet 66D defines the four categories.
| Type | Covers | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Building | Sheltered enclosures with walk-in access for people, machinery, equipment, or supplies, plus integral utilities and incidental site work | Schools, hospitals, shopping centers, apartment buildings over four stories |
| Residential | Single-family houses and apartment buildings of no more than four stories | Subdivisions, garden apartments, townhomes |
| Highway | Roads, streets, runways, taxiways, alleys, trails, paths, parking areas | Road resurfacing, airport paving, parking lots |
| Heavy | Catch-all for projects that are not building, residential, or highway | Water and sewer lines, dams, major bridges, flood control |
How to find the right wage determination in 6 steps
1. Read the bid documents
Look in the specifications or contract clauses for the wage determination number, modification number, and publication date. If the solicitation includes it, that is your starting point.
Watch for addenda. Agencies often issue a revised determination by addendum during bidding, and the addendum acknowledgment on your bid form is your proof you saw it.
2. Identify the county or counties
Use the county where the work is physically performed, not where your office is. Fact Sheet 66D says that for work in more than one county, the agency must incorporate a determination for each county, unless it requests a multi-county project determination.
3. Decide the construction type
Look at the project as a whole. Site prep and incidental paving for a new school fall under building, even if a separate contract does them. Count stories carefully on apartment projects, since four stories or fewer is residential and more is building; the fact sheet gives rules for basements, half floors, and attics.
4. Check for a second construction type
Some projects need more than one determination. DOL treats work in another category as generally substantial when it exceeds 20 percent of total project cost or $2.5 million, and calls those figures benchmarks, not hard lines. A building project with a large road or utility package may carry both a building and a highway or heavy determination.
5. Confirm the modification number
General determinations are published each year in the first quarter, and WHD issues numbered modifications during the year, each one superseding the last. Under 29 CFR 1.6, for sealed bids a modification issued at least 10 calendar days before bid opening applies. One issued less than 10 days before still applies unless the agency finds there is not reasonable time to notify bidders. If the award is not made within 90 days after bid opening, a later modification issued before award can apply unless DOL grants an extension.
6. Match your classifications
List every trade you will put on site and find it on the determination. If a classification you need is missing, ask the contracting officer about a conformance request before work starts. DOL's rules allow conformance only when the work is not performed by a classification already listed, and the rate must bear a reasonable relationship to the rates in the determination.
After award: when the determination changes
Once incorporated, a determination generally applies for the life of the contract. There are exceptions. Under 29 CFR 1.6, the most recent revision must be added when a contract is changed to include substantial new work or more time, including when an option to extend is exercised. Contracts that are open-ended commitments to perform construction as needed must update the determination on each anniversary of award. If the agency put the wrong determination in the contract, or none at all, it must correct it, often by change order, and the correction is generally retroactive to award.
Worked example: a community center with a parking lot
Say a town uses a federal grant to build a $6,000,000 community center in one county, including a $900,000 parking lot and access road. The bid documents list a building determination. The parking lot is highway-type work, and $900,000 is 15 percent of the project and under $2.5 million, so under DOL's benchmarks one building determination likely covers the whole job. Now change the numbers: if the site work were $1,500,000, it would be 25 percent of project cost, over the 20 percent benchmark, and the agency would likely need to add a highway determination.
Then the modification. Bid opening is May 20. A new modification posts on May 15, five days before. It still applies unless the agency documents that there was not enough time to notify bidders. The estimator who priced from the earlier modification should check whether any rates in the trades they carry went up, and ask about an addendum.
Mistakes to avoid
- Pulling a determination from SAM.gov without checking what the contract actually incorporated.
- Using the county of your office or yard instead of the job site.
- Assuming apartment buildings are residential without counting stories.
- Pricing from an old modification and missing a late rate increase.
- Forgetting that subcontracts must incorporate the same determinations. Fact Sheet 66D says determinations in the prime contract must also be incorporated into all subcontracts. See flow-down clauses.
- Waiting until payroll week to discover a missing classification.
Related guides and tools
Once you have the right determination, follow how to do certified payroll step by step and set up fringe credits with how to calculate fringe benefit credits. State and local projects may use state rate schedules instead; see prevailing wage by state.
Smart Business Automator stores the wage determination and classifications on each public job, so payroll and certified payroll reports pull the right rates every week. See public works contractor automation.
Frequently asked questions
Where are Davis-Bacon wage determinations published?
General wage determinations are available on SAM.gov, which DOL links from its Davis-Bacon pages. Contracting agencies can incorporate them without prior DOL approval.
Who chooses the wage determination for a project?
The contracting agency. DOL says the agency selects determinations based on location, construction type, and the most current revision, and should refer questions to the Wage and Hour Division.
What is a project wage determination?
A determination issued for a specific project when a general one does not fit, such as when there is no general determination for the area or the work spans counties. Under 29 CFR 1.6, a project determination is effective for 180 calendar days from issue unless it is incorporated in a contract.
Do I use a newer wage determination if one comes out mid-job?
Generally no. The determination incorporated at award applies for the life of the contract, unless the contract is changed to add substantial new work or time, an option is exercised, or the contract is an ongoing commitment that updates on each award anniversary.
