What You Need to Know About the New Davis-Bacon Rules-What You Need to Know About the New Davis-Bacon Rules Slides

What You Need to Know About the New Davis-Bacon Rules Slides

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The presentation by Andrew J. Martone covers the significant changes introduced by the U.S. Department of Labor's new Davis-Bacon Rule, effective around October 23, 2023, expanding prevailing wage requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). The rule extends coverage to more workers, including certain survey workers, and imposes stricter employer responsibilities and potential penalties.<br /><br />Davis-Bacon mandates paying prevailing wages to "mechanics and laborers" engaged in manual or physical work on construction sites. The new rule clarifies that survey crew members involved in on-site, manual surveying activities directly supporting construction are covered by DBA, even if employed by professional surveying firms. The determination hinges on actual duties, focusing on work that is manual or physical, uses tools, or involves trade skills. Survey workers primarily engaged in design-phase or off-site surveying are generally exempt.<br /><br />The rule also provides exceptions: licensed surveyors may qualify as exempt "learned professionals" if their work involves advanced academic knowledge rather than just experience. Supervisory positions are exempt only if engaged predominantly in executive or administrative tasks. Business owners performing surveying are exempt if their duties are not manual labor. The rule broadens the definition of subcontractors to include any contractor performing part of the DBA-covered work.<br /><br />Best practices recommended include meticulous time tracking for covered versus non-covered work, minimizing on-site time, separating contracts for covered and non-covered work, and careful contract review for Davis-Bacon provisions.<br /><br />The Department of Labor’s Field Operations Handbook and Q&A emphasize duties over job titles in determining coverage, exclude administrative or clerical duties, and clarify wage determination procedures. The Illinois Department of Transportation’s contract language also highlights the relevancy of prevailing wage laws depending on project location and scope.<br /><br />In sum, engineering firms must carefully assess which employees are subject to the new DBA requirements, particularly survey staff performing on-site construction support, to ensure compliance and avoid penalties.

Keywords

Davis-Bacon Rule

U.S. Department of Labor

prevailing wage

construction workers

survey crew coverage

manual labor

learned professionals exemption

subcontractor definition

compliance best practices

wage determination