Prevailing wage

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s.sparkomatic.r09

Member
I understand the Davis Bacon (spelling) act and prevailing wage jobs, ?tax dollar funded? work. Do some from time to time.

I was asked to look at a US post office remodel. The builder that is asking me to look at the work was referred to me by word of mouth, so I don?t really know this guy.

Are post offices considered prevailing wage work places? Or is the USPS a ?private entity? that is subsidized by the federal government? Or are they a not for profit?

Also would this kind of work be paid out in stamps? If so what happens when they raise the postage rate?
 
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emahler

Senior Member
masterinbama said:
if the building is owned by a private company or individual the the prevailing wage goes out the window. If it is owned by the U.S.P.S. then it applies.
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depends on the state...it's not who owns the building in NJ, it's who funds the project...we are doing one project in a hospital, TI, privately funded, no PW...we are also doing a project in a theater, privately owned, public funds are helping foot the bill, PW job....
 
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khixxx

Senior Member
Location
BF PA
If I remember correctly anything funded by the federal government at 51% is prevailing wage. As some poster above stated there are ways around buildings being federal funded.
 
Rewire

Rewire

Senior Member
Location
Lake of the Ozarks
boboelectric said:
Bid the project at the area prevailing wages.Your people need to earn a living too.The U.S.P.S. announced they can rates every year.
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The true "prevailing wage" for my area is actually lower than the government enforced Prevailing Wage.
 
growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
s.sparkomatic.r09 said:
Are post offices considered prevailing wage work places? Or is the USPS a ?private entity? that is subsidized by the federal government? Or are they a not for profit?
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The first thing you need to find out is if this is a prevailing wage job and you are not going to get that information on a forum ( it could go either way).

Second thing is to find out what prevailing wage is for the location of the post office in question ( it can change in a few miles). Make sure you know exactly how much you will have to pay pr. hour because the benefits add in there to. If you miss something and it's caught it can add up to a lot of back pay real quick.
 
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LawnGuyLandSparky

Senior Member
khixxx said:
If I remember correctly anything funded by the federal government at 51% is prevailing wage. As some poster above stated there are ways around buildings being federal funded.
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Anything funded even .00001% by the Fed is PW. And it doesn't matter who owns the real estate, it's who is paying for the work.
 
quogueelectric

quogueelectric

Senior Member
Location
new york
s.sparkomatic.r09 said:
I understand the Davis Bacon (spelling) act and prevailing wage jobs, ?tax dollar funded? work. Do some from time to time.

I was asked to look at a US post office remodel. The builder that is asking me to look at the work was referred to me by word of mouth, so I don?t really know this guy.

Are post offices considered prevailing wage work places? Or is the USPS a ?private entity? that is subsidized by the federal government? Or are they a not for profit?

Also would this kind of work be paid out in stamps? If so what happens when they raise the postage rate?
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Just buy the forever stamps.
 
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ITO

Senior Member
Location
Texas
[Momentarily Quits Lurking]

Ok I was not going to make another post but the miss information in this thread is absolutely mind boggling?

First off these are questions you should be asking the GC, not posting here were there are guys who are not even contractors that feel obliged to give you advice about something they don?t know the answer to either.

Bidding-101, Read the Specification (General Conditions Division 1), and RFQ (request for quote). You should find somewhere in those documents the answer to all your question including a wage scale chart. If by chance they docs are incomplete (imagine that), and you still have questions, ask the question at the pre-bid conference and while you are there make note of all the GCs and other ECs at the meeting, and if you still don?t know, RFI one of the GCs on the project, preferably the one who brought you in on the deal. More than likely your GC will be able to answer your question with a simple phone call, but a written RFI response better, and email is good enough, just make sure you archive the email.

As for the .00001% theory, well everyone is entitled to there own opinion , just not their own facts.

[slips back into lurking?]
 
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ishium 80439

Senior Member
Location
Denver foothills via the Horn of Africa
I guess I'm not really going to contribute to this thread but ask a few more questions. Having never looked at any prevailing wage jobs (actually don't think I've ever worked on them for anyone else either) I was just wondering if someone could shed a bit more light on the subject. Someone mentioned that it varied state to state so who gets to make the decision/ what are the guidelines? How are the rates determined? The term "prevailing" seems inaccurate in that every time I've been involved in a discussion about such a project the wages that were being discussed were well over what the average for the area. Where did this requirement/ legislation come from? Years ago I was told of an EC that was ignorant of these requirements and got stuck w/ an insurmountable tab for back pay that put him out of business. Where would be the place to turn to learn more about the particulars about Davis-Bacon and attempt to avoid a similiar fate?
 
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drg

Senior Member
Sometimes I ask certain workers to just take their brain out of their head and place it in a jar of alcohol by the door they came in so's they don't have to put anyone in danger while they are here at work today........they laugh , I don't , and spend as much time as I can avoiding them through the night.

Have been told to quit doing that ..........aww shucks.
 
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ITO

Senior Member
Location
Texas
Whether or not a job has a prevailing wage scale, is a “General Condition” and for that to be binding has to be spelled out in the RFQ/RFP, Specs, or Contract. It is not something you can be surprised with or not know about unless you did not read the RFQ/RFP, Specs, or your contract. More often than not, the PW scale and requirements will be in the RFP or spelled out clearly in the General Conditions, and the contract will just tie you back to it as part of your contract documents.

Straight from the DOL website
The Davis-Bacon Act, as amended, requires that each contract over $2,000 to which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party for the construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public works shall contain a clause setting forth the minimum wages to be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics employed under the contract.
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As I already said, Read you RFQ/RFP, General conditions and Contact, it will answer your questions.

Info pron if you are into that sort of thing…Davis-Bacon Act a-la-wiki

[/slips back into lurk mode]
 
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