top of page

Davis-Bacon Alert: Understanding General vs. Project-Specific Wage Determinations

ARTOVIA Davis-Bacon Consultants

📘 Understanding Davis-Bacon General vs. Project-Specific Wage Determinations

When planning federally funded construction projects, contracting agencies need to know whether a general wage determination applies—or whether they must request a project-specific one from the U.S. Department of Labor. Here's how to tell the difference:


📌 General Wage Determinations

Use when all of the following apply:

  • Issued by the DOL and publicly posted on SAM.gov

  • Cover standard construction types (e.g., highways, residential, building, heavy) and clearly defined geographic areas

  • Can be used without prior DOL approval, if correctly selected and included in both bid and contract documents


📌 Project-Specific Wage Determinations

Request one only if:

  • The project spans multiple counties, and workers may cross county lines

  • There is no applicable general determination for the location or type of construction

  • The work will be performed entirely or nearly entirely by a classification not listed in the general determination—and bidding hasn’t occurred yet

  • The agency will submit Standard Form SF-308 to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, which will review the request and determine whether to assign a project wage determination

  • DOL must formally assign the determination—it is not automatic upon submission


If you have questions about general and project wage determinations, please contact our Davis-Bacon consultants:


You can also reach either of them by phone at 985-900-2320.


Learn more about ARTOVIA’s Davis-Bacon Compliance services and expertise on our Davis-Bacon Compliance page.

 
 
bottom of page