Under the Davis-Bacon Act, the government sets the prevailing wage to be paid on construction contracts for government projects; under the Act, this requirement applies to “mechanics and employers employed directly upon the site of the work.” The Department of Labor has issued final regulations which require payment of prevailing wages to employees at batch plants and other sites which are located so close to the site of the work that they are “integrated” into that site. The new rule would cover employees who work at those sites as well as those who transport materials from those sites to the project. In addition, the proposed regulation would impose Davis-Bacon requirements on plants which are distant from the site of the work, but which build “major segments of complex public works” which are subsequently transported to the site of the work and then put in place. In the proposal, the Department claims that new technology would allow a contractor to construct the project somewhere other than the site at which it is to be permanently located, and then transport it to the site.
ABC is considering litigation to overturn this rule. The definition of “site of the work” has been litigated many times, and the courts have said that Davis-Bacon cannot cover work that is not performed at the site of the work. This means that batch plants and fabrication plants, which are not located at the project, are not covered by the prevailing wage requirement. Further, the courts have ruled that employees who transport materials from such plants to Davis-Bacon projects are not covered by the Act.