State and local public agencies receiving federal funding for public works construction projects must meet various obligations to comply with federal prevailing wages (Davis-Bacon Act) requirements.
The Requirements: State and local agencies receiving federal funding for a public works project must:
- Include language in their bidding and contract documents regarding federal prevailing wages.
- Monitor the compliance of the contractor and subcontractors to ensure that workers are being paid appropriately.
The Question: May a state or local agency delegate to an outside consultant the responsibility to monitor the contractor's compliance with federal prevailing wage requirements?
Delegation Doesn't Eliminate Responsibility: Monitoring for federal prevailing wage compliance (weekly payrolls and worker interviews) may be performed either by agency employees or by an outside consultant. However, regardless of who is charged with monitoring the federal prevailing wages, the public agency is still responsible to ensure that it occurs in a manner consistent with federal regulations.
Audit Finding: The Washington State Auditor's Office recently issued an audit finding against King County, Washington for failure to include prevailing wage clauses in its contracts and to collect weekly payroll reports from the contractor and subcontractors on a parking lot construction project. According to the auditor,
"The County relied on its vendor, which had inadequate controls to ensure compliance with Davis-Bacon requirements. The County did not review the vendor's processes to identify the inadequacies and address them."
Follow-up: Regardless of who is charged with monitoring federal prevailing wage requirements on your public works project (employee or outside consultant), make sure they understand their responsibilities. Provide them with adequate training and follow-up periodically to ensure they are fulfilling their obligations.
Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog© 2012 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLChttp://PublicContracting.blogspot.com
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