WAC 296-127-019   Survey methodology.  (1) The industrial statistician shall establish prevailing wage rates by:

     (a) Conducting wage and hour surveys for established trades and occupations;

     (b) Adopting the wage and benefit adjustments established in collective bargaining agreements for those trades or occupations where the most recently established prevailing wage rates were derived from a collective bargaining agreement; and/or

     (c) In instances when the procedures established in (a) and (b) of this subsection are not feasible, employing other methods deemed appropriate by the industrial statistician as set out in subsection (8) of this section.

     (2) The department will determine the identity of employers to be surveyed for a specific trade or occupation by:

     (a) Mailing trade and occupation questionnaires to all contractors whose registration under chapter 18.27 RCW or license under chapter 19.28 RCW is active;

     (b) Mailing trade and occupation questionnaires to Washington state department of transportation prequalified contractors; and

     (c) Compiling and maintaining lists of employers that are not required to be registered under chapter 18.27 RCW or licensed under chapter 19.28 RCW, but that employ workers in building service maintenance, in shipbuilding or ship repair, in the fabrication and/or manufacture of nonstandard items produced specifically for a public works project, and/or in the production and delivery of materials as defined in WAC 296-127-018. Trades and occupations utilized by the shipbuilding and ship repair industries shall not have their survey data combined with their construction counterparts, for the purpose of establishing prevailing wage rates for that industry.

     (3)(a) Wage survey forms will be mailed to:

     (i) Those contractors and employers whose businesses currently are active and were active during the established survey period, and whose response to the trade and occupation questionnaire indicates that they employ one or more of the trades or occupations being surveyed; and

     (ii) Labor unions representing workers in the trades or occupations being surveyed.

     (b) The department annually shall mail to statewide trade associations and statewide labor organizations a proposed schedule of trades intended to be surveyed during the upcoming fiscal year. In addition, the department shall notify those statewide trade associations and labor organizations, reasonably known to be affected, of the mailing of wage surveys.

     (4) Data reported on survey forms may be verified by the department, and will be used only when submitted on behalf of or by:

     (a) Individual contractors identified by a contractor registration number that currently is valid, and was valid during the established survey period;

     (b) Employers that are not required to be registered under chapter 18.27 RCW or licensed under chapter 19.28 RCW, that directly employ and supervise workers as employees in building service maintenance, in shipbuilding or ship repair, in the manufacture of nonstandard items specifically produced for a public works project, or in the production and delivery of materials, as defined in WAC 296-127-018;

     (c) Labor unions submitting wage and hour data on behalf of contractors and/or employers who are signatory to those unions' collective bargaining agreements covering the trade or occupation being surveyed; or

     (d) Interested parties providing wage and hour data by trade and occupation from certified payroll records and/or from hours reported by trade and occupation on affidavits of wages paid, according to guidelines established by the department.

     (5) The department shall use affidavit forms that include a requirement that contractors report the actual number of hours worked by each trade and occupation utilized on the public works project for which the affidavit is filed.

     (6) Valid data reported on wage surveys shall be calculated, as follows:

     (a) If the majority of hours reported for a trade or occupation in the largest city in a county is paid at the same wage rate, then that rate shall be established as the prevailing wage rate.

     (b) If the same wage rate is not reported to have been paid for the majority of hours reported in the largest city in a county for a trade or occupation, then the average wage rate shall be established as the prevailing wage rate, based on a weighted average of the hours, wages, and benefits reported in the largest city.

     (c) If a statistically significant number of hours fails to be reported for the largest city in a county, then the average wage rate for the county is established as the prevailing wage, based on a weighted average.

     (d) If there fails to be reported for an entire county, sufficient hours to validate the survey data, that county's hours shall be combined with those reported for other counties that are adjacent, until the established hours threshold for validation has been met.

     (7) Survey data will not be accepted if the data report the hours and wages of those who are exempt from the prevailing wage requirements of chapter 39.12 RCW, as defined in WAC 296-127-026.

     (8)(a) The industrial statistician may utilize alternative methods to establish prevailing wage rates consistent with the terms of (b) of this subsection. These methods include, but are not limited to:

     (i) The use of wage and hour data from the department of employment security;

     (ii) The use of wage and hour data from the industrial insurance division of the department of labor and industries;

     (iii) The use of data from surveys performed by the United States Department of Labor, wage and hour division; or

     (iv) The use of wage and hour data reported to the department on affidavits of wages paid.

     (b) These alternative methods will not be used for trades or occupations for which surveys had been completed as of the effective date of this section unless a subsequent survey produces insufficient data. In addition, these alternative methods may be used under circumstances that include, but are not limited to, the following:

     (i) To establish prevailing wage rates for a new trade or occupation where a survey is not immediately feasible;

     (ii) In response to an administrative or judicial determination of invalid wage rate or scope of work description;

     (iii) In response to changes or additions in licensing, safety, or other requirements of other state agencies, departments or divisions; or

     (iv) To establish rates for industries and trades and occupations generally not surveyed, in order to meet the requirement of having established wage rates for publication in contract or bid specifications as required by RCW 39.12.030.

     (9) Any party that submits false information under this section shall, after a determination to that effect has been issued by the director after a hearing pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW, forfeit as a civil penalty the sum of five hundred dollars.



[Statutory Authority: Chapters 39.04 and 39.12 RCW and RCW 43.22.270. 92-01-104, § 296-127-019, filed 12/18/91, effective 1/31/92; 88-22-046 (Order 88-22), § 296-127-019, filed 10/31/88.]