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Subjects › Public Works › Purchasing and Bidding: Prevailing Wage Issues
Updated 09/2004

Purchasing and Bidding: Prevailing Wage Issues

Prevailing Wage Issues

Payment of prevailing wages under Chapter 39.12 RCW in Washington State applies to public works contracts accomplished through competitive bidding or the small works roster. AND to smaller public works contracts for which telephone quotes were secured or for which the contractor was simply chosen for any number of good reasons. AND to maintenance contracts of any nature and for any amount, except for those considered by the Department of Labor and Industrial Services to be ordinary maintenance. Please note FYI Bulletin 96-2, by the State Auditor's Office, which discusses these and related issues. [Also see Note 1, below.] For public works and maintenance contracts of any dollar amount, basic prevailing wage principles are these:

  • Contractor must be told in advance that prevailing wages must be paid to all employees who work on the contract.
  • Contractor must be given a copy of the prevailing wages in effect for the contract.
  • Contractor must file a Statement of Intent to Pay Prevailing Wages with the Industrial Statistician of the Department of Labor and Industrial Services (DLIS). The City must have a copy of the DLIS-approved Statement of Intent before it can make payments under the contract.
  • Although optional for non-Federal contracts Make sure that you obtain certified weekly payrolls covering every person who works on the project site, and off-site in certain cases, from every contractor and subcontractors of any tier for the duration of the contract.
  • After completion of the contract, the contractor must file an Affidavit of Wages Paid with the Industrial Statistician of the Department of Labor and Industrial Services (DLIS). The City must have a copy of the DLIS-approved Affidavit before it can release the contract retainage. DLIS has atuomated this process so that the Intent and Affadavit can be filed online and an agency can be notified automatically if desired.  An agency can check the contractor's filing status anyway.
  • For contracts under $2,500, RCW 39.12.040 provides that the Statement and Affidavit may be combined and payment made by the City or County without prior DLIS approval. Please note the attached May 1, 1998 memorandum from the Prevailing Wage Section, which explains this process.
  • If a contract's funding includes both state and federal funds, both sets of prevailing wage rates and reporting requirements must be met. The higher of the two wage rates must be paid. Do not assume that DLIS and the U.S. Department of Labor will accept each other's paperwork or that they coordinate their efforts.
  • Establish a strong city policy, implemented by written operating procedures, for checking certified payrolls and for verifying those payrolls with contractor/subcontractor employees on the job site. Have your field inspectors note all employees, by name and work performed, who appear on the job site. Have them ask to see apprenticeship cards and note if journeymen are present as well. Have someone meet, at least monthly, on a random basis with contractor/subcontractor employees and check payroll stubs.

Both DLIS and the State Auditor's Office have active outreach programs and resources to help. They can help you avoid paying a contractor's employee his statutory prevailing wages after the contract is complete and the retainage is released.

Note 1: There are a number of City Attorneys who have expressed their opinion and concern that the DLIS application of the prevailing wage statutes is overly rigid as it relates to maintenance contracts. For one such alternate interpretation, please see "Prevailing Wage Issues - Some Counterpoints," by George Kavartis, Tacoma' Senior Assistant City Attorney in Legal Notes: Annual Fall WSAMA Conference, 1998, MRSC Information Bulletin #502.

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