(a) General wage determinations.
(1) A general wage determination contains prevailing wage rates for the types of construction designated in the determination, and is used in contracts performed within a specified geographical area. General wage determinations contain no expiration date and remain valid until modified, superseded, or canceled by the Department of Labor. Once incorporated in a contract, a general wage determination normally remains effective for the life of the contract, unless the contracting officer exercises an option to extend the term of the contract (see 22.404-12). These determinations shall be used whenever possible. They are issued at the discretion of the Department of Labor either upon receipt of an agency request or on the Department of Labor’s own initiative.
(2) General wage determinations are published on the WDOL website. General wage determinations are effective on the publication date of the wage determination or upon receipt of the wage determination by the contracting agency, whichever occurs first. “Publication” within the meaning of this section shall occur on the first date the wage determination is published on the WDOL. Archived Davis-Bacon Act general wage determinations that are no longer current may be accessed in the “Archived DB WD” database on WDOL for information purposes only. Contracting officers may not use an archived wage determination in a contract action without obtaining prior approval of the Department of Labor. To obtain prior approval, contact the Department o Labor, Wage and Hour Division , using http://www.dol.gov/esa, or contact the procurement agency labor advisor listed on http://www.wdol.gov.
(3) The GPO publication is available for examination at each of the 50 Regional Government Depository Libraries and many other of the 1,400 Government Depository Libraries across the country. Subscriptions may be obtained by contacting:
Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20402
The GPO publication is divided into three volumes East, Central, and West, which may be ordered separately. The States covered by each volume are as follows:
Volume I - East
Alabama Maryland Rhode Island
Connecticut Massachusetts South Carolina
Delaware Mississippi Tennessee
District of Columbia New Hampshire Vermont
Florida New Jersey Virginia
Georgia New York Virgin Islands
Kentucky North Carolina West Virginia
Maine Pennsylvania Puerto Rico
Volume II - Central
Arkansas Louisiana New Mexico
Illinois Michigan Ohio
Iowa Minnesota Oklahoma
Indiana Missouri Texas
Kansas Nebraska Wisconsin
Volume III- West
Alaska Hawaii Oregon
Arizona Idaho South Dakota
California Montana Utah
Colorado Nevada Washington
Guam North Dakota Wyoming
(4) On or about January 1 of each year, an annual edition will be issued that includes all current general wage determinations for the States covered by each volume. Throughout the remainder of the year, regular weekly updates will be distributed providing any modifications or superseded wage determinations issued. Each volume’s annual and weekly editions will be provided in loose-leaf format.
(b) Project wage determinations. A project wage determination is issued at the specific request of a contracting agency. It is used only when no general wage determination applies, and is effective for 180 calendar days from the date of the determination. However, if a determination expires before contract award, it may be possible to obtain an extension to the 180-day life of the determination (see 22.404-5(b)(2)). Once incorporated in a contract, a project wage determination normally remains effective for the life of the contract, unless the contracting officer exercises an option to extend the term of the contract (see 22.404-12).
