Within the next month the U S Department of Labor will begin conducting a Davis Bacon Prevailing Wage Survey in the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. They will be soliciting payroll information on all federal, state, local and privately funded building and heavy construction projects active any time between August 1, 2008 and July 31, 2009. Information received during the course of the survey will be used to determine the prevailing wage rates to be paid on federally funded and assisted construction projects. It is imperative that ABC members participate, complete and return the wage surveys. ABC will be contacting members to follow up and encourage participation. In addition, ABC will be scheduling a meeting for members with a representative from the US Department of Labor to provide assistance and support for survey participation.

In the past Davis Bacon surveys were not conducted on a regular basis and were generally limited to one type of construction in one county. The Department of Labor has recently instituted new technology which will allow them to conduct statewide surveys of all types of construction. Their goal is to conduct the surveys every three years for each state. Individual wage decisions will continue to be published for each type of construction in each county.