. 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Joa Kuaoohlk 

co~~lwio~r, ~cuuw or m+0r st0tiOti00 

Austin, T0x.w 

Dur blk. imu0hlk: 

ttar 0f~Augwt U, 

ln ntJpeot to the 

"Dou the phrwo, l *~llulva of md.rlteMnoe 

writ,+ ‘~tn th m~8t •W~UOO or .000ti0n i 0r 

o a tla a w l mp t~8a owork h iroll the Prwalllag 

waga Law, when mai4 w* la don. umdor oontnot7- 
RonOmble Joe Kunschlk, Pege Z 

Section 1 of Artlolo 5159a, Vernon's Annotated 

Clrll statfitee, reads as r0iim: 

*Not leaa than the general prevailing rata 

or per diem wage8 ror work or a similar charaoter In the looallty in which the work 1s perfoxmod, and not less than the general prorailing 

rate or per diem wagas r0r legal holiday and 

orertlma work, shall bo paid to all laborera, 

workmen and meohanlos eaaployad by or on behaLf 

of the State or Texae, or by or on behalf of 

any county, olty and oowt~, olty, tom, dl8- 

trlot or other wlltloal 8&dlrlslon.of thm 

State, engaged in tlio oomtruotion or pub110 

uorka. exoluslre of malntenanoo work. Laborers, 

workmen, and meohanloa smployod by contractors 

or subo&tractors in the &&xtloh of any OOLItraot or oontracts for pabllo workm with tha 

Stats, or any orrioer or publfo body thereor, 

or in the execution ot any oontnot or ooiitraots 

ror public works, with any oounty, olty and 

aounty,' city, town, dlatrlot or other polltloal mabdlrlalon or thl8 State, or any oiiloer 

or public body thereof, ahall be boamad to k 

employed upon pub110 works." (undaxWorl.n,g oumj 

mlntsnanca work 1s oxpnu~ ompt fmm the 

general premalllw wage requlromwt at th stateio, The 

language above quoted la oleu an4 l xpllolt to thla effoot, 

and thorn oan be no doubt aa to thla l xooption, 

Iwr la there a&y'&abt that the removal of a 

ooat 0r old paint rr08 a prevlowly oonrtruotod oltr bridge 

and tbs rrpalnting 6i 8w0 OOP~ within the oatcytow 0r 

~~lntonanoo r~*.~~ am thom worda are mod in Sootion 1 

or Article 5159a., l we q uo ted. 

*Otis and Fhramoa, ?lrst Sirlea, Vol 5, eontalnm the ?ollowing dleouaslon or the word wmalntenance" 

on Pm 458s: 

-The ~malntananoe* of a atreot wlthln the 

.'ranlng of an ordlnanoe providing ror the raoonstruotl6n and fialntenanoa of a stnet for a 

prlod or years under ema oontraot praotloally 

baa the mime meaning a0 tha word ~yeuPalr,q and 

therefore an ordlnanoo in requlrl~ a&joining 
Honorable Joe Kunschlk, Page 3 

owners to pay for the construction and malntenante 0r a street 1s in violation or St. Lou18 Charter, art. 6;8 18, providing that the 

all streets shall be paid by the city. 

re;;;rto;; 

lmalntaln* does not maan to provide or construct, 

but means to keep up, to keep iron change, to 

preserve (Worceat. Dlot.); to hold or keep in 

any particular atate or oondltlon, to keep up 

(Yebat. Dlct.). In Boon v. Dunden, 2,Bxch. 21, 

it was said the verb vto maln+.alrl* slgnliled to 

support.tiat has already been brought ln:o existence. 'To repair' means to restore to a sound 

or good state arter decsy, injury, dllapldatlon, 

or partial Cestruotlon. 

Y, Hexel, 56 S. 

Barber Asphalt Par-Co. 

FL A. 285." 

w. 449, 451, 155 z'o. 391, 4s L. 

The following definition of *malntenanoeW Is given 

in the aase of San Francisco & P. s. S. Co. v. SOott, 253 

Fed. 854: 

"* i * Now, the operation of a business 

or property lnoludea payment for labor and materials which go into the actual operation thereof, till8 maintenance meana the upkeep or preeerfi~ the Oondltlon of the property to be 0~ 

erated. and therefore, In my judgment, lnoludee 

the cost of ordinary repairs necessary and prop 

er from time to time for that purpose. m * l n 

-(undersooring ours) 

Words and Phrases, Fourth Series, Vol 2, under 

%alntenanoew , on page 612 refers to "malntenance~ as roilowe: 

*In the qbsenoe of any showing that word 

*repairs* has a restricted meaning, in trade 

and comerce, It includes 'malntenanoe palntlng' of a ship, slnoe the words ~malnt.aln* and 

'malntenanoe' are frequently used in the sense 

of keeping a thing in good condition by means 

or repaln. E. E. Kelly & Co., v. U. S., 17 

C. C. P. A. So, 32." 

Finally, the raot that the paint job 1s being 

done for a olty under oontract by laborers and workmen 

employed and paid by contractors, or b:! subcontraotors 

1s lmmaterlal to thle question. pccordlng to the express 
Yonorable Joe Kuneohlk, Fafy 4 

wording or the statute, such employees are deoued employed upon public works when the contract for public works 

1s with the State, county, city, or political subdlrlslons 

thereor, and payment 1s out or public runes. In the present Instance, however, %alntenancen not "oonatructlon* 

work 1s being oontemplated. Such work does not legally 

requlm the prevailing wage soale. 

Trusting that we hare fully answered the lnqulrles contained in your letter, we are 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GJCNERAL OF TEXAS