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day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was sup-
plied by the person bringing the action.
(5) LIABILITY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Government is not
liable for the payment of any costs or expenses of any civil action
brought under this subsection.
(c) A waiver of the right to bring a civil action on a payment bond re-
quired under this subchapter is void unless the waiver is—
(1) in writing;
(2) signed by the person whose right is waived; and
(3) executed after the person whose right is waived has furnished labor
or material for use in the performance of the contract.
§ 3134. Waivers for certain contracts
(a) MILITARY.—The Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, the
Secretary of the Air Force, or the Secretary of Transportation may waive this
subchapter with respect to cost-plus-a-fixed fee and other cost-type contracts
for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public building or public
work of the Federal Government and with respect to contracts for manufac-
turing, producing, furnishing, constructing, altering, repairing, processing, or
assembling vessels, aircraft, munitions, materiel, or supplies for the Army,
Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard, respectively, regardless of the terms of the
contracts as to payment or title.
(b) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary of Transportation may waive this
subchapter with respect to contracts for the construction, alteration, or repair
of vessels when the contract is made under sections 1535 and 1536 of title
31, the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), or the Mer-
chant Ship Sales Act of 1946 (50 App. U.S.C. 1735 et seq.), regardless of the
terms of the contracts as to payment or title.
SUBCHAPTER IV—WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS
§ 3141. Definitions
In this subchapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Federal Government’’ has the
same meaning that the term ‘‘United States’’ had in the Act of March
3, 1931 (ch. 411, 46 Stat. 1494 (known as the Davis-Bacon Act).
(2) WAGES, SCALE OF WAGES, WAGE RATES, MINIMUM WAGES, AND
PREVAILING WAGES.—The terms ‘‘wages’’, ‘‘scale of wages’’, ‘‘wage rates’’,
‘‘minimum wages’’, and ‘‘prevailing wages’’ include—
(A) the basic hourly rate of pay; and
(B) for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death,
compensation for injuries or illness resulting from occupational ac-
tivity, or insurance to provide any of the forgoing, for unemploy-
ment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance, or
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accident insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for defraying the
costs of apprenticeship or other similar programs, or for other bona
fide fringe benefits, but only where the contractor or subcontractor
is not required by other federal, state, or local law to provide any
of those benefits, the amount of—
(i) the rate of contribution irrevocably made by a contractor
or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third person under a fund,
plan, or program; and
(ii) the rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor that
may be reasonably anticipated in providing benefits to laborers
and mechanics pursuant to an enforceable commitment to
carry out a financially responsible plan or program which was
communicated in writing to the laborers and mechanics af-
fected.
§ 3142. Rate of wages for laborers and mechanics
(a) APPLICATION.—The advertised specifications for every contract in ex-
cess of $2,000, to which the Federal Government or the District of Columbia
is a party, for construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and
decorating, of public buildings and public works of the Government or the
District of Columbia that are located in a State or the District of Columbia
and which requires or involves the employment of mechanics or laborers shall
contain a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes
of laborers and mechanics.
(b) BASED ON PREVAILING WAGE.—The minimum wages shall be based on
the wages the Secretary of Labor determines to be prevailing for the cor-
responding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on projects of a char-
acter similar to the contract work in the civil subdivision of the State in
which the work is to be performed, or in the District of Columbia if the work
is to be performed there.
(c) STIPULATIONS REQUIRED IN CONTRACT.—Every contract based upon
the specifications referred to in subsection (a) must contain stipulations
that—
(1) the contractor or subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and labor-
ers employed directly on the site of the work, unconditionally and at
least once a week, and without subsequent deduction or rebate on any
account, the full amounts accrued at time of payment, computed at wage
rates not less than those stated in the advertised specifications, regardless
of any contractual relationship which may be alleged to exist between the
contractor or subcontractor and the laborers and mechanics;
(2) the contractor will post the scale of wages to be paid in a promi-
nent and easily accessible place at the site of the work; and
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(3) there may be withheld from the contractor so much of accrued pay-
ments as the contracting officer considers necessary to pay to laborers
and mechanics employed by the contractor or any subcontractor on the
work the difference between the rates of wages required by the contract
to be paid laborers and mechanics on the work and the rates of wages
received by the laborers and mechanics and not refunded to the con-
tractor or subcontractors or their agents.
(d) DISCHARGE OF OBLIGATION.—The obligation of a contractor or subcon-
tractor to make payment in accordance with the prevailing wage determina-
tions of the Secretary of Labor, under this subchapter and other laws incor-
porating this subchapter by reference, may be discharged by making payments
in cash, by making contributions described in section 3141(2)(B)(i) of this
title, by assuming an enforceable commitment to bear the costs of a plan or
program referred to in section 3141(2)(B)(ii) of this title, or by any combina-
tion of payment, contribution, and assumption, where the aggregate of the
payments, contributions, and costs is not less than the basic hourly rate of
pay plus the amount referred to in section 3141(2)(B).
(e) OVERTIME PAY.—In determining the overtime pay to which a laborer
or mechanic is entitled under any federal law, the regular or basic hourly
rate of pay (or other alternative rate on which premium rate of overtime com-
pensation is computed) of the laborer or mechanic is deemed to be the rate
computed under section 3141(2)(A) of this title, except that where the amount
of payments, contributions, or costs incurred with respect to the laborer or
mechanic exceeds the applicable prevailing wage, the regular or basic hourly
rate of pay (or other alternative rate) is the amount of payments, contribu-
tions, or costs actually incurred with respect to the laborer or mechanic minus
the greater of the amount of contributions or costs of the types described in
section 3141(2)(B) of this title actually incurred with respect to the laborer
or mechanic or the amount determined under section 3141(2)(B) but not actu-
ally paid.
§ 3143. Termination of work on failure to pay agreed wages
Every contract within the scope of this subchapter shall contain a provision
that if the contracting officer finds that any laborer or mechanic employed
by the contractor or any subcontractor directly on the site of the work covered
by the contract has been or is being paid a rate of wages less than the rate
of wages required by the contract to be paid, the Federal Government by writ-
ten notice to the contractor may terminate the contractor’s right to proceed
with the work or the part of the work as to which there has been a failure
to pay the required wages. The Government may have the work completed,
by contract or otherwise, and the contractor and the contractor’s sureties shall
be liable to the Government for any excess costs the Government incurs.
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§ 3144. Authority of Comptroller General to pay wages and
list contractors violating contracts
(a) PAYMENT OF WAGES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall pay directly to la-
borers and mechanics from any accrued payments withheld under the
terms of a contract any wages found to be due laborers and mechanics
under this subchapter.
(2) RIGHT OF ACTION.—If the accrued payments withheld under the
terms of the contract are insufficient to reimburse all the laborers and
mechanics who have not been paid the wages required under this sub-
chapter, the laborers and mechanics have the same right to bring a civil
action and intervene against the contractor and the contractor’s sureties
as is conferred by law on persons furnishing labor or materials. In those
proceedings it is not a defense that the laborers and mechanics accepted
or agreed to accept less than the required rate of wages or voluntarily
made refunds.
(b) LIST OF CONTRACTORS VIOLATING CONTRACTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall distribute to all de-
partments of the Federal Government a list of the names of persons
whom the Comptroller General has found to have disregarded their obli-
gations to employees and subcontractors.
(2) RESTRICTION ON AWARDING CONTRACTS.—No contract shall be
awarded to persons appearing on the list or to any firm, corporation,
partnership, or association in which the persons have an interest until
three years have elapsed from the date of publication of the list.
§ 3145. Regulations governing contractors and subcontrac-
tors
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall prescribe reasonable regu-
lations for contractors and subcontractors engaged in constructing, carrying
out, completing, or repairing public buildings, public works, or buildings or
works that at least partly are financed by a loan or grant from the Federal
Government. The regulations shall include a provision that each contractor
and subcontractor each week must furnish a statement on the wages paid each
employee during the prior week.
(b) APPLICATION.—Section 1001 of title 18 applies to the statements.
§ 3146. Effect on other federal laws
This subchapter does not supersede or impair any authority otherwise
granted by federal law to provide for the establishment of specific wage rates.