‘‘(ii) in the aggregate do exceed such
amount; and
‘‘(iii) all relate to the same work or
related work at the same project;
shall be treated as a single contract for pur-
poses of subsection (a).
‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT.—For the purpose of
enforcing the requirements of subsection (a) for
contracts which under subparagraph (A) are to
be treated as a single contract, any interested
person may bring an action against the Sec-
retary of the department, the head of the agen-
cy, or contracting authority which entered into
such contracts. Such an action may be brought
in any United States district court for the dis-
trict in which the violation of subsection (a) is
alleged to have been committed or in the United
States District Court for the District of Colum-
bia. Such an action shall be commenced not
later than 90 days after the day on which the
last labor was performed under the contract
with respect to which the action is brought.
‘‘(C) RELIEF.—If in an action brought
under subparagraph (B) the court finds that
there has been a violation of subsection (a), the
court may order such relief as may be appro-
priate, including—
‘‘(i) compliance with subsection (a) in
the payment of wages under the contracts
subject to subsection (a); and
‘‘(ii) the payment by the Secretary of
the department, the head of the agency, or
contracting authority which entered into
such contracts of prevailing wage rates in
accordance with that subsection from the
date construction began under the con-
tracts involved in such action until the
date of the judgment of the court, together
with interest, at a rate determined by the
court, based on the difference between the
wages paid under such contracts and the
wages required to be paid under such con-
tracts by subsection (a).
‘‘(D) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—If an interested
person prevails in an action brought under sub-
paragraph (B), the court in such action shall
assess the defendants in the action a reasonable
attorney’s fee and other litigation costs reason-
ably incurred by the interested person.
‘‘(4) LEASES.—If the United States or the Dis-
trict of Columbia has entered into a contract to lease
a building or work or portion thereof and if perform-
ance of a contract for the construction, alteration,
repair, renovation, rehabilitation, or reconstruction
of the building or work or portion thereof subject to
the lease is required for fulfillment of the contract
to lease, the contract for the construction, alteration,
repair, renovation, rehabilitation, or reconstruction
of the facility shall be subject to subsection (a) if the
contract meets the requirements of paragraph
(1)(B).
‘‘(c) APPRENTICES, TRAINEES, AND HELPERS.—
‘‘(1) APPRENTICES.—An apprentice who is em-
ployed under a contract subject to subsection (a)
may be paid less than the rate required by such sub-
section if the apprentice is—
‘‘(A) employed pursuant to and individ-
ually registered in a bona fide apprenticeship
program registered with the Bureau of Appren-
ticeship and Training of the Department of
Labor or with a State Apprenticeship Agency
recognized by the Bureau; or
‘‘(B) employed in the apprentice’s first 90
days of probationary employment as an appren-
tice in such an apprenticeship program and is
not individually registered in the program but
has been certified by the Bureau of Apprentice-
ship and Training or a State Apprenticeship
Agency (where appropriate) to be eligible for
probationary employment as an apprentice.
‘‘(2) TRAINEES.—A trainee who is employed
under a contract subject to subsection (a) may be
paid less than the rate required by such subsection
if the trainee is employed pursuant to and individ-
ually registered in a program which has received
prior approval which is evidenced by formal certifi-
cation by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Train-
ing of the Department of Labor.
‘‘(3) WAGE RATES.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no apprentice or trainee will be per-
mitted to work under a contract subject to sub-
section (a) at less than the prevailing wage rate un-
less such apprentice or trainee is registered in a pro-
gram described in paragraph (1) or (2).
‘‘(4) HELPERS.—A helper who is employed
under a contract subject to subsection (a) may be
paid less than the rate required by such subsection
if—
‘‘(A) the helper is employed in a classifica-
tion of helpers the use of which prevails in the
area in which the helper is employed;
‘‘(B) the scope of the duties of the helper
is defined and is separate and distinct from the
duties of either a laborer or a mechanic; and
‘‘(C) the helper is not used as an informal
apprentice or trainee.
‘‘(d) POSTING.—A contractor or subcontractor under
a contract described in subsection (b) shall post the scale
of wages required to be paid under such contract in a
prominent and easily accessible place at the site of the
contract work.
‘‘SEC. 3. WAGES.
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—As used in this Act, the terms
‘wages’, ‘scale of wages’, ‘wage rates’, and ‘minimum
wages’ include—
‘‘(1) the basic hourly rate of pay, and
‘‘(2) the amount of—
‘‘(A) the rate of contribution irrevocably
made by a contractor or subcontractor to a
trustee or to a third person pursuant to a fund,
plan, or program; and
‘‘(B) the rate of costs to the contractor or
subcontractor which may be reasonably antici-
pated in providing benefits to laborers and me-
chanics pursuant to an enforceable commitment
to carry out a financially responsible plan or
program which was communicated in writing to
the laborers and mechanics affected,
for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement
or death, compensation for injuries or illness result-
ing from occupational activity, or insurance to pro-
vide any of the foregoing, for unemployment bene-
fits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance,
or accidental insurance, for vacation and holiday
pay, for defraying costs of apprenticeship, joint
labor-management committees or similar programs,
or for other bona fide fringe benefits, but only if the
contractor or subcontractor is not required by other
Federal, State, or local law to provide any of such
benefits.
‘‘(b) PREVAILING WAGE.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—For purposes of paragraph
(2), the term ‘prevailing wage’ when used to describe
the wages required to be paid a laborer or mechanic
under a contract subject to section 2(a) means the
wages determined by the Secretary to be prevailing
for the corresponding classes of laborers and me-
chanics employed on projects of a character similar
to the contract work in the city, town, or other 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. In making such a deter-
mination for projects of a particular character in an
area, the Secretary shall consider the wages paid for
all projects regardless of the source of funding of
the same character in the area under contracts
which have been entered into for amounts not less
than the amounts prescribed by clause (i) or (ii) of
section 2(b)(1)(B).
‘‘(2) WAGE
DETERMINATIONS.—For purposes
of a contract subject to section 2(a), the Secretary
shall issue wage determinations based upon the most
recent data that is submitted to the Secretary. No
wage determination that is based on data that is
older than 3 years shall be considered ‘prevailing’
within the meaning of this Act. In the event that the
Secretary has no such data, the prevailing wage for
purposes of such contract shall be the highest pre-
vailing wage determined by the Secretary to be pre-
vailing in an area in the State which is comparable
to the area in which the contract is to be performed.
‘‘(c) WAGE PAYMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the obligation of a contractor or sub-
contractor to make wage payments in accordance
with the prevailing wage determinations of the Sec-
retary, insofar as this Act and other Acts incor-
porating this Act by reference are concerned, may be
discharged by—
‘‘(A) the making of payments in cash;
‘‘(B) the making of contributions of a type
referred to in subsection (a)(2);
‘‘(C) the assumption of an enforceable
commitment to bear the costs of a plan or pro-
gram of a type referred to in subsection (a)(2);
or
‘‘(D) any combination thereof.
‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTIONS AND COSTS.—Unless oth-
erwise provided in a bona fide collective bargaining
agreement, in discharging the obligation to make
wage payments to laborers and mechanics in accord-
ance with the prevailing wage determinations of the
Secretary, a contractor or subcontractor may only
include 
contributions 
described 
in 
subsection
(a)(2)(A) and costs described in subsection (a)(2)(B)
which do not exceed the aggregate of contributions
and costs determined by the Secretary to be prevail-
ing under subsection (b). Credit for contributions
made to a fringe benefit plan will be allowed only to
the extent that they are based on the effective an-
nual rate of contributions for all hours worked dur-
ing the calendar year by the laborers and mechanics
covered by the plan.
‘‘(d) OVERTIME.—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 alter-
native rate upon which premium rate of overtime com-
pensation is computed) of the laborer or mechanic shall
be deemed to be the basic hourly rate of pay, except that
where the amount of payments, contributions, or costs in-
curred with respect to the laborer or mechanic exceeds the
prevailing wage applicable under subsection (b), the basic
hourly rate of pay shall be arrived at by deducting from
the amount of payments, contributions, or costs actually
incurred with respect to the laborer or mechanic, the
amount of contributions or costs of the type described in
subsection (a)(2) actually incurred with respect to the la-
borer or mechanic or the amount determined under sub-
section (a)(2) but not actually paid, whichever amount is
the greater.
‘‘SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.
‘‘(a) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary,
on the initiative of the Secretary or at the request of a
laborer, mechanic, or interested person, shall investigate
compliance by a contractor with the requirements of sec-
tion 2 and may take such action under section 7(1) to
secure compliance with such requirements as may be ap-
propriate.
‘‘(b) COVERAGE REVIEW.—
‘‘(1) PETITION FOR REVIEW OF COVERAGE.—If
the Secretary of a department, head of an agency,
or contracting authority determines that a contract
entered into by the Secretary, agency head, or con-
tracting authority which involves construction (in-
cluding alteration, repair, renovation, rehabilitation,
reconstruction, painting, or decorating) of a building
or works is not subject to section 2(a), any inter-
ested person may petition the Administrator to re-
view such determination. The Administrator shall
complete the review requested and issue a decision
within 60 days of the date the petition is received.
Such decision shall be reviewable by the Secretary of
Labor who shall make a determination within 90
days. Such determination shall be binding upon the
Secretary of a department, agency head or contract-
ing authority.
‘‘(2) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any interested person
adversely affected or aggrieved by—
‘‘(i) the determination by the Sec-
retary of Labor made on a petition filed
under paragraph (1), or
‘‘(ii) failure of the Secretary to take
action concerning a petition filed under
paragraph (1),
may obtain review of such determination in any
United States court of appeals for the circuit in
which such person is located or in the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Co-
lumbia Circuit by filing in such court, within 60
days following issuance of such determination, a
written petition praying that such determina-
tion be modified or set aside. A copy of such pe-
tition shall be forthwith transmitted by the
clerk of the court in which it is filed to the Sec-
retary and to other interested persons.
‘‘(B) FILING OF RECORD.—Upon transmit-
tal of the petition, the Secretary shall file in the
court the record of the proceeding upon which
the decision to be reviewed was made and the
questions determined in the proceeding as pro-
vided in section 2112 of title 28, United States
Code. Upon such filing, the court—
‘‘(i) shall have exclusive jurisdiction of
the proceeding and of the questions deter-
mined in the proceeding; and
‘‘(ii) shall have the power—
‘‘(I) to grant such temporary re-
lief or restraining order as it deems
just and proper;
‘‘(II) to decide all relevant ques-
tions of law, interpret constitutional
and statutory provisions, and deter-
mine the meaning or applicability of
the terms of the determination subject
to review and in so doing, the court
shall apply the standards of review set
forth in section 706 of title 5, United
States Code;
‘‘(III) to make and enter upon
the pleadings, testimony, and proceed-
ings set forth in the record a decree
affirming, modifying, or setting aside,
in whole or in part, the determination
subject to review; and