Opinion ID: 781023
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Davis-Bacon Wages

Text: 53 The district court granted National Fire partial summary judgment on Fortune's counterclaim for set-off of the amount of back wages Fortune paid due to violations of the Davis-Bacon Act by one of Arkin's subcontractors on the West Brickell Project. The Davis-Bacon Act requires laborers on federally funded projects to be paid not less than the prevailing wages in the locale. See 40 U.S.C. § 276a(a); Walsh v. Schlecht, 429 U.S. 401, 411, 97 S.Ct. 679, 686, 50 L.Ed.2d 641 (1977). The Act requires that every contract based upon these specifications shall contain a stipulation that the contractor or his subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and laborers the federally mandated wages. 40 U.S.C. § 276a(a) (emphasis added). Federal regulations applicable to contracts and subcontracts under the Davis-Bacon Act provide, The prime contractor shall be responsible for the compliance by any subcontractor or lower tier subcontractor.... 29 C.F.R. § 5.5(a)(6) (1999). 54 We conclude that the Davis-Bacon wages paid by Fortune are part of Fortune's reasonable cost of completion of construction. 20 The Davis-Bacon wage claims paid by Fortune represent wages of laborers on the West Brickell project that should have properly been paid as part of the costs of construction. Because of Arkin's failure to properly supervise Allied's compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as Arkin was required to do under the West Brickell Subcontract, federal funds payable to Fortune, as general contractor, for the West Brickell project sufficient to pay Allied's employees could have been withheld. 40 U.S.C. § 276a-2(a). If the remaining federal funds were insufficient to repay the employees, the Davis-Bacon Act gave Allied's employees the right to file a lien on the West Brickell property for the difference. 40 U.S.C. § 276a-2(b); Fla. Stat. § 713.03. We reverse the district court's grant of partial summary judgment to National Fire on this issue and hold that Fortune has a right to set off its $71,126.00 Davis-Bacon Act claim against the remaining contract balances as part of Fortune's reasonable costs of completion. 21