Construction Contractors and the New Davis-Bacon Act Rule: Increased Costs, Heavy Regulatory Burden
Costly Prevailing Wages and Fringe Benefits, Retroactive Application, Greater Liability Risk, Enhanced Recordkeeping Requirements
A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A
This CLE webinar will discuss the recently released Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations (DBRA) final rule effective Oct. 23, 2023, and the significant revisions affecting most federal and federally assisted construction contracts. The new rule will impose significant regulatory burdens and costs on construction contractors by potentially increasing wages for hundreds of thousands of construction workers. The panel will address what is required of construction contractors under the new rule and provide best practices for compliance.
Outline
- Overview of Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations
- Revisions to DBRA
- Definitions affecting construction contractors
- Expanded covered site of work
- Contractors liable for subcontractors' DBRA violations
- Determining prevailing wages
- 30 percent rule
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index
- Frequency of wage updates
- Prevailing state and local wage rates
- Use of metropolitan and rural wage rates
- Geographic scope of wage determination
- Fringe benefit annualization
- Administrative cost restrictions
- Enhanced recordkeeping requirements
- Anti-retaliation provision and worker remedies
- Operation of law without notice
- Best practices for compliance
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- How are prevailing wages and fringe benefits to be determined?
- How frequently will prevailing wages need to be adjusted?
- How may the application of the new rule by operation of law affect existing and future contracts and with what effect on contractors?
- Under what circumstances may a contractor be held liable for a subcontractor's DBRA violations?
Faculty

Sarah Nash
Partner, Chair Labor & Employment Group
PilieroMazza
Ms. Nash serves as Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Group, one of the few legal practices in the... | Read More
Ms. Nash serves as Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Group, one of the few legal practices in the U.S. with a multi-jurisdictional labor and employment practice dedicated to advising government contractors on their compliance obligations. She is also a member of the firm’s Construction Industry Team, where she focuses on matters arising under the Davis-Bacon Act and prevailing wage requirements. Ms. Nash advises government contractors and commercial businesses on a wide variety of labor and employment issues, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs regulations, and anti-discrimination law. Her practice also includes counseling employers on terminations, labor relations matters, employment agreements, wage and hour issues, and employment practices and policies.
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Timothy Taylor
Partner
Holland & Knight
Mr. Taylor represents employers, companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation, investigations and compliance... | Read More
Mr. Taylor represents employers, companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation, investigations and compliance matters across a wide variety of areas and in particular vis-à-vis government regulators. He serves clients in highly regulated industries, especially government contracts. Mr. Taylor formerly served as Deputy Solicitor of Labor, the second-in-command legal officer for the federal government's second-largest litigation department, housed in the U.S. DOL. In that position, he oversaw a wide portfolio of litigation, enforcement, rulemaking and legal counseling for the agency's more than 450 attorneys at 23 client agencies. Laws under his purview included the Fair Labor Standards Act, Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, and Executive Order 11246. Mr. Taylor uses that experience to defend and counsel clients facing difficult employment issues, including DOL and other investigations, prevailing-wage matters, and compliance with unclear and emerging areas of law.
CloseEarly Discount (through 10/06/23)
Cannot Attend October 31?
Early Discount (through 10/06/23)
You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.