40 U.S.C. § 3141 — Definitions

Page 120 TITLE 40—PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS § 3141 seq.) of chapter 17 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–232 added subsec. (c). 2017—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–91, § 3502(b)(2), sub- stituted ‘‘31 or’’ for ‘‘31,’’ and struck out ‘‘or the Mer- chant Ship Sales Act of 1946 (50 App. U.S.C. 1735 et seq.),’’ after ‘‘title 46,’’. 2006—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–304 substituted ‘‘subtitle V of title 46’’ for ‘‘the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 App. U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relat- ing thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Secu- rity, and the Department of Homeland Security Reor- ganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. SUBCHAPTER IV—WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS § 3141. Definitions In this subchapter, the following definitions apply: (1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed- eral 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 in- juries or illness resulting from occupational activity, or insurance to provide any of the forgoing, for unemployment benefits, life in- surance, disability and sickness insurance, or accident insurance, for vacation and holi- day pay, for defraying the costs of appren- ticeship 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 an- ticipated in providing benefits to laborers and mechanics pursuant to an enforceable commitment to carry out a financially re- sponsible plan or program which was com- municated in writing to the laborers and mechanics affected. (Pub. L. 107–217, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1150; Pub. L. 109–284, § 6(11), Sept. 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 1213.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3141(1) ........ (no source). 3141(2) ........ 40:276a(b) (1st par. words before pro- viso). Mar. 3, 1931, ch. 411, § 1(b) (1st par. words before pro- viso), as added Pub. L. 88–349, § 1, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 239. Clause (1) is added for clarity. Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Davis-Bacon Act, referred to in par. (1), is act of Mar. 3, 1931, ch. 411, 46 Stat. 1494, which was classified generally to sections 276a to 276a–5 of former Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works, and was re- pealed and reenacted as sections 3141–3144, 3146, and 3147 of this title by Pub. L. 107–217, §§ 1, 6(b), Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1062, 1304. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. AMENDMENTS 2006—Par. (1). Pub. L. 109–284 substituted ‘‘1494)’’ for ‘‘1494’’. § 3142. Rate of wages for laborers and mechanics (a) APPLICATION.—The advertised specifica- tions for every contract in excess of $2,000, to which the Federal Government or the District of Columbia is a party, for construction, alter- ation, or repair, including painting and deco- rating, of public buildings and public works of the Government or the District of Columbia that are located in a State or the District of Co- lumbia and which requires or involves the em- ployment 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 min- imum wages shall be based on the wages the Secretary of Labor determines 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 civil subdivi- sion of the State in which the work is to be per- formed, 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 re- ferred to in subsection (a) must contain stipula- tions that— (1) the contractor or subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and laborers employed directly on the site of the work, unconditionally and at least once a week, and without subsequent de- duction or rebate on any account, the full amounts accrued at time of payment, com- puted at wage rates not less than those stated in the advertised specifications, regardless of any contractual relationship which may be al- leged to exist between the contractor or sub- contractor and the laborers and mechanics; (2) the contractor will post the scale of wages to be paid in a prominent and easily ac- cessible place at the site of the work; and (3) there may be withheld from the con- tractor so much of accrued payments as the contracting officer considers necessary to pay to laborers and mechanics employed by the contractor or any subcontractor on the work