§ 5.2 - Definitions.

§ 5.2 Definitions.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 88 FR 57731, Aug. 23, 2023.

(a) The term Secretary includes the Secretary of Labor, the Deputy Under Secretary for Employment Standards, and their authorized representatives.

(b) The term Administrator

Administrator. The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, or authorized representative.

(c)

Agency. The term “agency” means any Federal

agency means the agency

, State, or local government agency or instrumentality, or other similar entity, that enters into a contract or provides assistance through loan, grant, loan guarantee or insurance, or otherwise, to a project subject to the Davis-Bacon labor standards, as defined in this section.

(1) Federal agency. The term “Federal agency” means an agency or instrumentality of the United States

which

or the District of Columbia, as defined in this section, that enters into

the

a contract or provides assistance through loan, grant, loan guarantee or insurance, or otherwise, to

the

a project subject to

a statute listed in § 5.1. (d) The term Agency Head

the Davis-Bacon labor standards.

(2) [Reserved]

Agency Head. The term “Agency Head” means the principal official of

the Federal

an agency and includes those persons duly authorized to act

in the

on behalf of the Agency Head.

(e) The term Contracting Officer means the individual, a duly appointed successor, or authorized representative who is designated and authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of the Federal agency.

(f) The term labor standards as used in this part means the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (other than those relating to safety and health), the Copeland Act, and the prevailing wage provisions of the other statutes listed in § 5.1, and the regulations in parts 1 and 3 of this subtitle and this part.

(g) The term United States or the District of Columbia means the United States, the District of Columbia, and all executive departments, independent establishments, administrative agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States and of the District of Columbia, including corporations, all or substantially all of the stock of which is beneficially owned by the United States, by the foregoing departments, establishments, agencies, instrumentalities, and including nonappropriated fund instrumentalities.

(h) The term contract means any prime contract which is subject wholly or in part to the labor standards provisions of any of the acts listed in § 5.1 and any subcontract of any tier thereunder, let under the prime contract. A State or local Government is not regarded as a contractor under statutes providing loans, grants, or other Federal assistance in situations where construction is performed by its own employees. However, under statutes requiring payment of prevailing wages to all laborers and mechanics employed on the assisted project, such as the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, State and local recipients of Federal-aid must pay these employees according to Davis-Bacon labor standards.

(i) The terms building or work generally include construction activity

Apprentice and helper. The terms “apprentice” and “helper” are defined as follows:

(1) “Apprentice” means:

(i) A person employed and individually registered in a bona fide apprenticeship program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Apprenticeship, or with a State Apprenticeship Agency recognized by the Office of Apprenticeship; or

(ii) A person in the first 90 days of probationary employment as an apprentice in such an apprenticeship program, who is not individually registered in the program, but who has been certified by the Office of Apprenticeship or a State Apprenticeship Agency (where appropriate) to be eligible for probationary employment as an apprentice;

(2) These provisions do not apply to apprentices and trainees employed on projects subject to 23 U.S.C. 113 who are enrolled in programs which have been certified by the Secretary of Transportation in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 113(c).

(3) A distinct classification of helper will be issued in wage determinations applicable to work performed on construction projects covered by the labor standards provisions of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts only where:

(i) The duties of the helper are clearly defined and distinct from those of any other classification on the wage determination;

(ii) The use of such helpers is an established prevailing practice in the area; and

(iii) The helper is not employed as a trainee in an informal training program. A “helper” classification will be added to wage determinations pursuant to § 5.5(a)(1)(iii)(A) only where, in addition, the work to be performed by the helper is not performed by a classification in the wage determination.

Building or work. The term “building or work” generally includes construction activities of all types, as distinguished from manufacturing, furnishing of materials, or servicing and maintenance work. The

terms include

term includes, without limitation, buildings, structures, and improvements of all types, such as bridges, dams, solar panels, wind turbines, broadband installation, installation of electric car chargers, plants, highways, parkways, streets, subways, tunnels, sewers, mains, power lines, pumping stations, heavy generators, railways, airports, terminals, docks, piers, wharves, ways, lighthouses, buoys, jetties, breakwaters, levees, canals, dredging, shoring, rehabilitation and reactivation of plants, scaffolding, drilling, blasting, excavating, clearing, and landscaping. The

manufacture or furnishing of materials, articles, supplies or equipment (whether or not a Federal or State agency acquires title to such materials, articles, supplies, or equipment during the course of the manufacture or furnishing, or owns the materials from which they are manufactured or furnished) is not a building or work within the meaning of the regulations in this part unless conducted in connection with and at the site of such a building or work as is described in the foregoing sentence, or under the United States Housing Act of 1937 and the Housing Act of 1949 in the construction or development of the project. (j) The terms construction

term “building or work” also includes a portion of a building or work, or the installation (where appropriate) of equipment or components into a building or work.

Construction, prosecution, completion, or repair. The term “construction, prosecution, completion, or repair

mean

” means the following:

(1)

All

These terms include all types of work

done on

done—

(i) On a particular building or work at the site

thereof, including work at a facility which is deemed a part

of the

site of the work within the meaning of (paragraph (l) of this section

work, as defined in this section, by laborers and mechanics employed by a

construction

contractor or

construction

subcontractor

(or, under the United States Housing Act of 1937; the Housing Act of 1949; and the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, all work done in the

, or

(ii) In the construction or development of

the project), including without limitation— (

a project under a development statute.

(2) These terms include, without limitation (except as specified in this definition):

(i) Altering, remodeling, installation (where appropriate) on the site of the work of items fabricated

off-site

offsite;

(ii) Painting and decorating;

(iii) Manufacturing or furnishing of materials, articles, supplies or equipment, but only if such work is done by laborers or mechanics

(A) Employed by a contractor or subcontractor, as defined in this section, on the site of the

building or

work

(or, under the United States Housing Act of 1937; the Housing Act of 1949; and the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 in

, as defined in this section, or

(B) In the construction or development of

the project)

a project under a development statute;

(iv) “Covered transportation,” defined as any of the following activities:

(A) Transportation

between the site of the work within the meaning of paragraph (l)(1) of this section and a facility which is dedicated to the construction of the building or work and deemed a part of the site of the work within the meaning of paragraph (l)(2) of this section; and

that takes place entirely within a location meeting the definition of “site of the work” in this section;

(B) Transportation of one or more “significant portion(s)” of the building or work between a

site where a significant portion of such building or work is constructed, which is a part of

“secondary construction site” as defined in this section and a “primary construction site” as defined in this section;

(C) Transportation between an “adjacent or virtually adjacent dedicated support site” as defined in this section and a “primary construction site” or “secondary construction site” as defined in this section;

(D) “Onsite activities essential or incidental to offsite transportation,” defined as activities conducted by a truck driver or truck driver's assistant on the site of the work

within the meaning of paragraph (l)(1) of this section, and the physical place or places where the building or work will remain. (2) Except for

that are essential or incidental to the transportation of materials or supplies to or from the site of the work, such as loading, unloading, or waiting for materials to be loaded or unloaded, but only where the driver or driver's assistant's time spent on the site of the work is not de minimis; and

(E) Any transportation and related activities, whether on or off the site of the work, by laborers and mechanics employed in the construction or development of the project under

the United States Housing Act of 1937; the Housing Act of 1949; and the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, and except as provided in paragraph (j)(1)(iv)(A) of this section, the transportation of materials or supplies to or from the site of the work by employees of the construction contractor or a construction subcontractor is not “construction, prosecution, completion, or repair” (see Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO v. United States Department of Labor Wage Appeals Board (Midway Excavators, Inc.), 932 F.2d 985 (D.C. Cir. 1991)).

(k) The term public building or public work includes building or work, the construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of which, as defined above, is carried on directly by authority of or with funds of a Federal agency to serve the interest of the general public regardless of whether title thereof is in a Federal agency.

(l) The term site of the work is defined as follows:

(1) The site of the work is the physical place or places where the building or work called for in the contract will remain; and any other site where a significant portion of the building or work is constructed, provided that such site is established specifically for the performance of the contract or project;

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (l)(3) of this section, job headquarters, tool yards, batch plants, borrow pits, etc., are part of the site of the work, provided they are dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to performance of the contract or project, and provided they are adjacent or virtually adjacent to the site of the work as defined in paragraph (l)(1) of this section;

(3) Not included in the site of the work are permanent home offices, branch plant establishments, fabrication plants, tool yards, etc., of a contractor or subcontractor whose location and continuance in operation are determined wholly without regard to a particular Federal or federally assisted contract or project. In addition, fabrication plants, batch plants, borrow pits, job headquarters, tool yards, etc., of a commercial or material supplier, which are established by a supplier of materials for the project before opening of bids and not on the site of the work as stated in paragraph (l)(1) of this section, are not included in the site of the work. Such permanent, previously established facilities are not part of the site of the work, even where the operations for a period of time may be dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to the performance of a contract.

(m) The term laborer or mechanic

a development statute.

(v) Demolition and/or removal, under any of the following circumstances:

(A) Where the demolition and/or removal activities themselves constitute construction, alteration, and/or repair of an existing building or work. Examples of such activities include the removal of asbestos, paint, components, systems, or parts from a facility that will not be demolished; as well as contracts for hazardous waste removal, land recycling, or reclamation that involve substantial earth moving, removal of contaminated soil, re-contouring surfaces, and/or habitat restoration.

(B) Where subsequent construction covered in whole or in part by the labor standards in this part is contemplated at the site of the demolition or removal, either as part of the same contract or as part of a future contract. In determining whether covered construction is contemplated within the meaning of this provision, relevant factors include, but are not limited to, the existence of engineering or architectural plans or surveys of the site; the allocation of, or an application for, Federal funds; contract negotiations or bid solicitations; the stated intent of the relevant government officials; and the disposition of the site after demolition.

(C) Where otherwise required by statute.

(3) Except for transportation that constitutes “covered transportation” as defined in this section, construction, prosecution, completion, or repair does not include the transportation of materials or supplies to or from the site of the work.

Contract. The term “contract” means any prime contract which is subject wholly or in part to the labor standards provisions of any of the laws referenced by § 5.1 and any subcontract of any tier thereunder, let under the prime contract. With the exception of work performed under a development statute, the terms contract and subcontract do not include agreements with employers that meet the definition of a material supplier under this section.

Contracting officer. The term “contracting officer” means the individual, a duly appointed successor, or authorized representative who is designated and authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of an agency, sponsor, owner, applicant, or other similar entity.

Contractor. The term “contractor” means any individual or other legal entity that enters into or is awarded a contract that is subject wholly or in part to the labor standards provisions of any of the laws referenced by § 5.1, including any prime contract or subcontract of any tier under a covered prime contract. In addition, the term contractor includes any surety that is completing performance for a defaulted contractor pursuant to a performance bond. The U.S. Government, its agencies, and instrumentalities are not contractors, subcontractors, employers or joint employers for purposes of the labor standards provisions of any of the laws referenced by § 5.1. A State or local government is not regarded as a contractor or subcontractor under statutes providing loans, grants, or other Federal assistance in situations where construction is performed by its own employees. However, under development statutes or other statutes requiring payment of prevailing wages to all laborers and mechanics employed on the assisted project, such as the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, State and local recipients of Federal-aid must pay these workers according to Davis-Bacon labor standards. The term “contractor” does not include an entity that is a material supplier, except if the entity is performing work under a development statute.

Davis-Bacon labor standards. The term “Davis-Bacon labor standards” as used in this part means the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (other than those relating to safety and health), the Copeland Act, and the prevailing wage provisions of the other statutes referenced in § 5.1, and the regulations in this part and in parts 1 and 3 of this subtitle.

Development statute. The term “development statute” includes the United States Housing Act of 1937; the Housing Act of 1949; and the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, and any other Davis-Bacon Related Act that requires payment of prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon labor standards to all laborers and mechanics employed in the development of a project and for which the Administrator determines that the statute's language and/or legislative history reflected clear congressional intent to apply a coverage standard different from the Davis-Bacon Act itself.

Employed. Every person performing the duties of a laborer or mechanic in the construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of a public building or public work, or building or work financed in whole or in part by assistance from the United States through loan, grant, loan guarantee or insurance, or otherwise, is “employed” regardless of any contractual relationship alleged to exist between the contractor and such person.

Laborer or mechanic. The term “laborer or mechanic” includes at least those workers whose duties are manual or physical in nature (including those workers who use tools or who are performing the work of a trade), as distinguished from mental or managerial. The term

laborer

“laborer” or

mechanic

“mechanic” includes apprentices,

trainees,

helpers, and, in the case of contracts subject to the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act,

watchmen

watchpersons or guards. The term does not apply to workers whose duties are primarily administrative, executive, or clerical, rather than manual. Persons employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity as defined in 29 CFR part 541

of this title

are not deemed to be laborers or mechanics.

Working foremen

Forepersons who devote more than 20 percent of their time during a workweek to mechanic or laborer duties, and who do not meet the criteria of part 541, are laborers and mechanics for the time so spent.

(n) The terms apprentice, trainee, and helper are

Material supplier. The term “material supplier” is defined as follows:

(1)

Apprentice means

(i) a person employed and individually registered in a bona fide apprenticeship program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services, or with a State Apprenticeship Agency recognized by the Bureau, or

(ii) a person in the first 90 days of probationary employment as an apprentice in such an apprenticeship program, who is not individually registered in the program, but who has been certified by the Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services or a State Apprenticeship Agency (where appropriate) to be eligible for probationary employment as an apprentice;

(2) Trainee means a person registered and receiving on-the-job training in a construction occupation under a program which has been approved in advance by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, as meeting its standards for on-the-job training programs and which has been so certified by that Administration.

(3) These provisions do not apply to apprentices and trainees employed on projects subject to 23 U.S.C. 113 who are enrolled in programs which have been certified by the Secretary of Transportation in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 113(c).

(4) A distinct classification of “helper” will be issued in wage determinations applicable to work performed on construction projects covered by the labor standards provisions of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts only where:

(i) The duties of the helper are clearly defined and distinct from those of any other classification on the wage determination;

(ii) The use of such helpers is an established prevailing practice in the area; and

(iii) The helper is not employed as a trainee in an informal training program. A “helper” classification will be added to wage determinations pursuant to § 5.5(a)(1)(ii)(A) only where, in addition, the work to be performed by the helper is not performed by a classification in the wage determination.

(o) Every person performing the duties of a laborer or mechanic in the construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of a public building or public work, or building or work financed in whole or in part by loans, grants, or guarantees from the United States is employed regardless of any contractual relationship alleged to exist between the contractor and such person.

(p) The term wages

A material supplier is an entity meeting all of the following criteria:

(i) Its only obligations for work on the contract or project are the delivery of materials, articles, supplies, or equipment, which may include pickup of the same in addition to, but not exclusive of, delivery, and which may also include activities incidental to such delivery and pickup, such as loading, unloading, or waiting for materials to be loaded or unloaded; and

(ii) Its facility or facilities that manufactures the materials, articles, supplies, or equipment used for the contract or project:

(A) Is not located on, or does not itself constitute, the project or contract's primary construction site or secondary construction site as defined in this section; and

(B) Either was established before opening of bids on the contract or project, or is not dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to the performance of the contract or project.

(2) If an entity, in addition to being engaged in the activities specified in paragraph (1)(i) of this definition, also engages in other construction, prosecution, completion, or repair work at the site of the work, it is not a material supplier.

Prime contractor. The term “prime contractor” means any person or entity that enters into a contract with an agency. For the purposes of the labor standards provisions of any of the laws referenced by § 5.1, the term prime contractor also includes the controlling shareholders or members of any entity holding a prime contract, the joint venturers or partners in any joint venture or partnership holding a prime contract, and any contractor (e.g., a general contractor) that has been delegated the responsibility for overseeing all or substantially all of the construction anticipated by the prime contract. For the purposes of the provisions in §§ 5.5 and 5.9, any such related entities holding different prime contracts are considered to be the same prime contractor.

Public building or public work. The term “public building or public work” includes a building or work, the construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of which, as defined in this section, is carried on directly by authority of or with funds of a Federal agency to serve the interest of the general public regardless of whether title thereof is in a Federal agency. The construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of a portion of a building or work, or the installation (where appropriate) of equipment or components into a building or work, may still be considered a public building or work, even where the entire building or work is not owned, leased by, or to be used by a Federal agency, as long as the construction, prosecution, completion, or repair of that portion of the building or work, or the installation (where appropriate) of equipment or components into that building or work, is carried on by authority of or with funds of a Federal agency to serve the interest of the general public.

Secretary. The term “Secretary” includes the Secretary of Labor, and their authorized representative.

Site of the work. The term “site of the work” is defined as follows:

(1) “Site of the work” includes all of the following:

(i) The primary construction site(s), defined as the physical place or places where the building or work called for in the contract will remain.

(ii) Any secondary construction site(s), defined as any other site(s) where a significant portion of the building or work is constructed, provided that such construction is for specific use in that building or work and does not simply reflect the manufacture or construction of a product made available to the general public, and provided further that the site is either established specifically for the performance of the contract or project, or is dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to the performance of the contract or project for a specific period of time. A “significant portion” of a building or work means one or more entire portion(s) or module(s) of the building or work, such as a completed room or structure, with minimal construction work remaining other than the installation and/or final assembly of the portions or modules at the place where the building or work will remain. A “significant portion” does not include materials or prefabricated component parts such as prefabricated housing components. A “specific period of time” means a period of weeks, months, or more, and does not include circumstances where a site at which multiple projects are in progress is shifted exclusively or nearly so to a single project for a few hours or days in order to meet a deadline.

(iii) Any adjacent or virtually adjacent dedicated support sites, defined as:

(A) Job headquarters, tool yards, batch plants, borrow pits, and similar facilities of a contractor or subcontractor that are dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to performance of the contract or project, and adjacent or virtually adjacent to either a primary construction site or a secondary construction site, and

(B) Locations adjacent or virtually adjacent to a primary construction site at which workers perform activities associated with directing vehicular or pedestrian traffic around or away from the primary construction site.

(2) With the exception of locations that are on, or that themselves constitute, primary or secondary construction sites as defined in paragraphs (1)(i) and (ii) of this definition, site of the work does not include:

(i) Permanent home offices, branch plant establishments, fabrication plants, tool yards, etc., of a contractor or subcontractor whose location and continuance in operation are determined wholly without regard to a particular Federal or federally assisted contract or project; or

(ii) Fabrication plants, batch plants, borrow pits, job headquarters, tool yards, etc., of a material supplier, which are established by a material supplier for the project before opening of bids and not on the primary construction site or a secondary construction site, even where the operations for a period of time may be dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to the performance of a contract.

Subcontractor. The term “subcontractor” means any contractor that agrees to perform or be responsible for the performance of any part of a contract that is subject wholly or in part to the labor standards provisions of any of the laws referenced in § 5.1. The term subcontractor includes subcontractors of any tier.

United States or the District of Columbia. The term “United States or the District of Columbia” means the United States, the District of Columbia, and all executive departments, independent establishments, administrative agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States and of the District of Columbia, including non-appropriated fund instrumentalities and any corporation for which all or substantially all of its stock is beneficially owned by the United States or by the foregoing departments, establishments, agencies, or instrumentalities.

Wages. The term “wages” means the basic hourly rate of pay; any contribution irrevocably made by a contractor or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third person pursuant to a bona fide fringe benefit fund, plan, or program; and the rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor which may be reasonably anticipated in providing bona fide fringe benefits to laborers and mechanics pursuant to an enforceable commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan

of

or program, which was communicated in writing to the laborers and mechanics affected. The fringe benefits enumerated in the Davis-Bacon Act include medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death, compensation for injuries or illness resulting from occupational activity, or insurance to provide any of the foregoing; unemployment benefits; life insurance, disability insurance, sickness insurance, or accident insurance; vacation or holiday pay; defraying costs of apprenticeship or other similar programs; or other bona fide fringe benefits. Fringe benefits do not include benefits required by other Federal, State, or local law.

(q)

Wage determination. The term

wage determination

“wage determination” includes the original decision and any subsequent decisions revising, modifying, superseding, correcting, or otherwise changing the provisions of the original decision. The application of the wage determination

shall

must be in accordance with the provisions of § 1.6 of this

title

subtitle.

[48 88 FR 1954157731, AprAug. 29, 1983, as amended at 48 FR 50313, Nov. 1, 1983; 55 FR 50149, Dec. 4, 1990; 57 FR 19206, May 4, 1992; 65 FR 69693, Nov. 20, 2000; 65 FR 80278, Dec. 20, 2000; 82 FR 2225, Jan. 9, 201723, 2023]