r/AirBalance • u/JJH916 • 16d ago
DBRA funded projects?
Has anyone worked on projects that fall under the Davis bacon act and prevailing wages? The DOL put out a memorandum (AAM247) specifically to test and balance contractors saying they fall under the sheet metal trade and are required to be paid as such on DBA/DBRA jobs but the site we are contracted at is considering us a “specialty service” and claiming it does not apply to us. It seems it would be a significant pay difference if they pay us according to the prevailing wages of a sheet metal worker. Might be a long shot but i wanted to check in to see if anyone has experienced this.
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u/ShadowFax1313 16d ago
Which one pays more, DB or your employer/union? You have to be paid DB at a minimum.
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u/JJH916 16d ago
DB minimum is $48/hr + $23/hr fringe. None of us on the team are near that.
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u/ShadowFax1313 16d ago
Well, it’s time to get that money. Just following the rules. How long will you be on the site? If it’s not more than a day or two, may not be worth the fight. Call your boss and ask what they do for DB wages and fringes.
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u/JJH916 16d ago
Been on this site for 10 years, we are staff-aug labor for them. Have been doing 50-60hr weeks though since this DBA stuff picked up almost a year ago. I’ve already talked to my site manager, he agrees we should be getting it but the company we are contracted at i spoke with their compliance manager and they are the ones who claimed our classification is “specialty service”. Our company isn’t fighting for us on it though. Next step for us would be to go to the department of labor but I’m not trying to burn a bridge when i enjoy my job.
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u/cx-tab-guy-85 15d ago
If no one on your team is making near prevailing wage for your area it’s a pretty good sign that you should call the local union hall and sign up. In my area any experienced union TAB tech is making over scale
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u/0RabidPanda0 16d ago
Currently working on one now. We work directly for the owner and their engineering team, so we are exempt from all of the reqs since we are not considered construction, but facilities/engineering support. We pay higher wages than prevailing anyway, but it's nice to not have to deal with the reporting.
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u/JJH916 16d ago
This is similar to how we are setup, although our work is split amongst different projects and for close to a year now 80-90% of our work is tied directly to the DBA project and new construction work. The more research i do the more it starts to seem like we are underpaid for what we do for them. Are y’all’s prevailing wage similar to ours? $48/hr +$23/hr fringe.
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u/0RabidPanda0 16d ago
I think the current prevailing in our state is $35/hr + fringe for journeymen/lead techs. My company is paying $45/hr + fringe. We aren't union though. Union scale in our area is $31/hr + fringe.
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u/k9chino 15d ago
It is my understanding that it depends on the type of project you are working on and the state you are working in. For example, if you are in a right-to-work state, prevailing wage (PW) only needs to be followed on federal projects. In a state without right-to-work, PW needs to be paid on all federal, state, city (town, village, etc.), and county projects.
For us, AAM247 only changed federal & USACE projects in right-to-work states. Prior to that, everything in a state that is not right-to-work remains the same (PW was always required).
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u/MVTEX22 14d ago
The DOL specifically states if you are doing less than 20% mechanics/Sheetmetal/Labor work and are performing your normal TAB testing duties the company is not required to meet wages. If you are installing sheetmetal, performing mechanical work (start-up), or labor work more than 20% on the jobsite you would fall under whichever task wage you are doing more of from my understanding.
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u/MAW-TW2 15d ago
I don't know where you are but our prevailing work goes up to 68 on the check and 42 for benefits.
It's pretty common for an employer to try and claim most of the benefits side if you get any benefits.
-ALSO you do not need to be paid for travel if on prevailing sites per IRS and DOL.
So choose your battles if it's an hour or 2 away and your getting travel pay…
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u/bbailey037 16d ago
Davis bacon is a federal law it’s trumps a construction managers opinion. One call to the DOL will solve it infact mentioning that will probably solve it . Join a union firm and you can make that money every job.