The prevailing wage rate was established to ensure that contractors have a level playing field when bidding on government projects and ensuring that construction workers are paid a fair wage when working on these projects. These hourly wages and fringe benefits are based on craft and location.

All the counties in Texas must choose between adopting the Federal Davis Bacon Act or the Texas Code 2258. The cities/counties in which the Davis Bacon Act applies are:

The prevailing wage rates are determined by the trade classification and by the location of the work performed. These wage determinations can be found here.

Overtime must be paid by contractors and subcontractors whose employees work more than 40 hours in a work week. The rate is one and one-half times the prevailing wage. The fringe benefits are excluded from overtime payment calculation. This overtime regulation only applies to Davis Bacon work. If an employee worked a combination of Davis Bacon and non-Davis Bacon work then the overtime calculation doesn’t apply to the Davis Bacon wage rate, however under the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime will still apply. This overtime, however, will not be based on the prevailing wage rate set under the Davis Bacon Act.

The costs for fringe benefits are incurred by the contractor/employer; they are not payroll deductions from employee pay.

General contractors must submit a certified report on a weekly basis to the contracting agency. Subcontractors must submit their certified reports to the general contractor. The standard form to fill out for a certified report is the WH-347. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot) has the option for electronic fillings. The TxDOT submission instructions can be found here.

UPDATED: 2019 Prevailing Wage Rates click here.

 For the federal certified payroll reporting form(WH-347) click here.

Information about Texas Code 2258 click here.

For more information regarding the Davis Bacon Act and prevailing wage laws click here