Court Stays Three Provisions of Davis-Bacon Regulation

What happened: A U.S. District Court in Texas June 24 preliminarily stayed three changes to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Davis-Bacon Act regulation that took effect Oct. 23, 2023.

Why it matters: The court’s order means DOL may not enforce these provisions for the time being. They include:

• Section 5.2 pertaining to truck drivers and materials suppliers. The final rule required truck drivers performing more than “de minimis” work on the job site to be subject to Davis-Bacon prevailing wages. Similarly, materials suppliers performing construction activities at the job site were also to be subject to the prevailing wage.
• Section 5.5(e) enforcing Davis-Bacon requirements on relevant federally funded construction projects by default, regardless of whether contracts explicitly included them.

This court order resulted from a legal challenge by the Associated General Contractors of America.

What’s next: The parties still must argue the full merits of the case, after which the judge will issue a final ruling. For now, DOL has advised ARTBA it plans to issue revised guidance “very soon” to comply with this initial order. FHWA has also asked for ARTBA’s suggestions for any clarifications needed pursuant to the court order. Please contact Prianka Sharma with any feedback.