The 12-column tracker federal contractors use to capture, monitor, and re-check Davis-Bacon and state mini-Davis-Bacon wage decisions across every active project. With the lock-in dates and re-check cadences that turn one-time lookups into a managed system.
Why federal contractors need a prevailing wage rate tracker, not just a one-time lookup
Davis-Bacon wage rates aren’t static. Federal wage decisions get modified mid-project. Wage decisions for one project don’t carry over to another. State mini-Davis-Bacon laws layer additional rates on top of federal Davis-Bacon for state-funded work. California’s prevailing wage rates apply on California-funded projects even when federal Davis-Bacon also attaches. And every contractor running multiple federal-construction projects across state lines eventually faces the same problem: the team can’t find the wage decision PDF that was applicable when the contract was awarded, the wage decision has been modified twice since, and certified payroll has been running on outdated rates for three weeks.
The fix isn’t a one-time wage-decision lookup. It’s a tracker. A running log that captures the decision at award, locks the version that applies to your fixed-price contract, flags modifications when they’re issued, and tells your certified-payroll team what re-check cadence to follow on long-duration projects. SAM.gov publishes the wage decisions; what’s missing for most contractors is the operational layer that turns those decisions into a system the field can run on.
This tracker is that operational layer. The 12 columns capture everything a federal prime or 8(a) sub needs to know about every active wage decision on every active project: the WD number and effective date, whether it’s federal Davis-Bacon or state mini-Davis-Bacon (and which state), the schedule (building, highway, residential, or heavy), the county or geographic locality, the lock-in date for fixed-price contracts, and the re-check cadence for long-duration work where modifications are likely.
What this tracker is NOT: it’s not the wage decision itself. SAM.gov is the source of truth. The tracker is the operational index that points your team to the right decision and tells them when it was last verified. The tracker also doesn’t replace your certified-payroll workflow; it sits upstream of it as the wage-rate authority that the certified-payroll team checks against on every WH-347 review.
Use this tracker on every active federal project. Update the tracker every time a wage decision is modified. Re-check the rates on every long-duration project (most contracts running more than 6 months from award) before the re-check cadence interval expires.
Who this tracker is for
- Federal general contractors running multiple Davis-Bacon projects across states or counties
- 8(a) federal subs acting as primes on set-aside contracts with their own subs to track
- Certified-payroll administrators who need a current wage-rate authority for every WH-347 review
- Project managers locking in wage rates at contract award for fixed-price contracts
- Compliance officers auditing wage-rate accuracy across portfolio
If you’re trying to apply federal vs. state wage rates and figure out which controls when, you’ll also want our certified payroll (WH-347) review checklist. It’s the downstream control that uses this tracker as its input.
The 12-column prevailing wage tracker
The tracker captures 12 columns for every wage decision on every project. Set up once per project, refresh per re-check cadence:
- Capture wage decision number and effective date. The WD number assigned by SAM.gov (e.g., WA20240008) and the date the decision became effective. This is the primary key for everything else in the row. Multiple WDs may apply to a single project (one for building work, one for highway work, etc.); each gets its own tracker row.
- Log federal Davis-Bacon vs. state mini-Davis-Bacon source. Column entry: “Federal Davis-Bacon” or “State [state name] mini-Davis-Bacon”. State mini-Davis-Bacon laws (California Labor Code §1771, New York Labor Law §220, Massachusetts MGL c. 149 §27, etc.) layer on top of federal. When both apply to a project, the higher rate controls. Track both separately.
- Record classification, base rate, and fringe rate. Each row in the tracker is one classification (Carpenter, Electrician, Pipefitter, Laborer-Group-1, etc.). The base rate and fringe rate are pulled directly from the wage decision. Some classifications also have an apprentice-rate sub-row; capture in additional rows.
- Track residential, building, highway, or heavy schedule. Federal Davis-Bacon publishes wage decisions in four schedules: Building, Highway, Residential, and Heavy. The agency contracting officer assigns the schedule on the contract. Tracker column lets you confirm at a glance that the right schedule is in play for the work being performed.
- Note county or geographic locality covered. Wage decisions are county-specific (or sometimes regional). A WD for King County, WA does not apply to Pierce County, WA work. For multi-county projects, multiple WDs may apply, track each. SAM.gov’s locality-search drives this column.
- Flag wage decision modifications and supersedes. Wage decisions are modified periodically (typically quarterly or when DOL updates the survey data). When a modification is issued, the tracker captures: modification number, effective date, and supersedes-which-WD. Lock-in rules determine whether the modification applies to your contract or not.
- Link wage decision PDF to project record. Direct URL to the wage decision PDF on SAM.gov, plus a copy attached to your project’s contracts file. URLs change over time as SAM.gov restructures; the local copy is your authoritative version.
- Capture lock-in date for fixed-price contracts. Davis-Bacon wage decisions lock in at contract award for fixed-price construction contracts. Modifications issued after the lock-in date generally don’t apply to the locked contract. The tracker captures the lock-in date so future modifications are evaluated against it correctly.
- Track state-specific certified payroll variants. Some states require state-specific certified-payroll forms (California’s DAS-140, New York’s PW-39, etc.) in addition to or instead of federal WH-347. Track which form variant applies for state mini-Davis-Bacon work. Getting this wrong invalidates the certified payroll regardless of how clean the WH-347 is.
- Set re-check cadence for long-duration projects. Long-duration projects (>6 months from award) accumulate WD modifications. Even if the modifications don’t apply to the locked contract, the tracker should be re-verified periodically to confirm no agency-issued contract modifications have changed the locked WD. Quarterly cadence is the construction-firm standard.
- Document apprentice ratio rules per locality. Apprentice ratios (apprentice-to-journeyman) vary by registered apprenticeship program and by locality. Some states’ programs allow 1:1 ratios; others require 1:3 or higher. Track the ratio for each registered apprentice program in scope so the certified-payroll team can validate compliance during weekly review.
- Cross-reference SCA wage rates if applicable. The Service Contract Act (SCA) covers service work on federal contracts; Davis-Bacon covers construction. On contracts with both construction and service components, both sets of rates apply to different workers. Track SCA rates in a parallel reference column so the certified-payroll team can route service-employee hours to the right rate authority.
How to set up and maintain the tracker
Set up the tracker at contract award. For each new federal project:
- Pull the agency-issued wage decision(s) from SAM.gov (or the contracting officer’s notice).
- Create a tracker tab for the project. Add one row per classification × schedule × locality combination. Most building projects have 15-30 active classifications; highway and heavy projects often have more.
- Fill columns 1-7 from the wage decision PDF. Column 8 = the lock-in date (typically contract award date). Column 10 = your re-check cadence (quarterly default).
- Update the tracker every time a wage decision is modified. Add a row for the new modification, link the PDF, evaluate against the lock-in date.
- Re-check the tracker on the cadence schedule. Mark the date of last re-check; flag any classifications without recent verification.
- Use the tracker as the wage-rate authority for the certified-payroll review process. Your WH-347 reviewer compares submitted rates against the tracker, not against SAM.gov directly.
Stop guessing on which wage rate applies
The 12 columns above take a federal-construction firm 2-3 hours per project to set up properly, and another 30 minutes per quarter to re-check across portfolio. Multiply by 10 active federal projects across 4 states and you’ve built a part-time job out of wage-decision tracking. Contracts Connected’s Certified Payroll Analyzer keeps every wage decision indexed by project, locked-in at contract award, and auto-flagged when DOL issues a modification, so your certified-payroll team always knows which rate controls without paging through SAM.gov on every WH-347 review.
Frequently asked questions about prevailing wage tracking
Where do I find federal prevailing wage rates?
SAM.gov is the official source for federal Davis-Bacon wage decisions. The Wage Determinations interface (sam.gov/wage-determinations) lets you search by state, county, and construction schedule (Building, Highway, Residential, Heavy). The decision PDFs are downloadable and updated periodically by DOL. State mini-Davis-Bacon rates come from state DOL websites. California DIR, New York DOL, etc.
What is a state mini-Davis-Bacon law?
State mini-Davis-Bacon laws are state-level prevailing wage statutes that mirror federal Davis-Bacon for state-funded construction projects. Roughly 25 states have them. California, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Illinois, Connecticut, and others. When both federal Davis-Bacon and state mini-Davis-Bacon apply to a project (federally-funded work in a state with mini-Davis-Bacon), the higher rate controls. Track both separately and verify rate-by-rate.
How often do prevailing wage rates change?
Federal Davis-Bacon wage decisions are updated by DOL periodically. Typically quarterly when wage-survey data is refreshed, but modifications can come more frequently when significant local-market changes occur. The lock-in date depends on contract award and modification dates: for fixed-price contracts, the WD locks at award and modifications issued after the lock-in generally don’t apply. Cost-reimbursement contracts have different rules. Verify with your contracting officer.
What’s the difference between Davis-Bacon and the Service Contract Act?
Davis-Bacon (and the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts) covers laborers and mechanics performing construction on federal contracts over $2,000. The Service Contract Act covers service employees on federal service contracts over $2,500. Janitorial, security, food service, etc. They’re distinct rate authorities with distinct certified-payroll forms. Construction projects with embedded service work (security guards, custodial during construction) need both sets of rates.
Which schedule applies to my project. Building, highway, residential, or heavy?
The agency contracting officer assigns the schedule in the wage decision attached to the solicitation or contract. The assignment is driven by the primary work scope: Building schedule for vertical construction, Highway for road and bridge work, Residential for housing, Heavy for industrial/utility/civil work. Mixed-scope projects can have multiple schedules apply to different portions; the contracting officer specifies. If the schedule looks wrong for the work being performed, raise it with the contracting officer immediately. Wrong schedule = wrong rates = back-wage exposure.
What if a worker’s classification doesn’t appear on the wage decision?
Submit an SF-1444 conformance request to DOL through the contracting agency. The conformance process adds the missing classification to the wage decision retroactively, with a rate that’s typically interpolated from similar classifications. While the conformance is pending, the worker is paid at the proposed rate; if DOL ultimately assigns a different rate, retroactive back-wages are owed. Most conformance requests resolve in 60-90 days.