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Does a federal jobsite have to post the wage determination

Use the free tool — Prevailing Wage Lookup

The short answer

Yes — if the job is covered by the Davis-Bacon Act, the contractor must post the wage determination at the site. This comes from federal regulation 29 C.F.R. § 5.5(a)(1). It should be somewhere workers can see it, like a jobsite trailer or a bulletin board.

What makes a job "covered"

Davis-Bacon applies to federal construction contracts over $2,000 (Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. § 3142). "Related Acts" extend the same rule to many federally assisted projects — for example ones funded through HUD, FHWA, or EPA water programs.

• Florida has no state prevailing wage law of its own.
• State law actually bars local governments from requiring one (Fla. Stat. 218.77).
• So in Florida, prevailing wage rules apply only because of federal money — not because it's a state, county, or city job.

What the posted determination should show

The wage determination lists a base rate and a fringe amount for each trade classification, by county and type of construction. Fringe can be paid in cash instead of benefits. The only official version is on SAM.gov Wage Determinations — read the line for your trade and county there, not from memory or a rumor on site.

If there's no poster

No poster is a question to ask — not proof that the job isn't covered, and not proof anyone is underpaying you. Ask the foreman or payroll, in writing, whether the job is Davis-Bacon covered and which determination applies. Keep a copy of your question.

Don't walk off the job or confront anyone. Start a daily log of your hours, your classification, and what you were paid instead.

Overtime and who to call

On covered jobs, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act requires 1.5× the base rate for hours over 40 in a week. If your written question doesn't get answered, you can call the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243, free, in English or Spanish. Retaliation for asking is prohibited.

What to do next

The free tool reads your trade, county, and job type — the numbers you type in, not ours — and tells you which determination likely applies and how to read the rate and fringe line for your classification. Nothing is saved. It is not legal advice; confirm anything you find with SAM.gov Wage Determinations or the Wage and Hour Division before you rely on it.

Prevailing Wage Lookup explains federal and Florida rules in plain language; it can be wrong, and it is not legal advice. It never states a rate — rates are read from the official wage determination at sam.gov. Questions and complaints: U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division, 1-866-487-9243. Nothing you paste is stored.