SB 854 Public Works Projects

SB 854 (Stat. 2014, chapter 28) made several changes to the laws governing how the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) monitors compliance with prevailing wage requirements on public works projects. Some of these changes modify the responsibilities of awarding bodies, including by eliminating the obligation to pay DIR for compliance monitoring on state bond-funded projects. Some of SB 854’s changes went into effect immediately (because the bill was adopted as an urgency measure), but others will be phased in.

Immediate changes:

• Duty to notify DIR when awarding a contract for a public works project, using the online PWC-100 form. This requirement, found in Labor Code Section 1773.3, now applies to all public works projects. Previously it applied to projects subject either to apprenticeship or DIR compliance monitoring requirements.
• Elimination of the obligation to pay DIR for compliance monitoring on state bond-funded projects and other projects that required use of DIR’s Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU).  DIR will continue to monitor compliance on these projects but will not charge awarding bodies for any services provided on or after June 20, 2014 [the effective date of SB 854]. The alternative of using a DIR-approved Labor Compliance Program (LCP) or a project labor agreement in lieu of the CMU on one of these projects has also been eliminated. However, for ongoing projects that were using one of the alternatives, monitoring should continue until the project is completed.

Additional information on SB 854 and the new public works program is available on the DIR website.

Public Works Contractor Registration Program

Senate Bill SB 854 (Full Text- Chapter 28)

DIR Public Works Contractors Registration Search (Searchable database of qualified contractors)