Prevailing Wage

When Does Prevailing Wage Apply?

Prevailing wages are due, in most instances, if the project costs are more than $1,000 and involves new construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, and maintenance when the work is paid for in whole or in part with public funds and done under contract.

Note: Generally does not apply to work done by UC employees.

If there are ANY public funds in a public works project, the whole project is subject to prevailing wage requirements.

Public funds include self-supporting departments where revenue is not derived from state funds, including but not limited to: Housing and Dining, Transportation and Parking, Auxiliary business services.

Maintenance examples: Tree trimming, Landscape maintenance, Equipment repairs (pumps, motors, belts, etc.), Elevator maintenance, Roofing/Patch, Drop ceiling repair, Carpet replacement, Installing modular furniture, Painting/Touch-up.

Renewable Energy Projects: The prevailing wage requirement applies when the work is done under private contract where the work is performed on UC property in California AND more than 50% of the energy generated will be purchased by UC or the project is primarily intended to reduce UC's energy costs.

Hauling of refuse: Applies when the refuse is hauled from a public works site to an outside disposal location. Does not include hauling of recyclable materials separated from jobsite to be sold at fair market price.

Construction: Includes work performed during the design and pre-construction phase, including but not limited to inspection and land surveying work.

For a complete list of qualifying works, review the Prevailing Wage Commodities List.

Things I Need to Know or Do

UCSF departments need to identify and flag purchases in BearBuy that are subject to prevailing wage.

Campus departments are responsible for determining whether their order qualifies for Prevailing Wage. Review the Prevailing Wage Commodities List to determine if the type of work qualifies. Remember, the order must be more than $1,000 to qualify for Prevailing Wage.

All qualifying orders must be placed using the Amount-based PO form or Capital Equipment form in BearBuy (whichever is most appropriate). Provide the following information on the form:

• Project Name
• Project Brief Description
• Contractor/Supplier Project Manager (if available)
• Start Date
• End Date

Once the form is added to your cart, Proceed to Checkout. Next, navigate to the General Section within the Requisition Summary tab and click on the pencil icon to edit the section. In the pop-up window, check the Prevailing Wage checkbox, and then click the Save Changes button. Assign the shopping cart to your department's Requester to complete the BearBuy checkout process and submit the order.

After the Requester submits the order, it will automatically route to your department's Requisition Approver. Once approved, the order will automatically route to your Department-Assigned Buyer. The Buyer will work with the supplier to ensure the project and supplier is registered with the DIR.

Note: When submitting a Change Order for new construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, and maintenance where the Change Order will increase the PO total from under $1,000 to over $1,000, the order is now subject to prevailing wage. After adding the Change Order Request form to your shopping cart, Proceed to Checkout, and select the Prevailing Wage checkbox on the requisition before submitting the Change Order.

BearBuy Form to Use

• Amount-based PO Form
• Capital Equipment Form

Other Useful References

• Prevailing Wage Commodities List
• Prevailing Wage Rates
• State of California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)
• UC Terms and Conditions of Purchase

Related Policy

• CA Senate Bill 854 (SB854): Public works reforms were signed into law June 20, 2014
• Established a new public works contractor registration program with Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)
• Contractors are subject to a registration and annual renewal fee set initially at $300. The fee is non-refundable and applies to all contractors who intend to bid or perform work on public works projects
• Contractor/Supplier must electronically submit payroll records for projects to DIR
• DIR's Compliance Monitoring Unit will enforce compliance, actively monitoring all prevailing wage requirements
• Note: For federally-funded construction, Federal law applies in addition to SB854 (whichever is most stringent)
• Risk of Non-Compliance: If UC does not require its suppliers to pay prevailing wages when applicable, the contract is subject to cancellation, the supplier could be fined or debarred from public works projects, and the supplier could sue UC for any increased labor costs or penalties and associated costs such as attorney's fees
• UCOP updated the UC Procurement policy and Terms and Conditions to meet the new SB854 requirement. The updated T&Cs will be applied to prevailing wage orders.