Wages, bonds and the rulebook
What is a wage determination?
A wage determination is the Department of Labor's published schedule of minimum wage rates and fringe benefits for each labour classification in a locality, incorporated into a solicitation so that bidders price the same labour floor.
Also written as: WD, prevailing wage determination, SAM.gov wage determination.
Determinations come in two families matching the two statutes: construction determinations under the Davis-Bacon requirements, and service determinations under the Service Contract Labor Standards. They are published by DOL and obtained through SAM.gov, and the contracting officer attaches the applicable one to the solicitation.
Reading one takes practice. Each classification carries a base rate and a fringe amount, and the fringe is a real cost — payable as benefits or as cash. Selecting the wrong classification for a worker understates both.
Determinations are updated, and which version governs depends on the contract's timing rules. If a solicitation carries a determination that looks stale, ask; do not assume.
Two further traps. A classification you cannot find on the determination does not mean the worker is unregulated — there is a conformance process for adding one, and it runs through the contracting officer. And on a multi-year contract the determination is typically revised at each option exercise, so the labour cost you priced in year one is not the labour cost of year three.
What this means when you bid
Build the bid from the classifications in the determination, with the fringe included. That, not your normal payroll, is the labour cost of the job.
Where this definition comes from
Federal contracting is one of the few fields where the authoritative answer is free, public and one click away. These are the sources this page is built from — go and read them.
- U.S. Department of Labor — wage determinations→
- FAR 22.404→
Davis-Bacon Act wage determinations.
- FAR 22.1008→
Procedures for obtaining wage determinations.
This page explains a term in plain English and cites the authority it comes from. It is not legal advice, and the regulation governs where this page and the regulation differ.
Free tools for government contractors
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Wage determination— common questions
- What is a wage determination?
- A wage determination is the Department of Labor's published schedule of minimum wage rates and fringe benefits for each labour classification in a locality, incorporated into a solicitation so that bidders price the same labour floor.
- Why does a wage determination matter when you are bidding?
- Build the bid from the classifications in the determination, with the fringe included. That, not your normal payroll, is the labour cost of the job.
Related terms
- Davis-Bacon Act — Wage Rate Requirements (Construction)
- Service Contract Act — Service Contract Labor Standards
- Firm-fixed-price — Firm-Fixed-Price contract (FFP)
- Time-and-materials — Time-and-Materials contract (T&M)
NAICS industries where this comes up most
An editorial pointer, not a measurement. These are the codes whose work most often involves a wage determination. Each page carries the official Census title, the SBA size standard where one is published for those exact digits, and whatever federal award history the record here holds for the code — which may be none, and says so when it is.