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BRAD AVAKIAN I(N z DOUG MCKEAN <br />COMMISSIONER Deputy Commissioner <br />1&.5 s% <br />BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES <br />April 1, 2010 <br />In January and July of each year, the Bureau of Labor and Industries publishes the prevailing wage rates that <br />are required to be paid to workers on non-residential public works projects in the state of Oregon. Quarterly <br />updates are published in April and October. <br />Unless specifically exempted by state law, prevailing wage rates are the minimum wages that must be paid to <br />all workers employed on all public works. These rates are determined using data collected from a statewide <br />construction industry wage survey conducted by the Oregon-Employment Department ofoccupations and <br />crafts performing commercial building and heavy and highway construction in 14 geographic regions of the <br />Although this construction industry survey is normally conducted on an annual basis, due to the number of <br />concerns I heard expressed about the efficiency and methodology of the survey, I postponed the 2009 survey <br />and asked the legislatively-established Prevailing Wage Advisory Committee (PWAC) to review the survey <br />process and make recommendations to me for improvements and increased data validity. It is my goal that <br />the most accurate data possible be collected by this survey and with the least amount of disruption to <br />contractors' businesses. <br />Based on the recommendations received from the PWAC and Oregon Employment Department, several <br />revisions to the survey methodology and process are being made. (Detailed information regarding these <br />survey revisions is available on BOLI's website at www oregon.gov/BOLI/VMD/PWR/.) <br />The revised survey will be sent out to contractors in July. New rates based on this survey data will be <br />published in January, 2011. <br />In January of this year, the bureau published wage rates based on data collected from the last survey (in <br />2008), updating only the rates in the appendix where changes were made to collectively-bargained wage <br />rates. This publication adjusts the wage rates published in 2009 for those occupations and regions in which <br />collectively-bargained rates did not prevail, using construction industry wage data reported in the <br />Employment Cost Index published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. <br />A separate publication, entitled "Definitions of Covered Occupations for Public Works Contracts in <br />Oregon," provides occupational definitions used to classify the duties performed on public works projects. <br />Another publication, entitled "PREVAILNG WAGE RATES for Public Works Contracts in Oregon subject to <br />BOTH the state PWR and federal Davis-Bacon Act, " provides the applicable rates to be paid to workers on <br />projects subject to both the state Prevailing Wage Rate law and federal Davis-Bacon Act. These publications <br />are available upon request and are also available electronically at www.oregon.g_ov/boli. <br />If you have any questions regarding application of the state PWR law or the applicable rates to be paid on <br />any project, contact the bureau's Prevailing Wage Coordinator in Portland at (971) 673-0839. <br />Brad Avakian, Commissioner <br />Bureau of Labor and Industries <br />800 NE Oregon St., Suite 1045 Portland OR 97232-2180 Telephone (971) 673-0761 TDD (971) 673-0766 <br />