§ 4.4 Obtaining a wage determination.

(a)

(1) Sections 2(a)(1) and (2) of the Act require that every contract and any bid specification therefore in excess of $2,500 contain a wage determination specifying the minimum monetary wages and fringe benefits to be paid to service employees performing work on the contract. The contracting agency, therefore, must obtain a wage determination prior to:

(i) Any invitation for bids;

(ii) Request for proposals;

(iii) Commencement of negotiations;

(iv) Exercise of option or contract extension;

(v) Annual anniversary date of a multi-year contract subject to annual fiscal appropriations of the Congress; or

(vi) Each biennial anniversary date of a multi-year contract not subject to such annual appropriations, if so authorized by the Wage and Hour Division.

(2) As described in § 4.4(b), wage determinations may be obtained from the Department of Labor by electronically submitting an e98 describing the proposed contract and the occupations expected to be employed on the contract. Based upon the information provided on the e98, the Department of Labor will respond with the wage determination or wage determinations that the contracting agency may rely upon as the correct wage determination(s) for the contract described in the e98. Alternatively, contracting agencies may select and obtain a wage determination using WDOL. (See § 4.4(c).) Although the WDOL Web site provides assistance to the agency to select the correct wage determination for the contract, the agency remains responsible for the wage determination selected.

(3)

(i) Where the place of performance of a contract for services subject to the Act is unknown at the time of solicitation, the solicitation need not initially contain a wage determination. The contracting agency, upon identification of firms participating in the procurement in response to an initial solicitation, shall obtain a wage determination for each location where the work may be performed as indicated by participating firms. An applicable wage determination must be obtained for each firm participating in the bidding for the location in which it would perform the contract. The appropriate wage determination shall be incorporated in the resultant contract documents and shall be applicable to all work performed thereunder (regardless of whether the successful contractor subsequently changes the place(s) of contract performance).

(ii) There may be unusual situations, as determined by the Department of Labor upon consultation with a contracting agency, where the procedure in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section is not practicable in a particular situation. In these situations, the Department may authorize a modified procedure that may result in the subsequent issuance of wage determinations for one or more composite localities.