Davis-Bacon Act Not Applicable To D.C. Public-Private Partnerships

Thomas Brownell is a Partner in Holland & Knight's Northern Virginia office

HIGHLIGHTS:

• A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled that the Davis-Bacon Act does not require payment of prevailing wages on public-private partnerships where the U.S. or D.C. government is not a party to the construction contract and where the government is not the owner of the resulting project.
• The Davis-Bacon Act requires payment of "prevailing wages" to workers when the federal or D.C. governments enter into contracts for the construction of "public works," often significantly increasing the cost of construction.
• The case may have implications on other recent efforts by the Department of Labor (DOL) to expand its jurisdiction, but will likely have no application to construction projects for which federal assistance was provided in the form of grants, loans, loan guarantees or insurance.