U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR WASHINGTON 25 October 15, 1962 MEMORANDUM # 41 TO: AGENCIES ADNINISTERING STATUTES REFERRED TO IN 29 CFR, SUBTITLE A, PART 5. FROM : E. Irving Manger Associate Administrator SUBJECT: Opinions on application of the Davis-Bacon and related Acts. Enclosed with previous covering memoranda, copies of opinions on the application of the Davis-Bacon and related Acts were furnished you for information and guidance in your enforce- ment programs under those Acts. We are now enclosing a copy of a recent opinion on this same general subject, which we are sure will be of further interest and assistance to you. Enclosure U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR WASHINGTON 25 October 8, 1962 Mr. R. L. Tollefsen Secretary and General Counsel Douglas 0i1 Company of California Douglas Oil Building 816 West Fifth Street Los Angeles 17, California Ret Application of the Davis-Bacon Act to “Oil Spreading" Activities involved in the Construction of Roads and Aircraft Runways at Navy Installations, California Our Files: E-61-676 thru 686 Dear Mr. Tollefsen: Reference is made to our previous correspondence regarding the application of the Davis-Bacon Act to "oil spreading" activities undertaken by your firm in connec- tion with the delivery of "road oils" to various covered construction projects. As you know, the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C.276a, applies generally to contacts for the construction, altera- tion, and/or repair of public buildings or public works. It provides that contractors or their subcontractors shall pay all laborers and mechanics, employed directly upon the site of the work, minimum wages which are based upon those determined by the Secretary of labor to be prevailing in the area. Specific definitions of the terms "subcontractor" And "materialman" are not to be found in the Davis-Bacon and related Acts, nor 10 the regulations pertaining thereto. Furthermore, there are no exemptions specified in those laws and regulations concerning the "materialman", as such. How- Aver, Section 5.2(f) of Regulations, Part 5(29 C.F.R., Mr. R. L. Tollefsen Page 2 Subtitle A), does set forth that: "The manufacture or furnishing of materials, articles, supplies or equipment... is not a 'building' or 'work'" within the meaning of the Davis-Bacon and related Acts or of the regulations, "unless conducted in connection with and at the site of such a building or work...or under the Housing Act of 1949 in the construction or development of the project." In accordance with the foregoing, this Department has considered the manufacture and delivery of supply items to the work site, when accomplished by bona fide materialmen, to be noncovered activities. On the other hand, where a materialman, as an adjunct to the furnishing of supplies, also undertakes to perform for and take from a prime contrac- tor a specific part of the labor or material requirements of the latter's original contract, he would ordinarily be con- sidered a subcontractor (MacEvoy v. United States,332 U.S. 102(1944)) and the work thus performed would be covered by the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act. An examination of the record in this case dis- closes that Douglas Oil is recognized as a bona fide sup- plier of liquid bituminous products and, as such, customarily transports them to those places designated by its customers. It is your view that the status of Douglas Oil as a supplier is not affected by the "oil spreading" activities it under- takes upon delivery of these materials to a construction site. Specifically, you state that the spraying of liquid bituminous products upon the roads under construction is a further step in the delivery process, being incidental thereto, and does not constitute the work of a subcontractor. To reach a decision in this key issue, it is necessary to examine the use of these materials in road construction and the technique employed in their on-site application. We are here concerned with liquid bituminous pro- ducts as used in prime, tack and seal coating. Prime, when applied to soil or an aggregate base, seals the surface upon which it has been placed and provides a bond for subsequent Mr. R. L. Tollefsen Page 3 layers of pavement; tack serves as a bonding agent between these layers, and seal coating, over which aggregate is spread, provides a protective seal for the wearing surface of the road. While in all cases the materials must be applied uniformly, the rate of application may vary from .15 to.40 of a gallon per square yard. It appears that in most in- stances the contracting agencies will specify the rate in a particular case to the nearest hundredth of a gallon and it is not uncommon for Government contracts to require that the actual rate applied come within five percent of the rate specified. The reason for strict adherence to these speci- fications is apparent since an insufficient application will cause the material to lose its characteristics as a bonding agent, and an excessive application will cause "bleeding" which undermines the structure of a road and creates slickness on its surface. In the cases here involved, the products are delivered to the construction site in tank trucks of the sup- plier. Attached to the rear of these vehicles is a piece of equipment known as a spray bar. The liquid materials are applied to road surfaces, in lanes between 8 and 12 feet wide, through evenly spaced nozzles in the bar. The rate of appli- cation itself is controlled by three factors: the pressure in the pumps, the size of the nozzle openings in a given piece of equipment, and the speed of the truck carrying the spray bar over the road surface, Equipment control ranges between .05 to 2.0 gallons per square yard with five percent accuracy. In order to distribute these materials with proper bonding characteristics, they are heated, in accordance with specifications, to temperatures between 275 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit, achieving pressures between 25 to 75 pounds per square inch. In this state, the "oils” are inflammable and care must be used in their handling. Mr. R. L. Tollefsen Page 4 To fulfill the requirements imposed by contracting agencies in regard to the rate of application and in ob- servance of the safety regulations which are imposed in the handling of these materials, the personnel employed in the spreading work must be skilled in the performance of their tasks. The bootman operating the spray bar must be able to read and interpret gauges and make proper adjustments before the spraying begins, and the driver of the truck must maintain a constant speed throughout the course of his "run". These skills must be synchronized to assure a uniform spread of the desired quantity. Mistakes are critical. Where errors in application are made, they must be remedied, in most cases, by scarification and by a repetition of the application pro- ceedure. It would appear that on-the-spot corrections, such as blotting, are undesirable even in the rectifying of slight mistakes. In view of the need for strict adherence to speci- fications established by contracting agencies, and by reason of the special equipment used and the skills required in connection therewith, it is our finding that the spreading of "oil" by the Douglas Oil Company, such as here involved, is a concomitant of the construction process itself and as such constitutes the performance of a part of the labor re- quirements of the original contracts. We therefore consider such work to be that of a subcontractor. The laborers and mechanics engaged in these activities perform an essential part of the construction work required by the prime contracts and are entitled to the benefits of the Davis-Bacon Act as incorporated in the contracts in question. In view of the novel and unusual aspects of the coverage question presented by your petition, and the prac- tical difficulties which would be involved in any retroactive enforcement of this ruling, we are advising the Federal con- tracting agencies concerned that we would have no objection to their making this decision effective as of the date of this ruling. Yours sincerely, Charles Donahue Solicitor of Labor