U.S. Department of Labor 
Employment Standards Administration 
Wage and Hour Division 
Washington, D.C. 20210
FEB 28 1985
MEMORANDUM NO. 140
TO: ALL CONTRACTING AGENCIES OF THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FROM: WILLIAM M. OTTER 
Administrator
SUBJECT: Revisions of the Davis-Bacon Regulations, 29 CFR
Part 1 - Reference: All Agency Memoranda Nos. 133
(July 8, 1982) and 134 (July 23, 1982)
On January 31, 1985, the Department of Labor issued revised final
Davis-Bacon regulations, 29 CFR Part 1, regarding the procedures for
determining prevailing wage rates under the Davis-Bacon and Related
Acts (50 FR 4506). These final rules, which became effective immediately
upon publication, implement two provisions of the deferred final rules
previously published in May 1982 which were enjoined by the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia and subsequently upheld by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Building and
Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, et al., v. Raymond J. Donovan,
Secretary of Labor et al., 712 F. 2d 611 (D.C. Cir. 1983). The U.S.
Supreme Court declined to review the decision of the appeals court
and on December 21, 1984, the district court issued an order lifting
the injunction on several key provisions which had been upheld.
The recent Federal Register notice implements the following regulatory
changes in the Departments procedures for determining prevailing wages
(29 CFR Part 1), which are applicable to all wage surveys completed on
or after January 31, 1985:
Section 1.3(d) - wages paid to workers employed on projects
subject to the Davis-Bacon Act generally will not be 
considered when developing wage determinations for building
and residential construction, except where there are not
sufficient data available from similar privately financed
projects to determine prevailing wages in the absence
of such data; and
Section 1 .7(b) - wages paid to workers employed on projects in
metropolitan areas will not be used in making wage determi-
nations for rural areas, and vice versa.
(OVER)















 -2-
The district court injunction remains in effect, however, for certain
regulatory provisions pertaining to the expanded use of "helpers" on
projects subject to the Davis-Bacon Act, and that portion of the
district court order is still under review. The Department plans to
implement the "helper" regulations as expeditiously as possible.