U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Solicitor
Washington 25
July 25, 1960
MEMORAMDUM 
T0: AGENCIES ADMINISTERING STATUTES REFERRED TO IN 29 CFR,
SUBTITLE A, PART 5,
FROM: Harold C. Nystrom
Acting Solicitor of labor
SUBJECTS Coverage under the Davis-Bacon and related Acts of
Survey Crews
For your information and guidance, I am attaching a copy
of a recent opinion which announces a significant change in our
a position with respect to members of survey crews. This opinion
should be an aid to you in determining coverage in the conduct
of your construction activities
ATTACHMENT







































U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR
WASHINGTON 25
102-D
June 29, 1960
Mr. Irving Helbling
Hackler, Flaum & Ansell
1621 West Ninth Street
Los Angeles 15, California
Dear Mr. Helbling:
This will acknowledge your letter of May 24, 1960, addressed
to Mr. Miller, and the attached application of Locals 3 and 12 of the
International Union of Operating Engineers that this office reconsider
the position expressed in Aging Assistant Solicitor Beaird's letter
of September 14, 1955 to Mr. Duncan Campbell. In that letter it was
pointed out that survey work was often a pre-construction activity
performed under a contract separate and apart .from that which actually
called for construction within the meaning of the Davis-Bacon Act and
related Acts. It was also stated therein that the members of survey
crews were engaged in professional or subprofessional work and could
not, therefore, be considered "laborers or mechanics" within the
meaning of the Acts.
You are quite correct in stating that the problem: has not
heretofore been submitted in any fashion comparable to your carefully
documented application. Although the position which we have previously
entertained is of long standing, we have again undertaken to review
the subject and have arrived at some new conclusions.
It is still our position that preliminary survey work such
as the preparation of boundary surveys and topographical maps is not a
part of construction covered by the Act, especially if performed pursuant
to a separate contract. We are prepared, however, to assert coverage
of survey work which is undertaken immediately prior to or during con-
struction which involves laying off distances and angles to locate con-
struction lines and other layout measurements. This includes the setting
of stakes, the determination of grades and levels, and other work which
is performed as an aid to the crafts which are engaged in the actual
physical construction of projects.
With respect to the status of particular employees, we agree
that chainmen and rodmen whose work is largely of a physical nature such
as clearing brush, sharpening and setting stakes, handling the rod and
the tape and other comparable activities are laborers and mechanics within
the meaning of the Act. On the other hand, a party chief has duties which















Mr. Irving Helbling      Page 2
would appear to place him in an executive class with overtones of a
professional. Such a person always supervises two or more persons on
the job and, as you are aware, we have never asserted that foremen. or
other supervisory personnel are within the Act. The party chief also
has substantial clerical duties and often exercises the arts of the
engineering profession. Both of these classifications are, of course,
excluded from the group commonly accepted as laborers or mechanics.
The only classification which presents substantial difficulty
is that of an instrument man working under a party chief as part of a
four man crew. These men may occasionally perform the physical work
of rodmen or chainmen. They also may carry and place the instruments
as well as operate them. They make the sighting and take and record
the readings. They may be called upon to exercise discretion, judgment
and skill involving problems encountered in the field and they must be
able to read blueprints and make sketches or drawings. Again, on the
other hand, while construction is actually in progress they may function
only as an aid to the construction workers in such matters as determining
the placement and levels of pilings, the placement of steel beams and
girders, the location of holt holes, etc. In the specific area covered
by your application, they are members of a union engaged in an apprenticable
trade and customarily are paid by the hour.
While working under a party chief, instrument men are not
employed in a bona fide supervisory position. Neither do they qualify
as professionals under Regulations, Part 541, issued under the Fair Labor
Standards Act. The tests provided by these Regulations or tests similar
to them are quite commonly accepted under both Federal and State 2aws.
Therefore a substantial amount of physical work being involved, we
Believe it appropriate to regard instrument men employed under a chief
of party as laborers and mechanics, with the reservation, however, that
a contrary conclusion might be reached in particular cases if the facts
and circumstances were different from those reflected in your presentation.
Accordingly, it is our intention to include in future wage determinations,
where appropriate, the classifications of “rodmen”, “chainmen” and
"instrument men (serving under a party chief)."
Very truly yours,
Harold C. Nystrom
Acting Solicitor of Labor