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California Prevailing Wage Law: Wages Established By Geographic Region

In California, prevailing wage rates are also established by geographic region. California has statewide rates, rates for large geographic regions, (i.e. Northern California, Southern California, and San Diego) and wage rates determined by counties. Generally there are about a dozen craft classifications established on a statewide basis. Ironworker is the most common classification used here. However, in the last few years the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has placed wage determinations for Metal Roofing and for Dump Truck and Concrete Trucks in the statewide determination category. However, once you select that classification on the DIR website, you still need to select the county in which the contractor is working to get the correct rate.

If a classification is not found in the statewide rate section on the website, then most likely the major trades are found under the regional headings. Major trades include Laborer, Cement Mason, Carpenters, Teamster, etc. Even when California establishes a “statewide” or “regional” rate, the rates are still broken down by count Finally, specialty trades are issued on a county by county basis. Crafts such as Bricklayer, Roofer, Electrician, Sheet Metal Workers, etc. can be found in the county determination.Knowing how to identify the correct prevailing wage rate is an important factor. Many contractors wrongly assume that the wage rate they are paying for work performed on one project is the same wage rate they are to pay on a neighboring project.The information above is brought to you by: Deborah Wilder’s“What Every Contractor Should Know About Prevailing Wages”