The Challenge

What happens when a Fortune 300 general contractor (GC) is awarded a massive $486 million project to overhaul infrastructure spanning an entire state? Some might call this a logistical nightmare – and understandably so. Most projects are confined to a single location – or, at least, within a single city or county. But this monstrosity? Try 113 counties.

The general contractor (GC) in this case, while technically contracted with the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT), had to act much like a project owner or construction management company would. The sheer scope required the project to be broken up into dozens of smaller “projects” or “clusters” of jobsites, and the GC agreed to work with the awarding body to ensure as many local contractors as possible were hired for the different clusters. In total, 21 prime contractors and 147 subcontractors worked on the project, and this was in addition to the work the GC performed, itself. This meant hundreds of workers across the state that were subject to prevailing wage, and the GC was ultimately responsible for ensuring that each of the contractors were held accountable. Easy, right?

Except it wasn’t… For one, the project required a combination of heavy and highway construction, which meant multiple federal wage determinations. On top of that, they had a state determination that was updated every July, which only further complicated things since it took multiple years to complete the project. And, of course, since prevailing rates vary by location (and the construction spanned 113 counties), the many rate sheets applicable to different scenarios started to pile up.

To make matters worse, they had only one labor compliance officer, ten compliance specialists, and four administrative assistants to process and review the roughly 39,900 CPRs submitted from start to finish. Weekly submissions (a federal requirement) contributed to a mounting workload, and the decentralized organizational system exacerbated the problem. The bright side? This project is what made the company realize they needed to adopt an electronic solution and mandate its use company-wide.

The Solution

The GC decided to use LCPtracker Pro for all of their prevailing wage projects moving forward. The software now helps alleviate many of the headaches caused by the compliance staff’s immense workload. By having every contractor on a project – including all lower-tier subs – use the application to submit documents, a more cohesive system emerged. Everything is received and stored in one, centralized and easily accessible place: a web-based application. Even creating CPRs is less of a burden since the GC can upload payroll data from its proprietary software via a custom interface. There are also options for the other contractors to do the same.

Furthermore, they can rely on the LCPtracker Pro to streamline the compliance verification process – a.k.a. leverage the system to automatically check certified payrolls for errors and violations. This especially comes in handy for projects with multiple wage determinations and work that spans multiple locations like the mega project discussed above. The application will notify contractors when one of the 90+ validation checks are tripped and require them to rectify issues prior to letting them submit to the GC. And once everything has been submitted, the system compiles data and allows the GC to quickly run several reports to meet additional requirements from requesting bodies.

The Benefits

First and foremost, the adoption of LCPtracker Pro assists in mitigating compliance risk across the board by helping ensure every contractor submits accurate data on CPRs. In the long run, this helps cut costs across GC’s projects. It greatly reduces not only their chances of incurring fines and penalties, but that of other contractors’ on their projects as well (which they are, of course, potentially liable for). It also reduces full-time equivalents because fewer hours are spent on routine administrative compliance tasks and improves the timeliness of subcontractor reporting (which in turn increases how quickly they get paid by the awarding body).

Furthermore, the application allows them to improve transparency with their clients. LCPtracker Pro’s ability to compile all compliance and workforce data makes running reports and tracking workforce initiatives a breeze. They can quickly comply with requests from federal bodies overseeing projects like state DOLs, the FHWA, and the USDOL’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD). Likewise, they are able to easily measure and meet the EEO and local hire goals implemented on the project.

And if that wasn’t enough, LCPtracker make’s software training available for all levels of contractors to facilitate a smoother transition in using the system. The inevitable pushback from implementing a procedural change is absorbed by LCPtracker’s supportive services rather than placing that burden on the GC, itself.