Code of Colorado Regulations
1100 - Department of Labor and Employment
1101 - Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (Includes 1103 Series)
7 CCR 1103-6 - PREVAILING WAGE AND RESIDENCY (PWR) RULES
2 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 7 CO Code Regs 1103-6 ยง 2

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 5, March 10, 2024

2.1 "Agency of government" as used in the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-201(1) means any agency, department, division, board, bureau, commission, institution, or section of the state, which is a budgetary unit exercising construction contracting authority or discretion. "Agency of government" does not include any county, city and county, city, municipality, town, school district, special district, or any other political subdivision of the state.

2.1.1 "Contracting Agency" is the specific agency of government with which a contractor or subcontractor has a contract for a public project.

2.2 "Authorized representative" means a person who is designated by a party to a complaint to represent the party during the Division's complaint and/or appeal process.

2.3 "Colorado labor" as used in KJICA, C.R.S. § 8-17-101(2)(a), means labor that is performed on a public project by any person who is a resident of the state of Colorado, without discrimination as to race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, or religion, except when sex or age is a bona fide occupational qualification.

2.3.1 A resident of the state of Colorado is a person who can provide a valid Colorado driver's license, a valid Colorado state-issued photo identification, or other documentation showing that the person has resided in Colorado for the last thirty days.

2.4 "Contractor" as used in the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-201(2), means any employer, person, entity, individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons that has a contract for a public project with a Contracting Agency.

2.5 "Davis Bacon Act" refers to the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), 40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq.

2.6 "Director" means the Director of the Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, or his or her designee.

2.7 "Division" means the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics within the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

2.8 "Employees" and/or "workers" under KJICA and Prevailing Wage Act.

2.8.1 Under KJICA, C.R.S. § 8-17-105, a"worker" is defined pursuant to the Davis Bacon Act, 29 C.F.R. § 5.2. Workers are those whose duties are manual or physical in nature (including those workers who use tools or who are performing the work of a trade), as distinguished from mental or managerial. The term does not apply to workers whose duties are primarily administrative, executive, or clerical, rather than manual.

2.8.2 Under the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-201(4), "employees" are workers who are employees pursuant to the Colorado Wage Act, C.R.S. § 8-4-101(5), and who are engaged by contractors or subcontractors to perform jobs on various types of public projects, including as mechanics, laborers, or other construction workers.

2.9 "Fringe benefit," as used in KJICA, C.R.S. § 8-17-105, is defined pursuant to the Davis Bacon Act, 29 C.F.R. § 5.23. Fringe benefit includes the rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor which may be reasonably anticipated in providing benefits to workers pursuant to an enforceable commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or program which was communicated in writing to the workers affected, for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death, compensation for injuries or illness resulting from occupational activity, or insurance to provide any of the foregoing, for unemployment benefits, life insurance, disability and sickness insurance, or accident insurance, for vacation and holiday pay, for defraying costs of apprenticeship or other similar programs, or for other bona fide fringe benefits.

2.10 "Public works project" or "public project" have the following definitions:

2.10.1 Under KJICA, C.R.S. § 8-17-101(2)(b), C.R.S. § 24-103-908(1), and C.R.S. § 24-92-102(8), "public works project" has the same meaning as "public project," and is defined as:
(A) any public project as defined in C.R.S. § 24-92-102(8), including any construction, alteration, repair, demolition, or improvement of any land, building, structure, facility, road, highway, bridge, or other public improvement suitable for and intended for use in the promotion of the public health, welfare, or safety and any maintenance programs for the upkeep of such projects, including any such project awarded by any county, including any home rule county, municipality, as defined in C.R.S. § 31-1-101(6), school district, special district, or other political subdivision of the state. It does not include any project:
(1) for which appropriation or expenditure of moneys may be reasonably expected not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate for any fiscal year;

(2) under the supervision of the department of transportation for which appropriation or expenditure of funds may be reasonably expected not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars in the aggregate of any fiscal year; or

(3) that is financed with any amount of federal money.

(B) any publicly funded contract for construction entered into by a governmental body of the executive branch of the state of Colorado which is subject to the "Procurement Code," articles 101 to 112 of title 24, C.R.S.; and

(C) any highway or bridge construction, whether undertaken by the department of transportation or by any political subdivision of the state of Colorado, in which the expenditure of funds may be reasonably expected to exceed fifty thousand dollars.

2.10.2 Under the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-201, "public project":
(A) means any construction, alteration, repair, demolition, or improvement of any land, building, structure, facility, road, highway, bridge, or other public improvement suitable for and intended for use in the promotion of public health, welfare, or safety and any operation or maintenance programs for the operation and upkeep of such projects. "Public project" includes any work, construction, or repair performed by a private party through a contract to rent, lease, or purchase at least fifty percent of the project by one or more agencies of government, and may include projects undertaken pursuant to contracts awarded under Title 24, Article 92, Part 1, C.R.S., or under Title 24, Article 93, C.R.S. It does not include any project:
(1) that receives federal funding; or

(2) for which the contracting agency is the Department of Transportation.

(B) includes an "energy sector public works project," as defined by C.R.S. § 24-92-303(5), and may include thermal energy network or thermal energy system projects, as defined by C.R.S. § 40-3.2-108. It does not include any project:
(1) for which a public utility or cooperative electric association invitation for bids or proposals was issued before January 1, 2024; or

(2) listed under C.R.S. § 24-92-304(1)(c).

2.11 "Site of the project" as used in KJICA, C.R.S. § 8-17-105, is defined pursuant to the Davis Bacon Act definition of "site of the work,"29 C.F.R. § 5.2. Site of the project is the physical place or places where the building or work called for in the contract will remain; and any other site where a significant portion of the building or work is constructed, provided that such site is either established specifically for the performance of the contract or project or dedicated exclusively, or nearly so, to the performance of the contract or project for a specific period of time.

2.11.1 Not included in the site of the project are permanent home offices, branch plant establishments, fabrication plants, tool yards, etc., of a contractor or subcontractor whose location and continuance in operation are determined wholly without regard to a particular public works contract or project.

2.12 A "wage determination" as defined by the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-205(1), is the determination made by the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration establishing prevailing wage rates for the applicable trade or occupation and the particular geographical locality of the public project. A "wage determination" includes the original decision and any subsequent decisions modifying, superseding, correcting, or otherwise changing the provisions of the original decision.

2.13 "Wages," "scale of wages," "wage rates," "minimum wages," and "prevailing wages" as defined by the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-201(6), means:

(A) The employee's basic hourly rate of pay;

(B) Any contribution irrevocably made by a contractor or subcontractor to a trustee or to a third person pursuant to a bona fide fringe benefit fund, plan, or program; and

(C) The rate of costs to the contractor or subcontractor which may be reasonably anticipated in providing bona fide fringe benefits to laborers, mechanics, and other construction workers pursuant to an enforceable commitment to carry out a financially responsible plan or program, which was communicated in writing to the workers affected in advance.

Unless otherwise noted, when used herein, the term "wages" includes fringe benefits, except where it is used to refer to wages as defined in the Colorado Wage Act, C.R.S. § 8-4-101(14).

2.14 A "willful violation," as defined by the Prevailing Wage Act, C.R.S. § 24-92-209(2)(b), includes an intentional violation and a violation made with reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance of the law. A contractor or subcontractor acts with "reckless disregard" of the requirements of the law if, for example, it should have inquired further into whether its conduct was in compliance with the law and failed to make adequate further inquiry. Whether employees accepted or agreed to accept less than the required rate of wages or voluntarily made refunds is not a defense to willfulness.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Colorado may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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