Sec. 2258.022.  DETERMINATION OF PREVAILING WAGE RATES.  (a)  For a contract for a public work awarded by a political subdivision of the state, the public body shall determine the general prevailing rate of per diem wages in the locality in which the public work is to be performed for each craft or type of worker needed to execute the contract and the prevailing rate for legal holiday and overtime work by:
(1)  conducting a survey of the wages received by classes of workers employed on projects of a character similar to the contract work in the political subdivision of the state in which the public work is to be performed;  or
(2)  using the prevailing wage rate as determined by the United States Department of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 276a et seq.), and its subsequent amendments.
(b)  This subsection applies only to a public work located in a county bordering the United Mexican States or in a county adjacent to a county bordering the United Mexican States.  For a contract for a public work awarded by the state, the public body shall determine the general prevailing rate of per diem wages in the locality in which the public work is to be performed for each craft or type of worker needed to execute the contract and the prevailing rate for legal holiday and overtime work as follows.  The public body shall conduct a survey of the wages received by classes of workers employed on projects of a character similar to the contract work both statewide and in the political subdivision of the state in which the public work is to be performed.  The public body shall also consider the prevailing wage rate as determined by the United States Department of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 276a et seq.), and its subsequent amendments, but only if the survey used to determine that rate was conducted within a three-year period preceding the date the public body calls for bids for the public work.  The public body shall determine the general prevailing rate of per diem wages in the locality based on the higher of:
(1)  the rate determined from the survey conducted in the political subdivision;
(2)  the arithmetic mean between the rate determined from the survey conducted in the political subdivision and the rate determined from the statewide survey;  and
(3)  if applicable, the arithmetic mean between the rate determined from the survey conducted in the political subdivision and the rate determined by the United States Department of Labor.
(c)  The public body shall determine the general prevailing rate of per diem wages as a sum certain, expressed in dollars and cents.
(d)  A public body shall specify in the call for bids for the contract and in the contract itself the wage rates determined under this section.
(e)  The public body's determination of the general prevailing rate of per diem wages is final.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.49(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.  Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 18.02, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1422, Sec. 14.05, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by: 
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 728 (H.B. 2625), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.