1. (a) The department will determine the prevailing wage rate to be paid laborers, mechanics, and field surveyors. The department will publish this determination in the pamphlet Laborers' and Mechanics' Minimum Rates of Pay. The department will periodically revise the prevailing wage rates, on a regional basis, to correspond with the prevailing wage rate for similar work.

2. (b) The prevailing wage will be determined on a regional basis for two geographic regions of the state, north of North 63° latitude and south of North 63° latitude. A region may be subdivided into zones if the commissioner determines that the prevailing wage rate has local variations within the region. In determining the prevailing wage rate for a region or zone, the department will consider the prevailing wage that represents majority penetration for each work classification. If there is no majority penetration the department may set the prevailing wage rate in the following manner:

   1. (1) If less than a majority of the persons employed at a particular skill level in a particular job class receive the same wage, the prevailing wage rate will be determined by taking the arithmetic mean (average) of the wages in the survey for the job class being considered.
   2. (2) Prior to calculating the arithmetic mean, the survey will be adjusted by eliminating five percent of the extreme wage rates.
   3. (3) For example, in a survey consisting of 75 different pay rates the rates will be arrayed in order of size. Five percent at both ends of the scale, the four highest and four lowest, will be eliminated. The remaining 67 rates will be the final survey from which the arithmetic mean will be determined to be the prevailing rate of pay.
   4. (4) In determining the prevailing wage rate for a region or zone, the department will consider the prevailing union wage, local practice, and any other standard considered by the department to be appropriate.

3. (c) Special prevailing wage rate determinations may be requested for special projects or special worker classifications, if the work to be performed does not conform to traditional public construction for which a prevailing wage rate has been established under (a) of this section. Requests for special wage rate determinations must be in writing and filed with the commissioner at least 30 days before the award of the contract. An applicant for a special wage rate determination shall have the responsibility to support the necessity for the special rate. An application for a special wage rate determination filed under this section must contain

   1. (1) a specification of the contract or project on which the special rates will apply and a description of the work to be performed;
   2. (2) a brief narrative explaining why special wage rates are necessary;
   3. (3) the job class or classes involved;
   4. (4) the special wage rates the applicant is requesting, including survey or other relevant wage data to support the requested rates;
   5. (5) the approximate number of employees who will be affected; and
   6. (6) any other information which might be helpful in determining if special wage rates are appropriate.
4. (d) The prevailing wage rate established in (a) of this section shall be considered the minimum wage rate that shall be paid to various classes of laborers, mechanics, and field surveyors.
5. (e) This section shall be made part of every contract that falls within the scope of AS 36.05.010 and 36.05.070(a).

(Eff. 7/8/73, Register 47; am 7/30/82, Register 83; am 8/9/2001, Register 159; am 3/2/2008, Register 185; am 11/25/2018, Register 228)