1. (a) The commission shall conduct a survey of contractors, labor organizations and any other interested parties in the locality in which the work is performed to determine the wages paid to various classifications of workers and the number of workers receiving that wage. Rather than conduct a survey, the commission may adopt the prevailing wage rates for the locality as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, if the survey on which the Davis-Bacon Act rate was founded was conducted within three years before the project in question was bid.
2. (b) The survey shall be conducted in the city, county, council of governments, or other political subdivision of the state that most closely corresponds to the location of the work to be performed. If, in such political subdivision, there is insufficient data to establish the prevailing wage rates for certain types of work, the commission may look to a larger political subdivision or to a nearby political subdivision for the limited purpose of acquiring data necessary to establish the prevailing wage rates for those types of work.

3. (c) To support primary survey data or as a data source when surveys are impractical, the commission may:

   1. (1) interview other public contracting authorities in the locality to determine their experience;
   2. (2) obtain United States Department of Labor Wage Determinations;
   3. (3) obtain copies of wage rates published by labor and construction related organizations; or
   4. (4) determine nature and volume of building permits issued in the locality when such data is beneficial in confirming prevailing rates.

4. (d) Survey procedure.

   1. (1) The commission will prepare master lists of contractors doing business in the locality.
   2. (2) The lists shall be compiled from the yellow pages of the telephone book in the locality, and by contacting all contractor associations and labor organizations which maintain an office in the locality being surveyed; or such other source that will provide the most complete list of all contractors in the locality. If no office is maintained by a contractor association or labor organization in the locality, the commission may contact statewide organizations for names of additional contractors in the locality.
   3. (3) Lists shall be as complete as possible but may exclude those contractors whose contribution to the local work force is negligible.

   4. (4) Master lists will be broken down into the following categories:

      1. (A) general and building contractors;
      2. (B) sitework (paving, grading, excavation) contractors;
      3. (C) utility (water, gas, sewer collection and distribution) contractors;
      4. (D) plumbing (building systems) contractors;
      5. (E) mechanical (HVAC) contractors;
      6. (F) electrical contractors;
      7. (G) roofing contractors;
      8. (H) painting contractors;
      9. (I) others as may be applicable to a specific project or locality.
   5. (5) Contractors within the listed categories will not be classified as to size of their operation. Whether a contractor confines his operation to projects of a particular type or size (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) will be considered when it is apparent that such specialization is common in the locality and is reflected in the wages prevailing therein.
   6. (6) The commission will attempt to contact each contractor and labor organization on the master list to obtain data on the wages being paid and an estimate of the contractor's work force. Contact will be by mail or personal interview using a standard questionnaire devised by the commission for reporting information. Signed collective bargaining agreements shall be considered in determining prevailing wage rates.
   7. (7) Surveys will be conducted not less than once each 12 months in the locality where construction projects are administered on a continuing frequency. In areas where projects are infrequent a survey will be made for each project unless there was a survey conducted within the previous 12-month period.
   8. (8) After questionnaires are mailed, the commission will allow 30 days for contractors to respond. All data received up to that time will be compiled and a prevailing wage rate ascertained.

Source Note:The provisions of this §123.32 adopted to be effective September 21, 1979, 4 TexReg 3223; amended to be effective April 20, 1993, 18 TexReg 2299; amended to be effective September 21, 1994, 19 TexReg 7075.