Department of the Interior Acquisition Policy Release (DIAPR) 2006-06

SUBJECT: Use of Wage Determinations On-Line

1. Purpose:

This policy release grants permission to deviate from Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 22 procedures regarding wage determinations.

2. Effective Date:

Upon signature.

3. Expiration Date:

Upon revision of the FAR.

4. Background and Explanation:

The Department of Labor (DOL) has implemented a new web-based method to obtain the wage determinations required by the Service Contract Act and the Davis-Bacon Act called Wage Determinations On-Line (WDOL). The address for the DOL website is http://www.wdol.gov. While the site is quite user-friendly, a user guide is available on the home page. For offices without access to the Internet, DOL’s manual processes as described in the current FAR may still be used.

Contracting officers may obtain most prevailing wage determinations at WDOL. If the WDOL database does not contain the needed Service Contract Act wage determination, the contracting officer should use the electronic “e98" process instead of Standard Forms 98 and 98a. Inclusion of the correct email address for DOL’s response is especially important. As with the old paper system, the classes of service employees to be utilized in performance of the contract must be provided to DOL. To facilitate this, the Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations can be found on WDOL’s library page. If the wage determinations needed for a contract subject to the Davis-Bacon Act (i.e., a construction contract) are not available through WDOL, contracting officers must use a Standard Form 308, as currently prescribed. A PDF version of the form can be downloaded from WDOL’s library page.

5. Action Required:

Contracting personnel may use WDOL to obtain wage determinations for official contract actions.

6. Additional Information:

If you have questions about this matter, please contact Dee Emmerich at (202) 208-3348 or delia_emmerich@os.doi.gov.