29 CFR part 5.6

29 CFR 5.6 (up to date as of 11/27/2023)
Enforcement.

29 CFR 5.6 (Nov. 27, 2023)

This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.

Title 29 —Labor
Subtitle A —Office of the Secretary of Labor
Part 5 —Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts Covering Federally Financed and
Assisted Construction (Also Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Nonconstruction
Contracts Subject to the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act)
Subpart A —Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Provisions and Procedures
Source: 48 FR 19540, Apr. 29, 1983, unless otherwise noted.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; Reorganization Plan No. 14 of 1950, 5 U.S.C. appendix; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.; 40
U.S.C. 3145; 40 U.S.C. 3148; 40 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.; Secretary's Order No. 01–2014, 79 FR 77527; and the laws referenced by
§ 5.1(a).
Source: 48 FR 19541, Apr. 29, 1983, unless otherwise noted.

Editorial Note: Nomenclature changes to subpart A of part 5 appear at 61 FR 19984, May 3, 1996.
§ 5.6 Enforcement.
(a) Agency responsibilities.
(1)
(i)

The Federal agency has the initial responsibility to ascertain whether the clauses required by §
5.5 and the appropriate wage determination(s) have been incorporated into the contracts
subject to the labor standards provisions of the laws referenced by § 5.1. Additionally, a Federal
agency that provides Federal financial assistance that is subject to the labor standards
provisions of the Act must promulgate the necessary regulations or procedures to require the
recipient or sub-recipient of the Federal assistance to insert in its contracts the provisions of §
5.5. No payment, advance, grant, loan, or guarantee of funds will be approved by the Federal
agency unless it ensures that the clauses required by § 5.5 and the appropriate wage
determination(s) are incorporated into such contracts. Furthermore, no payment, advance,
grant, loan, or guarantee of funds will be approved by the Federal agency after the beginning of
construction unless there is on file with the Federal agency a certification by the contractor that
the contractor and its subcontractors have complied with the provisions of § 5.5 or unless there
is on file with the Federal agency a certification by the contractor that there is a substantial
dispute with respect to the required provisions.

(ii) If a contract subject to the labor standards provisions of the applicable statutes referenced by §
5.1 is entered into without the incorporation of the clauses required by § 5.5, the agency must,
upon the request of the Administrator or upon its own initiative, either terminate and resolicit
the contract with the required contract clauses, or incorporate the required clauses into the
contract (or ensure they are so incorporated) through supplemental agreement, change order,
or any and all authority that may be needed. Where an agency has not entered directly into such
a contract but instead has provided Federal financial assistance, the agency must ensure that
the recipient or sub-recipient of the Federal assistance similarly incorporates the clauses
required into its contracts. The method of incorporation of the correct wage determination, and
adjustment in contract price, where appropriate, should be in accordance with applicable law.
Additionally, the following requirements apply:
29 CFR 5.6(a)(1)(ii) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 5.6 (up to date as of 11/27/2023)
Enforcement.

29 CFR 5.6(a)(1)(ii)(A)

(A) Unless the Administrator directs otherwise, the incorporation of the clauses required by §
5.5 must be retroactive to the date of contract award or start of construction if there is no
award.
(B) If this incorporation occurs as the result of a request from the Administrator, the
incorporation must take place within 30 days of the date of that request, unless the
agency has obtained an extension from the Administrator.
(C) The contractor must be compensated for any increases in wages resulting from
incorporation of a missing contract clause.
(D) If the recipient refuses to incorporate the clauses as required, the agency must make no
further payment, advance, grant, loan, or guarantee of funds in connection with the
contract until the recipient incorporates the required clauses into its contract, and must
promptly refer the dispute to the Administrator for further proceedings under § 5.13.
(E) Before terminating a contract pursuant to this section, the agency must withhold or crosswithhold sufficient funds to remedy any back wage liability resulting from the failure to
incorporate the correct wage determination or otherwise identify and obligate sufficient
funds through a termination settlement agreement, bond, or other satisfactory
mechanism.
(F) Notwithstanding the requirement to incorporate the contract clauses and correct wage
determination within 30 days, the contract clauses and correct wage determination will be
effective by operation of law, retroactive to the beginning of construction, in accordance
with § 5.5(e).
(2)
(i)

Certified payrolls submitted pursuant to § 5.5(a)(3)(ii) must be preserved by the Federal agency
for a period of 3 years after all the work on the prime contract is completed, and must be
produced at the request of the Department of Labor at any time during the 3-year period,
regardless of whether the Department of Labor has initiated an investigation or other
compliance action.

(ii) In situations where the Federal agency does not itself maintain certified payrolls required to be
submitted pursuant to § 5.5(a)(3)(ii), upon the request of the Department of Labor the Federal
agency must ensure that such certified payrolls are provided to the Department of Labor. Such
certified payrolls may be provided by the applicant, sponsor, owner, or other entity, as the case
may be, directly to the Department of Labor, or to the Federal agency which, in turn, must
provide those records to the Department of Labor.
(3) The Federal agency will cause such investigations to be made as may be necessary to assure
compliance with the labor standards clauses required by § 5.5 and the applicable statutes
referenced in § 5.1. Investigations will be made of all contracts with such frequency as may be
necessary to assure compliance. Such investigations will include interviews with workers, which
must be taken in confidence, and examinations of certified payrolls, regular payrolls, and other basic
records required to be maintained under § 5.5(a)(3). In making such examinations, particular care
must be taken to determine the correctness of classification(s) of work actually performed, and to

29 CFR 5.6(a)(3) (enhanced display)

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29 CFR 5.6 (up to date as of 11/27/2023)
Enforcement.

29 CFR 5.6(a)(4)

determine whether there is a disproportionate amount of work by laborers and of apprentices
registered in approved programs. Such investigations must also include evidence of fringe benefit
plans and payments thereunder. Federal agencies must give priority to complaints of alleged
violations.
(4) In accordance with normal operating procedures, the contracting agency may be furnished various
investigatory material from the investigation files of the Department of Labor. None of the material,
other than computations of back wages, liquidated damages, and monetary relief for violations of §
5.5(a)(11) or (b)(5), and the summary of back wages due, may be disclosed in any manner to anyone
other than Federal officials charged with administering the contract or program providing Federal
assistance to the contract, without requesting the permission and views of the Department of Labor.
(b) Department of Labor investigations and other compliance actions.
(1) The Administrator will investigate and conduct other compliance actions as deemed necessary in
order to obtain compliance with the labor standards provisions of the applicable statutes referenced
by § 5.1, or to affirm or reject the recommendations by the Agency Head with respect to labor
standards matters arising under the statutes referenced by § 5.1.
(2) Federal agencies, contractors, subcontractors, sponsors, applicants, owners, or other entities, as the
case may be, must cooperate with any authorized representative of the Department of Labor in the
inspection of records, in interviews with workers, and in all other aspects of the investigations or
other compliance actions.
(3) The findings of such an investigation or other compliance action, including amounts found due, may
not be altered or reduced without the approval of the Department of Labor.
(4) Where the underpayments disclosed by such an investigation or other compliance action total
$1,000 or more, where there is reason to believe that the contractor or subcontractor has
disregarded its obligations to workers or subcontractors, or where liquidated damages may be
assessed under CWHSSA, the Department of Labor will furnish the Federal agency an enforcement
report detailing the labor standards violations disclosed by the investigation or other compliance
action and any action taken by the contractor or subcontractor to correct the violations, including
any payment of back wages or any other relief provided workers or remedial actions taken for
violations of § 5.5(a)(11) or (b)(5). In other circumstances, the Department of Labor will furnish the
Federal agency a notification summarizing the findings of the investigation or other compliance
action.
(c) Confidentiality requirements. It is the policy of the Department of Labor to protect from disclosure the
identity of its confidential sources and to prevent an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Accordingly, the identity of a worker or other informant who makes a written or oral statement as a
complaint or in the course of an investigation or other compliance action, as well as portions of the
statement which would tend to reveal the identity of the informant, will not be disclosed in any manner to
anyone other than Federal officials without the prior consent of the informant. Disclosure of such
statements is also governed by the provisions of the “Freedom of Information Act” (5 U.S.C. 552, see part
70 of this subtitle) and the “Privacy Act of 1974” (5 U.S.C. 552a, see part 71 of this subtitle).
[88 FR 57739, Aug. 23, 2023]

29 CFR 5.6(c) (enhanced display)

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