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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOREMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ADMINISTRATIONWASHINGTON, D.C. 20210January 28, 1974ALL AGENCY MEMORANDUM #116TO: All Contracting Agencies of the Federal Government

and the District of ColumbiaSUBJECT: Davis-Bacon Wage Determinations - Proper Use ofAdditional ClassificationsPart 5 of the Secretary of Labor's Regulations, 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1)(ii), provides for the addition by the Contracting Officerof any needed classification of laborers and mechanics whichis not listed in an applicable wage determination.Notice of Conformance ActionThe Regulations further require that such additional classi-fications shall be conformable to the wage determination anda report of the action taken sent to the Secretary of Labor.Thus, the Department of Labor must be notified for a con-formed classification and rate to be valid.

In order to avoid confusion as to whether or not such a noticehas been received, and to preclude unnecessary misunderstandingsand possibly future enforcement difficulties, the Department ofLabor will respond to all notices within thirty (30) workingdays of receipt. To facilitate this response, the agency shouldindicate an address on the notice form or include an addressedenvelope. All notices of conformance actions should be sentto the following address:U. S. Department of LaborEmployment Standards AdministrationDivision of Wage Determinations711 -- 14th Street, N. W.Washington, D. C. 20210

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Timely Conformance ActionsThe addition of classifications to wage determinations by con-forming classification or reclassification procedures is in-tended to be prospective, as evidenced by the terms of theRegulations ". . . which is to be employed. . ." Under normalprocedures such additions should be made and reported before the _classifications are actually used on the job, but in any casethe conformance action should be undertaken by the end of the

first pay period in which the newly-recognized classification isused. Where it is determined during the performance of contractwork that certain laborers and mechanics have been misclassifiedthe responsibility of the contractor to effect the necessarycorrective action is in no way diminished by this clarificationof the Regulations as to the proper use-of-additional classifica-tions.Attention is also invited to this Department's All Agency Memo-randum No. 68 dated July 19, 1966, dealing with the applicationof multiple schedules of wage rates contained in one wage deter-mination.Ray J. DolanAssistant Administrator

Wage and Hour Division