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Problems Cited In Davis-Bacon Report

WASHINGTON - The Department of Labor's (DOL's) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that the Davis-Bacon wage determination process continues to exhibit problems with "accuracy and timeliness."

According to the report (the "Semiannual Report to Congress"), a five-year, $22 million effort by DOL to improve the accuracy of prevailing wage determinations required under the Davis-Bacon Act has produced "limited" results, and that "problems identified in past audits continued."

The study was instituted following the discovery of fraudulent data in some prevailing wage surveys in 1995; according to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), members of Congress called on OIG and the General Accounting Office (GAO) to review the accuracy of data used in prevailing wage determinations and in the wage survey process.

The report found that "inaccurate survey data, potential bias, and untimely decisions persist." The report said more than 84 percent of the wage surveys reviewed by OIG took more than one-and-a-half years to complete, and 21 percent took more than three years to publish.

Publication date: 07/19/2004

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