Ensures that construction and fabrication done off of a public work site for specific use only in a public work project be compensated at the prevailing wage rate.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5475--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to inclusion of certain off-
site custom fabrication as public work for the purposes of payment of
prevailing wage
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds and
2 declares that the prevailing wage law was established to provide fair
3 and equitable working conditions, wages and supplementary benefits for
4 persons employed on public works construction projects.
5 The legislature further finds and declares that there are growing
6 number of instances where custom fabricated materials are fabricated off
7 the public work job site either to meet the unique specifications of the
8 project subject to a public work contract or for the contractor's
9 convenience or to evade the wage requirements imposed by the prevailing
10 wage law.
11 The legislature further finds and declares that in many instances the
12 prevailing wage is not paid to persons involved in off-site fabrication
13 of materials which are used specifically for public works projects to
14 the detriment of the workers at the site and the local economy where the
15 public work is situated.
16 The legislature further finds and declares that, in effect, various
17 custom fabricated materials on local public works construction projects
18 are being entirely outsourced to workers at a location or locations away
19 from the project site or in foreign jurisdictions, thereby intentionally
20 evading the payment of the prevailing wage and benefit package by elimi-
21 nating the employment of workers at the site of the project to the
22 detriment of those workers and the local economy.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01720-02-3
S. 5475--A 2
1 It is the intent of the legislature that construction and fabrication
2 done off the public work site for specific use only in public work
3 projects be compensated at the prevailing wage rate.
4 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 220 of the labor law is amended by
5 adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows:
6 (f) (i) For the purposes of this subdivision contractors or subcon-
7 tractors engaged in custom fabrication shall not be regarded as material
8 suppliers. For the purposes of this subdivision, a legal day's work for
9 which the prevailing rate of wages for the New York county in which the
10 public works project is situated shall be paid to laborers, workers and
11 mechanics shall include custom fabrication regardless of whether the
12 custom fabrication occurs on-site, off-site or in another jurisdiction
13 outside the state. It shall be a condition of the contract concerning
14 all such custom fabrication work that the contractor or employer awarded
15 the public work contract and any subcontractor thereto shall covenant to
16 pay the on-site prevailing wage required for workers at the site of the
17 public work project to those workers performing the custom fabrication.
18 Each contractor or subcontractor who employs workers off-site for the
19 custom fabrication work related to a public work project shall maintain
20 certified payrolls for those workers and provide such payrolls, with
21 original certifications, to the department at least once every thirty
22 days. For the purposes of this subdivision the term "custom fabri-
23 cation" shall include, but not be limited to, the fabrication of exteri-
24 or or interior wall panel systems, the fabrication of woodwork, cases,
25 cabinets or counters and the fabrication of electrical, plumbing, heat-
26 ing, cooling, ventilation or exhaust duct systems, and mechanical insu-
27 lation solely and specifically designed and engineered for installation
28 in the construction, repair or renovation of a building which is the
29 subject of a contract to which the state, a municipal corporation, a
30 public benefit corporation or a commission appointed pursuant to law is
31 a party.
32 (ii) The department of jurisdiction shall be required to report to the
33 fiscal officer the intention to contract for custom, off-site fabri-
34 cation of any materials on all contracts which may include the employ-
35 ment of laborers, workers or mechanics in the application to the fiscal
36 officer for the approval of such contract. The department of jurisdic-
37 tion's report shall state the name and address of the off-site, custom
38 fabricator, identify the custom materials that are being fabricated
39 off-site and the quantity thereof, the estimated cost of the off-site
40 fabrication, including the transportation of the materials to the site
41 of the work and the estimated number of workers employed to complete the
42 custom fabrication at the off-site location. Upon receipt of the depart-
43 ment of jurisdiction's report, the fiscal officer shall make available
44 said report to the public through its website.
45 (iii) The fiscal officer shall produce an annual report on the econom-
46 ic impact to the state businesses and residents due to off-site fabri-
47 cation.
48 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
49 have become a law and shall apply only to those contracts put out to bid
50 on or after such effective date.
