Prevailing Wage Oregon BOLI Compliance and Certified Payroll Reporting

Last Updated: November 2025

Oregon's construction industry relies on a robust prevailing wage system to ensure fair compensation for workers on public projects. Whether you're bidding on a highway expansion, school renovation, or municipal building project, understanding Oregon's prevailing wage requirements is essential for compliance and avoiding costly penalties.

Oregon's Prevailing Wage Rate (PWR) Law, governed by Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 279C.800-279C.870, sets minimum wage standards for workers on publicly funded construction projects. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) administers these requirements, making BOLI compliance critical for any public works project in the state.

This guide covers everything Oregon contractors need to know: project thresholds, BOLI's semi-annual rate update system, certified payroll reporting, and best practices for staying compliant. For a broader look at how Oregon compares to other states, explore our state-by-state guide to certified payroll reporting.

Oregon has maintained prevailing wage protections for public works projects for decades, establishing a framework that balances fair worker compensation with competitive contracting opportunities. The Oregon Prevailing Wage Rate Law requires contractors and subcontractors working on state-funded public works projects to pay workers wages that reflect the prevailing rates in Oregon's construction industry.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), specifically its Wage and Hour Division's Prevailing Wage Rate Unit, serves as the primary enforcement body. BOLI conducts regular wage surveys, publishes semi-annual rate books, handles compliance investigations, and maintains the official list of debarred contractors.

Any contractor or subcontractor performing work on a qualifying public works project must pay prevailing wages and submit certified payroll reports. This includes:

General contractors
Specialty trade contractors
Labor contractors
Temporary employment agencies providing workers to public projects

Importantly, general contractors bear responsibility not only for their own compliance but also for ensuring that all subcontractors meet BOLI requirements. Even if a subcontractor fails to pay prevailing wages, the general contractor may be held liable.

Oregon's prevailing wage law applies to public works projects that meet or exceed a $50,000 threshold. This encompasses the total project cost, including labor, materials, equipment, and other expenses. Properly calculating whether a project triggers prevailing wage requirements is crucial.

What Qualifies as a Public Works Project?

Any construction, reconstruction, major renovation, painting, demolition, or hazardous waste removal project carried on or contracted for by a public agency that exceeds $50,000 requires prevailing wage compliance. This includes projects by:

State agencies
Counties and cities
School districts
Special districts
Other governmental entities

Private Projects with Public Funding

Oregon's prevailing wage law extends to certain privately owned projects that use substantial public funding. If a private project receives $750,000 or more in public agency funds and no public agency directly awards a contract for construction, prevailing wage requirements may still apply.

Mixed Federal and State Funding

When projects receive both state and federal funding, contractors face dual compliance obligations. Contractors must identify which funding source applies to specific work portions, determine applicable wage rates from both BOLI and the U.S. Department of Labor, and ensure workers are paid whichever rate is higher.

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How Ohio Prevailing Wage Rates Are Determined

Oregon takes a distinctive approach to establishing prevailing wage rates through comprehensive statewide construction industry wage surveys. Unlike some states that rely primarily on collective bargaining agreements, BOLI conducts its own surveys to gather wage data directly from contractors, subcontractors, and collective bargaining representatives across Oregon.

Semi-Annual Rate Updates

One of Oregon's most distinctive features is its semi-annual rate update system:

January 1 and July 1: New prevailing wage rate books published
April 1 and October 1: Rate amendments for specific classifications

This twice-yearly update cycle keeps Oregon's prevailing wage rates more current than states that only update annually. Contractors must stay vigilant about these updates, as using outdated rate information can result in violations.

Rate Components

Each rate book lists prevailing wage rates by occupation or craft, breaking down the total hourly rate into basic wage and fringe benefit components. For example:

Carpenter: $42.50/hour (basic wage) + $18.75 (fringe benefits) = $61.25 total hourly rate

Contractors have flexibility in providing fringe benefits. They can offer actual health insurance, pension plans, and other benefits that meet or exceed the fringe benefit amounts, or they can pay the fringe benefit amount in cash directly to workers.

Locked-In Rates

For most projects, the prevailing wage rates in effect when the contract solicitation is first advertised are the rates that apply for the entire project duration. This provides contractors with cost certainty and protects them from unexpected rate increases during construction.

$30,000 Public Works Bond

All contractors and subcontractors subject to prevailing wage requirements must file a $30,000 public works bond with the Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB) before starting work. This bond serves as a financial guarantee that workers will receive proper wages.

Key points about the public works bond:

Continuous coverage: Unlike project-specific bonds, Oregon's public works bond remains in effect and covers all prevailing wage projects
Filed before work begins: Must be on file with CCB prior to starting any prevailing wage work
Exemptions available: Certified disadvantaged, minority, women, or emerging small businesses may qualify for exemptions

Notice of Public Works (Form WH-81)

Within 30 days of awarding a public works contract, the public agency must submit a Notice of Public Works form to BOLI. This form provides:

Contract amount
Project location
Names of prime contractor and first-tier subcontractors
Applicable prevailing wage rate publication date

This alerts BOLI that a prevailing wage project is underway and enables compliance monitoring.

Prevailing Wage Fee (Form WH-39)

Oregon's prevailing wage system is partially funded through fees paid by public agencies on each public works contract:

Fee calculation: 0.1% of total contract price
Minimum fee: $250
Maximum fee: $7,500

If the contract price changes during construction, the public agency must file a Fee Adjustment form (Form WH-40) within 30 days of final payment.

Required Contract Language

Oregon law requires specific contract language in every public works contract:

Reference to applicable BOLI prevailing wage rate publication (by title and date)
Statement that workers must be paid not less than the applicable prevailing wage rate
Requirement that contractor and subcontractors have public works bonds on file
For mixed-funding projects: clarification that the higher of state or federal rates applies

Wage Rate Posting Requirements

Contractors must post the applicable prevailing wage rates in a conspicuous location at every job site where workers can easily access the information. For projects subject to both BOLI and Davis-Bacon requirements, contractors should post both wage determinations.

Monthly Reporting Schedule

Contractors and subcontractors must submit certified payroll reports to the public agency by the fifth business day of each month following any month in which workers were employed on the public works project.

Example: If workers performed prevailing wage work during March, the certified payroll report must be submitted by the fifth business day in April.

Important Note: The federal Form WH-347 used for Davis-Bacon reporting is not sufficient for meeting Oregon's certified payroll requirements on state-funded projects.

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Violations, Penalties, and Enforcement

BOLI takes prevailing wage enforcement seriously and has developed a comprehensive system for investigating violations and penalizing non-compliant contractors.

Common Violations

Worker misclassification: Improperly classifying skilled workers in lower-paid classifications
Underpayment of wages: Failing to pay the full basic hourly rate or fringe benefits
Fringe benefit failures: Not providing or properly paying fringe benefits
Late/inaccurate certified payroll: Preventing proper oversight
Improper apprentice ratios: Resulting in underpayment

Enforcement Process

When BOLI receives a worker complaint or identifies discrepancies during audits, the agency launches an investigation. Contractors are expected to cooperate fully by providing requested records, responding to inquiries promptly, and correcting violations quickly.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Civil Penalties: Up to $5,000 per violation

Liquidated Damages: Contractors must pay workers the difference between what they were paid and what they should have received, plus interest

Warning Letters: For minor or first-time violations, BOLI may issue warning letters. However, contractors who commit violations after receiving warning letters face escalated enforcement with maximum penalties.

Debarment: The most serious enforcement action BOLI can take is debarment, which prohibits a contractor from receiving or performing work on public contracts in Oregon for up to three years.

Debarment details:

Reserved for willful violations
Officers of debarred companies can be personally debarred
Subcontractors can be debarred if they failed to pay wages and the prime contractor had to cover the deficiency
BOLI maintains a publicly accessible "List of Ineligibles"
Public agencies must verify contractors aren't on this list before awarding contracts

Oregon's prevailing wage law does not mandate that contractors employ apprentices on public works projects, but contractors who choose to use apprentices must follow specific requirements.

Registration Requirements

Apprentices must be registered with apprenticeship programs approved by BOLI or the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship. Using unregistered apprentices or claiming apprentice wage rates for workers who don't meet requirements constitutes a serious violation.

Apprentice Wage Scales

Oregon's prevailing wage system includes specific apprentice wage rates in its rate books, typically expressed as percentages of the journeyman rate corresponding to the apprentice's training period:

First-period apprentice: 55% of journeyman rate
Fifth-period apprentice: 90% of journeyman rate

Maintaining Proper Ratios

Contractors must ensure that apprentice-to-journeyman ratios required by the apprentice's registered program are maintained on the job site. If a contractor employs more apprentices than the approved ratio allows, those excess apprentices must be reclassified and paid at the full journeyman prevailing wage rate for all hours worked.

Workforce Development Benefits

Oregon's prevailing wage system actively encourages apprenticeship training. Fringe benefit amounts in prevailing wage determinations often include training fund contributions that support apprenticeship programs. Contractors can receive credit toward fringe benefit obligations when they make legitimate contributions to approved training programs.

Pre-Bid Preparation

Before bidding on Oregon public works projects, verify that you and all known subcontractors are not on BOLI's List of Ineligibles and identify the applicable BOLI prevailing wage rate publication based on the bid advertisement date. For projects with federal funding, obtain both BOLI and Davis-Bacon wage determinations, compare rates for each classification, and calculate labor costs using whichever rates are higher. Include fringe benefit amounts in your cost estimates to ensure accurate bids and prevent costly surprises during project execution.

Maintaining compliance during construction requires consistent attention to key operational practices. Post current prevailing wage rates conspicuously at the job site, classify workers correctly using BOLI's occupation definitions based on actual work performed, and track fringe benefits separately from base wages. Implement weekly certified payroll tracking even though reports are due monthly to stay ahead of deadlines and avoid the automatic 25% retainage for late submissions.

General contractors must monitor subcontractor compliance closely by requiring proof of public works bonds before work begins, collecting and reviewing certified payroll reports regularly, and following up promptly on missing or incomplete submissions. Remember that general contractors can be held liable for subcontractor violations. Specialized certified payroll compliance software can dramatically reduce administrative burden through automated rate tracking, BOLI-compliant form generation, payroll system integration, and real-time compliance monitoring across multiple project.

After project completion, ensure all final certified payroll reports have been submitted to the public agency and verify that subcontractors have submitted their reports as well. Maintain comprehensive payroll records for at least three years after project completion, including certified payroll reports, time cards, fringe benefit documentation, employee classifications, and deduction records. These records must be available for BOLI inspection upon request and can be stored securely using cloud-based compliance software or organized filing systems for quick retrieval during audits.

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Discover how Certified Payroll Reporting software can automate BOLI-compliant reporting, track semi-annual rate updates, and give you peace of mind on every Oregon public works project. Request a demo to see how CPR streamlines compliance while reducing your administrative burden.

Prevailing Wage Oregon: BOLI Compliance and Certified Payroll Reporting

Table of Contents

Oregon Prevailing Wage Basics

Who Must Comply?

Federal and State Compliance

Oregon Prevailing Wage Threshold and Project Coverage