Prevailing Wage Setup

Modified on Tue, 5 Aug at 4:38 PM

LCPtracker has been designed two different ways as it pertains to prevailing wages loaded in the system. The first way is strictly for the State of California prevailing wages, which are maintained by LCPtracker. The second way are for all other databases with local, state, and/or federal prevailing wages that are not using the State of California wage rates.

When a new database is created in LCPtracker, your Implementation Project Manager or Account Manager will setup your Jurisdiction, Location (County), and Construction Type based on the prevailing wages that will be assigned to your project. The client will need to submit a copy of the General Wage Decision, which modification number applicable and the issue/publication dates for the wages that will need to be entered. With the purchase of your database, typically the first four hours of wage entry by our Wage Data Team will be free of charge. If the wage determination is larger and requires more time than what is allocated in your contract, your LCPtracker Implementation Project Manager or Account Manager will discuss the options available to you.

While some Agencies may choose to pay LCPtracker for continued data entry of new or additional information, most Administrators take over the procedure. It is our recommendation if your project has state prevailing wages that update regularly, to speak with your account manager regarding a yearly cost proposal for wage maintenance.

Note: think of a Jurisdiction as the funding type and a way to tell the ‘backend’ what rates to look at when checking your subcontractors’ payrolls. If an Agency has both federal and state prevailing projects, you should then have two Jurisdictions created. The typical naming convention would be; State Prevailing Wages – Database Name and Federal Prevailing Wages – Database Name.

Some clients may have what are called “Dually Funded” projects. For these types of projects, the system must check against two sets of rules and two sets of wages, such as a USDOL (United States Department of Labor) wage determination and a State, City or Local wage determination. In these instances, both sets of wage determinations will need to be entered in LCPtracker.

The project would have two jurisdictions assigned and would require the Agency/Admin to pick which Jurisdiction to show first on the CPRs.

Once the project is setup with the dual jurisdictions, the contractor would be required to pick a craft/classification from both jurisdictions.

Creating a New Master

A typical Craft/Classification entry will contain a Base Hourly Rate, an Hourly Fringe Rate, Total Hourly Rate and Total Overtime Rate. In some cases, a Doubletime and Training rate will also be entered.

The first step is to check the Master that is in the system. To do this, go to Reports >> Special Reports >> run the Master Wage Data Report. You can compare what is in the system to what you need for a new wage decision or modification, etc., and note what needs to be updated when you create your new Master.

Copying Master to Master

To create a new wage data master, we have built a time saver method for this process. Please refer to the Wage Data Entry Guide located under Training Materials >> Administrator Support Documents >> Wage Data Entry Guide for step-by-step instructions.

Add/Edit/Copy/Delete Master Wage Data

Now, that you have copied from one master to another, you can go back and Add, Edit, Copy or Delete your Master Wage data if necessary. You will need to go back to your setup navigation tab and choose the Add/Edit Master Wage Data and pull up the information you just created and update any dollar values, add anything if necessary or delete what you may not need for this new Master.

You can click the “Copy” button on any craft and a new window will pop-up. The top portion of the screen will auto-populate based on what is already in the system. You can now edit the craft/classification, rates, and anything else, if necessary, and always make sure to hit Save.

Note: if you use expiration dates in your database and you are adding a new craft/classification with a new expiration date, it is very important to NOT modify the craft and classification name.

Once you have clicked Save, a new pop-up window will appear asking you if you are finished or if you would like to add another record. If you are done, click “Finished”. If not, click “Add Another”. Repeat these steps as many times as necessary until you are finished.

When deleting craft / classifications, you may choose to delete individual lines, or you can select All by clicking the top blue checkbox for that column.

For more information on Prevailing Wage Setup, please refer to the Wage Data Entry Guide located under Training Materials >> Administrator Support Documents >> Wage Data Entry Guide for step-by-step instructions.

A Full Admin has the ability to “lock” wages after they have been assigned to a project. This prevents anyone other than a Full Admin from making changes to even the project wage data.

Project Wage Data

Each project entered into LCPtracker will have a unique set of wage data that will be “locked in” to the project by an Administrator.

The prevailing wage data will be identified in the system with a specific set of information that is either pulled from the wage decision published by the USDOL, the State, County or City.

Each wage decision will have a Jurisdiction, Location, Construction Type, General Decision Number, Modification Number, Publication Date, Issue Date, and Expiration Date.

When adding Apprentice craft/classifications, you should ALWAYS add to the Project Wage Data screen and NOT the Master Wage Data screen.

Assigning Wages to a Project

Once the correct Master Wage Data has been added to system, either by LCPtracker or by you the Agency/Admin, the wages can now be assigned to a Project.

There are two places in the system where you can assign the wages to a project.

1. The first is in the Add/Edit Project screen. You will see this button available once you have created and saved your project:

2. The second place is under the Prevailing Wage Setup section:

To do this you will click on Set Up >> Prevailing Wage Setup >> Assign Prevailing Wage button

Both places will take you to the same screen where you will assign the wages to the project.

You will enter the project and source information regarding your project wages, click “Select All” and then Assign Wages to save.

Adding Additional Crafts/Apprentices

Step one - Gathering Project Wage Information

Start by going back to the Set Up navigation tab; click on the Prevailing Wage Setup button then click the Add/Edit Project Wage Data.

Choose the Project you want to add Classifications to; also, you may Edit or Delete Classifications from a project in this same screen. The system will then auto-populate with what is currently loaded to THAT specific project. Here you may click “Add Classification”, but it is also a good practice to add a classification by copying a previous classification.

If you are going to use the “Add Classification” button, you may want to make note of the Jurisdiction, Location, General Decision, and Modification (click on Edit for the Modification number); as well as the Publication, Issue and Expiration Dates so you have that information for step two. If you use the “Copy” button, all this information will populate based on the entry you are copying.

Step two - Entering a New Craft

After clicking on the “Add Classification”, you will select or enter the EXACT same information from the drop-down menus or will fill in the blank fields. Manually enter in the Craft, Classification & wages (Doubletime, Training and the Notes section are optional and may not apply). If you are copying from an existing craft/classification, the box will have all the information already filled in. Change the information to match what you are entering for your new craft/classification and click save.

Note: if you are entering an Apprentice, make sure to put the word “Apprentice” in the Classification field. It is acceptable to put the word “Apprentice” in the Craft field but in order for the system to recognize the word “Apprentice”, for approval and reporting purposes, its required that it goes in the classification field, so the system does not get confused when it gathers data for Apprentice Reports.

TIP: If you are entering an apprentice for one specific company, you may want to put the company’s name in the “Notes section” so they know which craft/classification is assigned specifically to them. When you are finished make sure to click SAVE.

Once you click save, you will be asked if you want to Add Another classification or if you are Finished. If you need to enter more than one Craft/Classification, then simply click Add Another leaving the top portion filled in that already has the Project information. Type the information for your next Craft/Classification and rates and save. Repeat as many times as needed and click Finished.

Step three - Checking to See if the Wages Were Added Successfully

Go to your Set Up tab >> Prevailing Wage Set Up >> Add/Edit Project Wage Data (bottom button). Select the Project and the system will automatically populate for you.

Double check to make sure your new Craft/Classifications you entered are visible and correctly entered!

New Jurisdiction &/or Location Request / Definition Process

Agency/Admins may request a new jurisdiction and/or location (county). This would occur when an Agency or prime contractor gets a new contract in a new area and needs a new Location created and potentially a new Jurisdiction if it has different funding.

Note: think of a Jurisdiction as the funding type and a way to tell the ‘backend’ what rates to look at when checking your subcontractors’ payrolls. If an Agency has both federal and state prevailing projects, you will then have two Jurisdictions created. The typical naming convention would be; State Prevailing Wages – Database Name and Federal Prevailing Wages – Database Name.

The project would have two jurisdictions assigned and would require the Agency/Admin to pick which Jurisdiction to show first on the CPRs.

Once the project is setup with the dual jurisdictions, the contractor would be required to pick a craft/classification from both jurisdictions.

Jurisdiction and Location are LCPtracker settings only. After your initial database setup, if you need an additional Jurisdiction and/or Location, please fill out the request form that is located under Training Materials >> Administrator Support Documents >> Jurisdiction/Location Request Form and send to support@lcptracker.com. When filling out the request form, be sure that all information is correctly spelled out, as your request will be entered in system as you have noted.

Some Agencies have more than one account and/or more than one jurisdiction that may need the location defined and the security access granted. Usually, it will only be their own account. Please have a separate request for each jurisdiction and/or location. Use of this procedure will significantly reduce confusion by the person setting up the new information.

Requestor Assigns Prevailing Wages to Accounts.

Once the new information is defined and can be establish, the new prevailing wage list can then be created and assigned to the appropriate project. Assigning wages to the project is the responsibility of the database administrator.