The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), governing body for Prevailing Wage, added maintenance, installation, and repair work over $15,000.00 into their definition of “public works” earlier this year. That means that Procurement departments across the State are now required to report public work projects to the DIR for every purchase order in which prevailing wage applies. For UCSB, this means any requisition exceeding $15,000.00 with a supplier that provides “Routine, recurring, and usual work for the preservation, protection, and keeping of any publicly owned or operated facility” (CA Code of Regulations 16000) will need to be routed to Procurement for DIR project submission (Labor Code sec. 1773.3). The good news is that the process should only take a few hours longer than usual. However, if the Supplier is not already registered with the DIR, the Supplier will need to register, or the campus will need to find a new supplier for the service.

Common commodities with which Prevailing Wage may apply are listed below; and download our Prevailing Wage Determination & Maintenance vs. Construction matrices.