[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR4.54]

[Page 49]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
PART 4_LABOR STANDARDS FOR FEDERAL SERVICE CONTRACTS--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart B_Wage Determination Procedures
 
Sec. 4.54  Locality basis of wage and fringe benefit determinations.

    (a) Under section 2(a) of the Act, the Secretary or his authorized 
representative is given the authority to determine the minimum monetary 
wages and fringe benefits prevailing for various classes of service 
employees ``in the locality''. Although the term locality has reference 
to a geographic area, it has an elastic and variable meaning and 
contemplates consideration of the existing wage structures which are 
pertinent to the employment of particular classes of service employees 
on the varied kinds of service contracts. Because wage structures are 
extremely varied, there can be no precise single formula which would 
define the geographic limits of a ``locality'' that would be relevant or 
appropriate for the determination of prevailing wage rates and 
prevailing fringe benefits in all situations under the Act. The locality 
within which a wage or fringe benefit determination is applicable is, 
therefore, defined in each such determination upon the basis of all the 
facts and circumstances pertaining to that determination. Locality is 
ordinarily limited geographically to a particular county or cluster of 
counties comprising a metropolitan area. For example, a survey by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Baltimore, Maryland Standard 
Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the counties of Baltimore, 
Harford, Howard, Anne Arundel, and the City of Baltimore. A wage 
determination based on such information would define locality as the 
same geographic area included within the scope of the survey. Locality 
may also be defined as, for example, a city, a State, or, under rare 
circumstances, a region, depending on the actual place or places of 
contract performance, the geographical scope of the data on which the 
determination was based, the nature of the services being contracted 
for, and the procurement method used. In addition, in Southern Packaging 
& Storage Co. v. United States, 618 F.2d 1088 (4th Cir. 1980), the court 
held that a nationwide wage determination normally is not permissible 
under the Act, but postulated that ``there may be the rare and 
unforeseen service contract which might be performed at locations 
throughout the country and which would generate truly nationwide 
competition''.
    (b) Where the services are to be performed for a Federal agency at 
the site of the successful bidder, in contrast to services to be 
performed at a specific Federal facility or installation, or in the 
locality of such installation, the location where the work will be 
performed often cannot be ascertained at the time of bid advertisement 
or solicitation. In such instances, wage determinations will generally 
be issued for the various localities identified by the agency as set 
forth in Sec. 4.4(a)(2)(i).
    (c) Where the wage rates and fringe benefits contained in a 
collective bargaining agreement applicable to the predecessor contract 
are set forth in a determination, locality in such a determination is 
typically described as the geographic area in which the predecessor 
contract was performed. The determination applies to any successor 
contractor which performs the contract in the same locality. However, 
see Sec. 4.163(i).

[48 FR 49762, Oct. 27, 1983. Redesignated at 61 FR 68664, Dec. 30, 1996]