Arizona Prevailing Wage

Arizona repealed its state prevailing wage law in 1984 and was one of the earliest states to do so. As a result, there is no state-mandated prevailing wage on state, county, or municipal construction, and estimators can price labor at competitive market rates on the bulk of public and private work bid in Arizona. There is no state certified-payroll requirement to staff or budget for, which keeps administrative overhead low on locally funded projects and is a meaningful competitive factor when you compare an Arizona bid to one in a prevailing-wage state.

Federal Davis-Bacon still governs any construction project in Arizona that receives federal funding above the $2,000 threshold. On those jobs you must pay the published federal prevailing wage and fringe rates for the applicable county and trade and submit weekly certified payroll to the contracting agency. This routinely applies to highway work funded through FHWA, military construction, HUD-assisted housing, and federally backed infrastructure. The wage determination incorporated into the solicitation is binding and must be reflected in your labor pricing.

The pitfall to watch in Arizona is treating every public job as rate-free. Federal assistance can flow into nominally local or state projects, and once it attaches, Davis-Bacon obligations follow. Before you finalize a bid, scan the solicitation for any federal-funding language and confirm whether a wage determination is included. Underpricing labor on a covered federal project invites back-wage claims, payment withholding, and possible debarment, so verify the funding source rather than assuming Arizona's repeal removes all wage obligations.