Missouri's Prevailing Wage Law applies to public works construction projects valued over $75,000. Public bodies must obtain an Annual Wage Order from the Division of Labor Standards before advertising for bids. Wage rates are published by county.
Missouri has an active prevailing wage law (Missouri Prevailing Wage Law (RSMo Sections 290.210-290.340)). Administered by Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards. Certified payroll is required. Federal Davis-Bacon applies to all federal projects.
Missouri enforces the Missouri Prevailing Wage Law (RSMo 290.210-290.340) through the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards, and it applies to public works construction projects valued over $75,000. If you are bidding state, county, municipal, or school work above that threshold, you must price labor at the rates set in the Annual Wage Order for the county where the work is performed. Public bodies are required to include these rates in the bid specifications, so the determination you need is in the solicitation, organized by county and trade classification.
Procedurally, Missouri front-loads compliance steps that affect your schedule and overhead. Before starting work you must file the PW-2 notification form, and at project completion every contractor and subcontractor must submit an Affidavit of Compliance certifying that prevailing wages were paid. Certified payroll records are required, and the Annual Wage Order is published by July 1 each year, so verify which wage order governs your contract because mid-cycle rate changes can affect multi-phase work. Correct trade classification matters; misclassifying labor to a lower rate is a common and costly estimating error.
The risks of getting it wrong are concrete. Underpayment exposes you to back-wage liability and debarment from future public contracts, which can shut you out of an entire public-works pipeline. When a Missouri project also carries federal funding, both Davis-Bacon and the state law can apply, and you must pay the higher of the two rates trade-by-trade. Reconcile the state wage order against any federal wage determination before bid day and carry the more stringent figure in your labor estimate.
The federal Davis-Bacon Act applies to all federally funded or federally assisted construction contracts over $2,000 in Missouri. This includes projects funded by federal agencies, FHWA highway projects, HUD housing, and projects receiving federal grants.
Contractors may be debarred from public contracts for violations. Back wages and penalties must be paid to affected workers. Contractors must file affidavits of compliance.