Indiana Common Construction Wage (CCW)

Indiana Background
Indiana adopted a prevailing wage law, now called CCW, in 1935. The CCW law covers nearly
all public works construction projects that are estimated to exceed $350,000.
The CCW is set by a committee. The wages adopted cover all construction projects that
are awarded by the awarding agency within 3 months of the wage scales adoption.
The CCW committee consists of five members: an industry representative appointed by the
awarding agency; a labor representative appointed by the president of the American Federation
of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); a representative appointed by the
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC); a taxpayer appointed by the awarding agency; and
a taxpayer appointed by the county legislative body.
When federal dollars are used on a public project, such as most road projects, Federal DavisBacon laws apply. Federal Davis-Bacon laws direct the U.S. Dept. of Labor to determine locally
prevailing wage rates that must be paid on the project.
Other States
Eighteen states do not have a CCW wage law:
Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia.
o Ten of these states repealed or invalidated CCW between 1979 and 1995, with
most occurring during the 1980s.
o Eight states never enacted a CCW law.
Ohio repealed CCW for K-12 construction projects only in 1997 and Tennessee repealed CCW
for vertical projects only in 2012.
Indiana Construction Workers
66% of Indianas construction workforce works in merit shops (2013 Current Population Survey).
According to the Indiana Department of Labor (DOL), there have been at least 1,987 CCW
wage scales adopted for public works projects since 2011.

618 ABC Wage Scale (31%)

1,355 AFL-CIO Wage Scale (68%)
14 projects used a blended wage scale or refused to send info to DOL.

Based on wage data and various studies, Indiana taxpayers could save between 10% and 20%
on public works projects if CCW was repealed.

State Studies on Repealing CCW

Ohio repealed CCW in 1997 for school construction only. A 2002 study by the Ohio Legislative
Services Agency found that the repeal resulted in $488M in savings during that five year period
(10% of the total construction cost during that time period).
A survey also found that 91% of Ohio school district officials stated that there was no
change in the quality of work done while open bidding was allowed; of the remaining 9%,
only 3% said that quality had fallen while 6% said it had improved.
A November 2013 study found that Michigan spent approximately $3 billion per year on K-12
public school and university construction from 2002 through 2011. The study estimated that
Michigan would have saved approximately $225 million per year on school and university
building projects if the CCW law would have been repealed.
Source: The Impact of Michigans Prevailing Wage Law on Education Construction
Expenditures, Anderson Economic Group, LLC
An April 2011 study from the Nevada Policy Research Institute estimated that Nevadas CCW
law artificially inflated the cost of public works projects by $625M in 2009 and $346M in 2010.
Source: Who Really Prevails Under Prevailing Wage?, Nevada Policy Research
Institute.
Government Mandated Wages Increase Costs to Taxpayers
The two below wage scales were both adopted on January 13, 2015 in Allen County ABC
wages adopted for an Allen County Board of Commissioners project and AFL-CIO adopted for a
Fort Wayne Community Schools project:

Asbestos Workers (Skilled)

o ABC
$27.98/hr

Asbestos Workers (Skilled)

o AFL-CIO
$34.85/hr

Carpenters (Skilled)
o ABC
$25.74/hr

Carpenters (Skilled)
o AFL-CIO
$40.07/hr

Electricians (Skilled)
o ABC
$28.65/hr

Electricians (Skilled)
o AFL-CIO
$45.74/hr

Mechanical Insulation (Skilled)

o ABC
$27.63/hr

Mechanical Insulation (Skilled)

o AFL-CIO
$44.68/hr

Millwright (Skilled)
o ABC
$26.51/hr

Millwright (Skilled)
o AFL-CIO
$44.93/hr

Painter (Skilled)
o ABC

Painter (Skilled)
o AFL-CIO

$23.50/hr

Sprinkler Fitter (Skilled)

o ABC
$26.80/hr

$33.21/hr

Sprinkler Fitter (Skilled)

o AFL-CIO
$52.70/hr