Bill Text: NY S02536 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Ensures that construction and fabrication done off of a public work site for specific use only in a public work project be compensated at the prevailing wage rate.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-3)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-21 - REFERRED TO LABOR [S02536 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S02536-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2536 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, ADDABBO, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, HINCHEY, HOYL- MAN-SIGAL, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, MATTERA, MAYER, PALUMBO, PARKER, RAMOS, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to inclusion of certain off- site custom fabrication as public work for the purposes of payment of prevailing wage; and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds and 2 declares that the prevailing wage law was established to provide fair 3 and equitable working conditions, wages and supplementary benefits for 4 persons employed on public works construction projects. 5 The legislature further finds and declares that there are growing 6 number of instances where custom fabricated materials are fabricated off 7 the public work job site either to meet the unique specifications of the 8 project subject to a public work contract or for the contractor's 9 convenience or to evade the wage requirements imposed by the prevailing 10 wage law. 11 The legislature further finds and declares that in many instances the 12 prevailing wage is not paid to persons involved in off-site fabrication 13 of materials which are used specifically for public works projects to 14 the detriment of the workers at the site and the local economy where the 15 public work is situated. 16 The legislature further finds and declares that, in effect, various 17 custom fabricated materials on local public works construction projects 18 are being entirely outsourced to workers at a location or locations away 19 from the project site or in foreign jurisdictions, thereby intentionally 20 evading the payment of the prevailing wage and benefit package by elimi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00331-01-5S. 2536 2 1 nating the employment of workers at the site of the project to the 2 detriment of those workers and the local economy. 3 It is the intent of the legislature that construction and fabrication 4 done off the public work site for specific use only in public work 5 projects be compensated at the prevailing wage rate. 6 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 220 of the labor law is amended by 7 adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows: 8 (f) (i) For the purposes of this subdivision contractors or subcon- 9 tractors engaged in custom fabrication shall not be regarded as material 10 suppliers. For the purposes of this subdivision, a legal day's work for 11 which the prevailing rate of wages for the New York county in which the 12 public works project is situated shall be paid to laborers, workers and 13 mechanics shall include custom fabrication regardless of whether the 14 custom fabrication occurs on-site, off-site or in another jurisdiction 15 outside the state. It shall be a condition of the contract concerning 16 all such custom fabrication work that the contractor or employer awarded 17 the public work contract, except where the project includes federal 18 funding that triggers federal rules for wage requirements, and any 19 subcontractor thereto shall covenant to pay the on-site prevailing wage 20 required for workers at the site of the public work project to those 21 workers performing the custom fabrication where a contract for custom 22 fabrication exceeds two hundred fifty thousand dollars or for contracts 23 where the cumulative annual total of contracts performed by the custom 24 fabricator has exceeded five hundred thousand dollars. In addition, 25 custom fabricators who choose to perform a public works contract exceed- 26 ing two hundred fifty thousand dollars or who exceed five hundred thou- 27 sand dollars in public works contracts in total in a single year shall 28 be required to pay the on-site prevailing wage to those workers perform- 29 ing custom fabrication for subsequent public works contracts, regardless 30 of the amount, thereafter for at least one year and shall register with 31 the department under section two hundred twenty-i of this article and 32 remain registered for at least one year in order to qualify to perform 33 future custom fabrication with regard to public works projects. Each 34 contractor or subcontractor who employs workers off-site for the custom 35 fabrication work related to a public work project shall maintain certi- 36 fied payrolls for those workers and provide such payrolls, with original 37 certifications, to the department at least once every thirty days. For 38 the purposes of this subdivision the term "custom fabrication" shall 39 include, but not be limited to, the fabrication of exterior or interior 40 wall panel systems, the fabrication of woodwork, cases, cabinets or 41 counters and the fabrication of electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, 42 ventilation or exhaust duct systems including the drafting of technical 43 drawings and plans, and mechanical insulation solely and specifically 44 designed and engineered for installation in the construction, repair or 45 renovation of a building which is the subject of a contract to which the 46 state, a department of the state, a board or officer in the state, a 47 municipal corporation, a public benefit corporation or a commission 48 appointed pursuant to law is a party. 49 (ii) The department of jurisdiction, as defined in subdivision three-a 50 of this section and including any entity to whom such department of 51 jurisdiction delegates their authority, shall be required to report to 52 the fiscal officer the intention to contract for custom, off-site fabri- 53 cation of any materials on all contracts, regardless of the amount, 54 which may include the employment of laborers, workers or mechanics in 55 the application to the fiscal officer for the approval of such contract. 56 The department of jurisdiction's report shall state the name and addressS. 2536 3 1 of the off-site, custom fabricator, identify the custom materials that 2 are being fabricated off-site and the quantity thereof, the estimated 3 and actual cost of the off-site fabrication, including the transporta- 4 tion of the materials to the site of the work and the estimated number 5 of workers employed to complete the custom fabrication at the off-site 6 location. Upon receipt of the department of jurisdiction's report, the 7 fiscal officer shall make available said report to the public through 8 its website and, similarly, maintain and publish on its website all data 9 specified herein for each custom fabricator. 10 (iii) The fiscal officer shall produce an annual report on the econom- 11 ic impact to the state businesses and residents due to off-site fabri- 12 cation. 13 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 14 have become a law and shall apply only to those contracts put out to bid 15 on or after such effective date; provided, however, that subparagraph 16 (i) of paragraph (f) of subdivision 3 of section 220 of the labor law, 17 as added by section two of this act, shall expire and be deemed repealed 18 upon the ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction that the require- 19 ments of such subparagraph are unenforceable on fabricators located 20 outside the state; provided, further, that the commissioner of labor 21 shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the occur- 22 rence of such a court ruling in order that the commission may maintain 23 an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text of the 24 laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effectuating the 25 provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the 26 public officers law.
