N.Y. Labor Law § 231 (2026)

§ 231. Prevailing wage. 1. Every contractor shall pay a service
employee under a contract for building service work a wage of not less
than the prevailing wage in the locality for the craft, trade or
occupation of the service employee.
  2. The obligation of a contractor to pay prevailing supplements may be
discharged by furnishing any equivalent combinations of fringe benefits
or by making equivalent or differential payments in cash under rules and
regulations established by the fiscal officer.
  3. Each contract for building service work shall contain as part of
the specifications thereof a schedule of the wages required to be paid
to the various classes of service employees on such work, and each such
contract shall further contain a provision obligating the contractor to
pay each employee on such work not less than the wage specified for his
craft, trade or occupation in such schedule.
  4. The public agency, or appropriate officer or agent thereof, whose
responsibility it is to prepare or direct the preparation of the plans
and specifications for a contract for building service work, shall
ascertain from such plans and specifications the classifications of
employees to be employed on such work and shall file a list of such
classifications with the fiscal officer, together with a statement of
the work to be performed. The fiscal officer shall determine the crafts,
trades and occupations required for such work and shall make a
determination of the wages required to be paid in the locality for each
such craft, trade or occupation. A schedule of such wages shall be
annexed to and form a part of the specifications for the contract prior
to the time of the advertisement for bids on such contract and shall
constitute the schedule of wages referred to in subdivision three of
this section.
  5. Upon the award of a contract for building service work by a public
agency other than a city, the contracting public agency shall
immediately furnish to the commissioner: (a) the name and address of the
contractor to whom the contract was awarded; (b) the date when the
contract was awarded; and (c) the approximate consideration stipulated
for in the contract.
  6. No later than the first day upon which work on said contract is
performed by any employee, the contractor shall post in a prominent and
accessible place on the site of the work a legible statement of the
wages to be paid to the workmen employed thereon.
  7. (a) An apprentice in a craft or trade may be permitted to work at a
wage lower than that established for the journeymen in such craft or
trade only if all of the following conditions have been met:
  (1) such apprentice has been individually registered in an
apprenticeship program which is duly registered with the industrial
commissioner in conformity with the provisions of article twenty-three
of this chapter;
  (2) such apprentice's registration occurred prior to his employment as
an apprentice on such service work; and
  (3) written proof of such individual registration is submitted to the
contracting public agency prior to such apprentice's employment as an
apprentice. The proof submitted shall include evidence of the
appropriate ratios and apprentice's wage rates.
  (b) In no event shall the ratio of apprentices to journeymen employed
on such service work be greater than the lesser of the following ratios:
  (1) the ratio permitted in the apprenticeship program approved by the
industrial commissioner; or
  (2) the ratio prevailing in the locality where the service work will
be performed.
  (c) The rate of wages established for apprentices shall be the
prevailing rate as determined in accordance with this article.