Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 4115
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 4115.05 (2026)

Prevailing rate of wage in locality to control contract wage

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
September 29, 2011
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 153 - 129th General Assembly
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The prevailing rate of wages to be paid for a legal day's work, as prescribed in section 4115.04 of the Revised Code, to laborers, workers, or mechanics upon public works shall not be less at any time during the life of a contract for the public work than the prevailing rate of wages then payable in the same trade or occupation in the locality where such public work is being performed, under collective bargaining agreements or understandings, between employers and bona fide organizations of labor in force at the date the contract for the public work, relating to the trade or occupation, was made, and collective bargaining agreements or understandings successor thereto.

Serving laborers, helpers, assistants and apprentices shall not be classified as common labor and shall be paid not less at any time during the life of a contract for the public work than the prevailing rate of wages then payable for such labor in the locality where the public work is being performed, under or as a result of collective bargaining agreements or understandings between employers and bona fide organizations of labor in force at the date the contract for the public work, requiring the employment of serving laborers, helpers, assistants, or apprentices, was made, and collective bargaining agreements or understandings successor thereto.

Apprentices will be permitted to work only under a bona fide apprenticeship program if such program exists and is registered with the Ohio apprenticeship council.

The allowable ratio of apprentices to skilled workers permitted to work shall not be greater than the ratio allowed the contractor or subcontractor in the collective bargaining agreement or understanding referred to in this section under which the work is being performed. A contractor, subcontractor, or public authority that exceeds the permissible ratio of apprentices to skilled workers by two or fewer apprentices for not more than two days in any thirty-day period shall not be found in violation of this provision with regard to that excess number of apprentices.

For purposes of establishing the prevailing rate of wages, a labor organization that is a party to a collective bargaining agreement, contract, or understanding, including any successor agreement, contract, or understanding, that establishes wages for a trade or occupation typically employed on public improvements shall file with the director of commerce all relevant portions of any such agreement, contract, or understanding to which the labor organization is a party. The filing shall occur within ninety days after the agreement, contract, or understanding is executed, except that the relevant portion of any agreement, contract, or understanding to which a labor organization is a party on the effective date of this amendment shall be filed within ninety days after the effective date of this amendment. The labor organization shall certify under penalty of law that the portion of the agreement, contract, or understanding filed under this section contains, in full, all provisions of the agreement, contract, or understanding concerning wages paid to persons and the apprentice to skilled worker ratio under the agreement, contract, or understanding.

In the event there is no such collective bargaining agreement or understanding in the immediate locality, then the prevailing rates of wages in the nearest locality in which such collective bargaining agreements or understandings are in effect shall be the prevailing rate of wages, in such locality, for the various occupations covered by sections 4115.03 to 4115.16 of the Revised Code.

The prevailing rate of wages to be paid for a legal day's work, to laborers, workers, or mechanics, upon any material to be used in or in connection with a public work, shall be not less than the prevailing rate of wages payable for a day's work in the same trade or occupation in the locality within the state where such public work is being performed and where the material in its final or completed form is to be situated, erected, or used.

Every contract for a public work shall contain a provision that each laborer, worker, or mechanic, employed by such contractor, subcontractor, or other person about or upon such public work, shall be paid the prevailing rate of wages provided in this section.

No contractor or subcontractor under a contract for a public work shall sublet any of the work covered by such contract unless specifically authorized to do so by the contract.

Where contracts are not awarded or construction undertaken within ninety days from the date of the establishment of the prevailing rate of wages, there shall be a redetermination of the prevailing rate of wages before the contract is awarded. A public authority shall, within seven working days after receiving from the director a notice of a change in the prevailing wage rate, notify all affected contractors and subcontractors with whom the public authority has contracts for a public improvement of the changes and require the contractors to make the necessary adjustments in the prevailing wage rates.

If, upon receipt of the relevant portions of a collective bargaining agreement, contract, or understanding, the director determines that the prevailing wage rate has changed in the locality in which an ongoing project is being constructed, any change in that rate shall take effect two weeks after the director receives the relevant portions of the agreement, contract, or understanding showing that the prevailing wage rate has changed.

If the director determines that a contractor or subcontractor has violated sections 4115.03 to 4115.16 of the Revised Code because the public authority has not notified the contractor or subcontractor as required by this section, the public authority is liable for any back wages, fines, damages, court costs, and attorney's fees associated with the enforcement of said sections by the director for the period of time running until the public authority gives the required notice to the contractor or subcontractor.

On the occasion of the first pay date under a contract, the contractor or subcontractor shall furnish each employee not covered by a collective bargaining agreement or understanding between employers and bona fide organizations of labor with individual written notification of the job classification to which the employee is assigned, the prevailing wage determined to be applicable to that classification, separated into the hourly rate of pay and the fringe payments, and the identity of the prevailing wage coordinator appointed by the public authority. The contractor or subcontractor shall furnish the same notification to each affected employee every time the job classification of the employee is changed.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1954–2021 · leading case: Sheet Metal Workers' Int'l Ass'n, Local Union No. 33 v. Gene's Refrigeration, Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., 2009 Ohio 2747 (Ohio 2009).
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Sheet Metal Workers' Int'l Ass'n, Local Union No. 33 v. Gene's Refrigeration, Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., 2009 Ohio 2747 (Ohio 2009). · cites it 40× “03(F) — Labor organization that obtains authorization to represent one employee does not have standing as an “interested party” to pursue violations of prevailing-wage law on another employee’s behalf — R.C. 4115.05 — Prevailing-wage requirement does not extend to persons whose…”
Hulsmeyer v. Hospice of Sw. Ohio, Inc. (Slip Opinion), 2014 Ohio 5511 (Ohio 2014). · cites it 10× “whether it must be directly on the project cite or be performed off-site.”
Pipe Fitters Union Local No. 392 v. Kokosing Constr. Co., 690 N.E.2d 515 (Ohio 1998). · cites it 4× “R.C. 4115.05, in governing establishment of prevailing wage rates, states, “The prevailing rate of wages to be paid for a legal day’s work, as prescribed in section 4115.”
Risner v. Ohio Dept. of Nat. Resources, Ohio Div. of Wildlife (Slip Opinion), 2015 Ohio 3731 (Ohio 2015). · cites it 2× “13 authorizes law-enforcement officials to seize “a wild animal or any part of a wild animal taken or had in possession contrary to law or division rule.”
Vaughn Indus., Inc. v. Dimech Servs., 856 N.E.2d 312 (Ohio Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 5× “Specifically, the court held that Shambaugh violated R.C. 4115.05 by allowing apprentices to work for it in excess of the allowable ratio of apprentices to skilled workers and violated R.”
Robbins Sound, Inc. v. Ohio Univ., 590 N.E.2d 877 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 14× “Whether the Court of Claims erred in concluding that no 'change' had occurred in the wage rate specified for the Project within the meaning of R.C. §4115.05? "4. Whether the Court of Claims erred in failing to conclude that the Ohio Constitution was violated if Robbins was…”
Pipe Fitters Union Local No. 392 v. Kokosing Constr. Co., Inc., 1998 Ohio 465 (Ohio 1998). · cites it 4× “R.C. 4115.05, in governing establishment of prevailing wage rates, states, “The prevailing rate of wages to be paid for a legal day’s work, as prescribed in section 4115.”
Harris v. Davis Constr. Sys., Inc., 518 N.E.2d 956 (Ohio Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 8× “Liability is imposed upon public authorities under a recent amendment to O.R.C. 4115.05 but this amendment cannot be retrospectively applied pursuant to O.”
Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Vaughn Indus., Inc., 156 Ohio App. 3d 644 (Ohio Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 4× “employees the prevailing rate of wages; (2) to furnish each employee not covered by a collective bargaining agreement or understanding between an employer and a labor union “with written notification of the job classification, separated into hourly rate of pay and fringe…”
Ohio Asphalt Paving, Inc. v. Ohio Dep't of Indus. Relations, 589 N.E.2d 35 (Ohio 1992). · cites it 3× “* * * ” R.C. 4115.05 states in relevant part that “[e]very contract for a public work shall contain a provision that each laborer, workman, or mechanic, employed by such contractor * * * shall be paid the prevailing rate of wages provided in this section.”
State Ex Rel. Jones v. Hamilton Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 705 N.E.2d 1247 (Ohio Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 2× “” R.C. 4115.05 provides in part: “The prevailing rate of wages to be paid for a legal day’s work * * * to laborers, workmen, or mechanics upon public works shall not be less * * * than the prevailing rate of wages then payable in the same trade or occupation in the locality…”
Ohio State Ass'n of the United Ass'n of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Indus. v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 703 N.E.2d 861 (Ohio Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 3× “” R.C. 4115.05. Appellee complains that the court erred by finding that the work Albert R.”
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