We admit it, we’re prevailing wage junkies. Well, Kimberley is, actually. And those of you who work with her know that she loves all the little details that go into California Prevailing Wage… So, with that in mind, this blog is about the use of the word “superseded” in the general prevailing wage determination. Why that word? Well, because we think its use could lead to some confusion.

The word itself. Our friends at dictionary.com define superseded as, “to set aside or cause to be set aside as void, useless, or obsolete…” As we mentioned in our earlier post related to this, there is some confusion about the publishing of a new general prevailing wage determination – and exactly what is superseded. To clarify, then – the publishing of a new general prevailing wage determination does supersede the previous, current wage determination (which makes sense because there is a new general prevailing wage determination to replace the old) but it does NOT supersede the prevailing wage rate for the job you’ve already won. So, why the link on the DLSR website for superseded prevailing wage determinations? In this instance, it’s just another way of saying, “this is where you can find all the old ones…”

Supersede also appears in language that makes up the published predetermined increase notice: “This predetermined increase for the above named craft applies only to the above referenced determination for work being performed on public works projects with bid advertisement dates on or after Month, XX XXXX, until this determination is superseded by a new determination or a predetermined increase modification notice becomes effective.”

Based on this usage, supersede has two different meanings. The first is a “new determination.” Based on the way that California prevailing wage decisions are published, it makes sense that this is referring to the important notices that are published alongside the general prevailing wage determinations because the ‘important notices’ have the power to change the prevailing wage rate for your job. As for the second, the mention of a predetermined increase modification, this is referring to a double-asterisk wage decision. As every CA prevailing wage contractor knows, having a double-asterisk on your wage determination means that the prevailing wage rate they pay their employees is scheduled to change over the life of the job. Which means that your current prevailing wage rate would be superseded by a new one!

So, the next time you’re working on a CA prevailing wage bid and you see the word supersede, now you’ll know what it’s doing there.