The United States Department of Labor overhauled its Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rate rules on Aug. 8. The new regulations could bring major changes to how contractors and subcontractors working on federally funded projects pay their workers.

The Davis-Bacon Act covers just about every federally funded construction project in America. According to the DOL, the Davis-Bacon Act applies “to contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and decorating) of public buildings or public works.” Under the Act, contractors and subcontractors must pay their laborers and mechanics employed under the contract no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area. The Act provides that the DOL determines what are the “locally prevailing wage rates.”