Davis-Bacon Fringe Benefit Annualization Calculator
Computes the correctly annualized, DBRA-creditable hourly fringe benefit rate for a bona fide fringe benefit plan, per 29 CFR 5.29 and DOL Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #66E, and flags the single most common contractor error: annualizing over DBRA-covered hours only instead of total hours worked across all jobs (DBRA-covered and private) during the period.
Method and sources
- Annualization denominator (total hours worked, covered + non-covered) — DOL Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #66E: The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts – Compliance with Fringe Benefit Requirements: "a contractor must divide the total cost of the fringe benefit contribution... by the total number of hours worked on both private (non-DBRA) work and DBRA-covered work... during the time period to which the cost is attributable."
- Regulatory basis: 29 CFR 5.29, Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (annualization principle applied generally to bona fide fringe benefit plans; the apprenticeship-cost subsection, 5.29(g)(4), spells out the same total-hours-worked-across-covered-and-non-covered-projects denominator explicitly).
- This tool performs a mechanical calculation only and is not legal or compliance advice. Verify classification-specific wage determination rates and plan-specific creditability (e.g. defined contribution pension plans have separate annualization exception rules) against your actual wage determination and plan documents, or with counsel, before relying on this for a real certified payroll submission.
Method and sources last verified: 2026-07-07.
Who needs this calculation
Any contractor or subcontractor performing work on a federal or federally-assisted construction contract covered by the Davis-Bacon Act or a Davis-Bacon Related Act (DBRA) — most direct federal construction contracts over $2,000, and many federally-funded state and local construction projects — must pay laborers and mechanics no less than the locally prevailing wage and fringe benefit rate listed on the contract's wage determination. Fringe benefits can be paid as cash, as bona fide benefit plan contributions, or a combination — and when a benefit plan's cost needs to be converted into an hourly rate for crediting purposes, DOL's rule is to annualize using total hours worked, not just the hours worked on the covered contract. Getting this denominator wrong is one of the most common Davis-Bacon compliance findings on certified payroll review.
Why the "DBRA-hours-only" version overstates the rate
If an employee splits time between a Davis-Bacon job and other (private, non-covered) work, dividing the plan's annual cost only by the hours worked on the covered job spreads the same dollar amount over fewer hours — producing an artificially higher hourly rate than the plan actually delivers per hour worked overall. That inflated rate can make it look like the fringe requirement is met when, measured correctly, it isn't — the calculator above flags exactly this gap.