On June 1, 2011, Commissioner of Labor Harold Wirths adopted new regulations relating to “maintenance work” under the Prevailing Wage Act. Last year, the New Jersey Legislature revised the definition of “maintenance work” to include “maintenance-related projects” that met certain criteria. The legislature did not, however, define “maintenance-related projects,” which led to speculation about the scope of such projects (e.g., whether it included projects such as troubleshooting, inspection, calibration, and other tasks not closely related to construction-type work). In the new regulations, the Commissioner provided the needed clarity, defining the term “maintenance-related project” to mean “a project related to the repair of existing facilities when the size, type or extent of such facilities is not thereby changed or increased.” This definition adheres to the construction-related concept at the heart of the Prevailing Wage Act.
