Under Missouri Revisor of Statutes, any person affected by a determination may object in writing within thirty days after certified copies are filed. If no objection is filed, the determination is final after thirty days. Once an objection is received, the hearing date must fall within sixty days of receiving it, according to Missouri Revisor of Statutes.
Key takeaways
- note the filing date of the certified determination, because the thirty-day objection window runs from that filing.
- request copies from the department, which must supply them to requesters within ten days after filing.
- put any objection in writing, file it with the department, and state its specific grounds.
- plan for two clocks: thirty days to object, and a hearing date within sixty days of receiving an objection.
- keep the final decision on file, because it is subject to review under chapter 536.
Where the wage rate in a Missouri bid comes from
The deadlines in this article sit inside one Missouri statute section. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, the section heading begins with "Determination of hourly rate, certification," and the same heading names objections, hearings and final determination. The rate and the deadlines that follow it therefore appear in one place.
Initial determinations come first. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, a certified copy of any initial wage determinations made under section 290.257 shall be filed immediately with the secretary of state and with the department in Jefferson City.
For a bid, the practical step is to pull the filed determination for your project before you lock the rate, and to write down its filing date. Compare the occupational titles in your bid with the titles in the determination you pulled, so each line of labor carries the rate that applies to its title. Treat any question about what an objection does to a rate as one to raise with the department in writing.
For a closer look at checking the rate you carry into a public bid, read Construction wage selection for a bid rate and the wider list in Public bid pricing and wage provisions.
Who the process covers
The objection right is worded around the person affected, not around a job title. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, any person who is affected thereby may object in writing to a determination or a part thereof. Each reader should decide for their own bid whether a determination touches their pricing.
Estimators and owners should settle who counts as affected for their own bids before the objection window opens, rather than after it closes. If the answer is unclear, put the question to the department in writing and keep a copy of the request.
This article gives no Missouri hourly rate and does not give legal advice. Use the statute text as the starting point, and confirm the handling of your own project with the department that issues the determination.
The table below sets one line from each of three publishers beside its page. Each row describes a separate rule, and the rules are not interchangeable.
According to Nevada Legislature, the chapter titled public works contains the line "Must comply with the provisions of NRS 338.020 to 338.090, inclusive." This article does not apply the Missouri periods to any other state, and readers working outside Missouri should check the rules of the state where the work sits.
According to Acquisition.gov, the contracting officer need not delay opening and reviewing proposals or discussing them with the offerors while a new determination for the primary site of the work is being obtained. That page sets out a different rule set, so it appears here for comparison only.
Deadline 1 to 3: filing, copies and the objection window
The first deadline is the filing, and the statute sets it as immediate. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, the certified copy shall be filed immediately with the secretary of state and with the department. Because the copy and objection deadlines count from the filing, the filing date is the date to record first.
The second deadline concerns copies. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, copies shall be supplied by the department to all persons requesting them within ten days after the filing. The ten-day period runs from the filing, so the request date and the filing date are both worth recording. Record the date your copy arrives so you can confirm the ten-day period against your own file.
The third deadline is the objection window, and it runs thirty days. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, at any time within thirty days after the certified copies have been filed with the secretary of state and the department, any person affected thereby may object in writing by filing a written notice with the department. The window opens from the filing, not from the day you first see the determination.
According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, the written notice must state the specific grounds of the objection, so a notice that offers only general disagreement does not match that wording.
As an editorial recommendation, a useful practice is to put day thirty on the bid calendar and to draft the grounds before that day. Each ground should be a specific statement about one determination or part of one, rather than a general complaint about the rate. Keep a dated copy of the notice and proof of filing in the project file.
Deadline 4 to 5: finality and the hearing
The fourth deadline is finality. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, if no objection is filed, the determination is final after thirty days. Confirm with the department which date the finality count runs from before you rely on a filing date for planning.
The fifth deadline applies once an objection is made. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, after the objection is received, the department shall set a date for a hearing on the objection. The date for the hearing shall be within sixty days of when the objection is received.
The two outcomes are separate branches of the same statute. Without an objection, the count runs to finality after thirty days. With an objection, the count runs to a hearing date that the department sets, and that date must fall within sixty days of the objection being received.
As an editorial recommendation, note the day the objection was received and enter the hearing date the department sets on the bid calendar. The sixty-day figure is the latest permitted date for that hearing, not the calendar entry. Keep the hearing date with the project record so the finality count and the hearing count sit side by side.
Taken together, the statute text gives one sequence. A filing comes first, then copies and a thirty-day objection window. From there, a determination with no objection becomes final after thirty days, and an objection leads to a hearing date within sixty days of the objection being received. Plan the hearing date as a fixed point, and confirm the hearing process with the department in writing.
Illustrative example: an objection timeline
Suppose a determination's certified copies are filed on day 0. A bidder who files a written objection on day 20 is still inside the thirty-day window. The department then sets a hearing date, and that date must fall within sixty days of the objection being received. If nothing had been filed, the determination would have become final after thirty days. Either way, the dates go on one bid calendar so the objection, hearing and finality counts can be compared.
Review after the final decision
The final decision is open to review. According to Missouri Revisor of Statutes, this final decision of the department of the prevailing wages in the locality for each occupational title is subject to review in accordance with the provisions of chapter 536. The review therefore follows the occupational title, not the project as a whole.
A project with several titles in its bid has several decisions to track, one for each title, and each one carries its own date in the project file.
This article does not walk through the chapter 536 process. Readers who expect a review should read chapter 536 itself and confirm the procedure with the department.
As an editorial recommendation, keep the final decision in the project file with its date, along with the occupational titles it covers. Check which of those titles appear in your bid, so that any later review question can be matched to the right title and the right rate. A review question should name the title it concerns, because the statute ties review to each occupational title.
Records to keep
The records below are editorial recommendations that make up a practical file.
- certified copy as received, with the filing date recorded beside it.
- written request for copies, with the date sent.
- any written objection, with its specific grounds written out in full.
- date an objection was received, the hearing date set, and the sixty-day count between them.
- final decision with its date, and the thirty-day count used to reach finality.
- any review question, with the dates attached and the occupational title it concerns.
Most records in the list match a deadline in this article. The review-question record does not, because this article does not walk through the chapter 536 process. The objection notice, for example, is tied to the thirty-day window, so its filing date belongs next to the filing date of the certified copies. The hearing date belongs next to the date the objection was received.
Store these records in one folder with the bid calendar, so the filing, objection, hearing and finality dates sit together. These records show when each deadline started and ended. They do not change the deadlines themselves.
Next step: note the filing date of the determination for your project and count thirty days forward on your bid calendar.
FAQ
How long do I have to object to a determination?
You have thirty days after the certified copies are filed to object in writing, according to Missouri Revisor of Statutes. The objection must be filed with the department and must state its specific grounds.
When is a determination final?
If no objection is filed, the determination is final after thirty days, according to Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Confirm the date the count runs from with the department before you plan around it.
When must the hearing happen?
The hearing date must fall within sixty days of when the objection is received, according to Missouri Revisor of Statutes. The department sets that date after it receives the objection.
Can I get copies of the determinations?
Yes, the department must supply copies to any person who asks for them within ten days after filing, according to Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Record the request date and the date the copy arrives.