Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-73
§3143 Termination of work on failure to pay agreed wages
Title 40 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— - PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND WORKS › Part PART A— - GENERAL › Chapter CHAPTER 31— - GENERAL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS › § 3143
Summary
Every contract must let the contracting officer stop work if a worker on the site is paid less than the contract requires. The Government may give written notice, finish the work by others, and make the contractor and sureties pay any extra costs.
Full Legal Text
Title 40, §3143
Public Buildings, Property, and Works — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Every contract within the scope of this subchapter shall contain a provision that if the contracting officer finds that any laborer or mechanic employed by the contractor or any subcontractor directly on the site of the work covered by the contract has been or is being paid a rate of wages less than the rate of wages required by the contract to be paid, the Federal Government by written notice to the contractor may terminate the contractor’s right to proceed with the work or the part of the work as to which there has been a failure to pay the required wages. The Government may have the work completed, by contract or otherwise, and the contractor and the contractor’s sureties shall be liable to the Government for any excess costs the Government incurs.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 314340:276a–1.Mar. 3, 1931, ch. 411, § 2, 46 Stat. 1494; Aug. 30, 1935, ch. 825, 49 Stat. 1012. The words “The Government may have the work completed” are substituted for “and to prosecute the work to completion . . . thereby” for clarity.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
40 U.S.C. § 3143
Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and Works
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73