Project manager applauds Richmond’s new prevailing wage requirements for construction projects 

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Laborers may have more incentive to find work in Richmond thanks to a city rule passed in 2024. 

All city-funded construction projects valued at $250,000 or more must adhere to prevailing wage requirements beginning July 1, 2025.

According to the city's website, it's a pay rate and level of benefits that contractors and subcontractors must pay workers, equal to what similar laborers in the area receive.

In October 2024, Richmond City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2024-186, which established Section 21-74 of the City Code. The ordinance aligns with Virginia Code § 2.2-4321.3(C) and is designed to ensure fair and competitive wages for workers on large-scale public construction contracts. 

City councilmember Cynthia Newbille was one of the leaders who helped pass the rule in 2024.

“Richmond City Council believes in people earning a fair wage and them being fairly compensated when working on major government-funded construction projects in Richmond,” Newbille said. “We feel that Richmond residents should be able to live, work, and earn enough to sufficiently support their families here.”

Assistant project manager Pete Hanchi's company ‘Lighthouse Electric,’ which specializes in data center work, has its own pay rate for its union workers.

“It's like $38 (per hour), our total package is around $66 an hour,” Hanchi said.

Hanchi applauded the rule going into effect and said he feels it helps level the playing field.

“There's no more of an incentive, in my opinion, than putting money in people's pockets,” Hanchi said. “The nonunion contractors in the world, the smaller contractors in the world -- this is giving an opportunity for those types of people to make a higher rate, to be more equal to the larger contractors in the area.”

Existing contracts and construction jobs that already follow federal wage rules won't be subject to the city rule.