Since July 1, 2026, Oregon's HB 2688 has applied prevailing wage law to certain off-site fabrication. If your shop builds custom mechanical, plumbing, electrical, or structural iron systems for public works projects, you now owe prevailing wage rates, certified payroll, and a public works bond for that work. If you're a GC, you have a new category of subcontractor to manage. The whole rule turns on one word the Legislature never defined: bespoke. Here's what's covered and wha

Oregon just raised the stakes on wage compliance — and most contractors haven’t noticed yet. HB 4089, passed during Oregon’s 2026 short legislative session and signed by Governor Kotek on March 31, 2026, makes a set of changes that individually look like legal housekeeping. Together, they add up to something GCs and subs on Oregon public works projects need to understand before the law takes effect on January 1, 2027.

HB 4012, passed in February 2026 and effective June 5, 2026, directs the Construction Contractors Board (CCB) and the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to run a six-month targeted assessment initiative — January 1 through July 1, 2027. During routine job site visits, CCB inspectors will screen for unlicensed labor contractors. What they document can be shared directly with BOLI.

Oregon Senate Bill 426 (SB 426) — passed in 2025 and made effective January 1, 2026 — makes general contractors ("GCs") jointly and severally liable for unpaid wages owed by any subcontractor at any tier on their construction projects. Workers can now sue you directly — and recover their attorney fees — for wage violations committed by a sub you've never met. That's not a hypothetical. That's the law — effective now on Oregon construction projects. What Changed — and Why It M