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California · Asbestos & Lead Abatement Laborer · 12 counties
Asbestos & Lead Abatement Laborer prevailing wage, Southern California (12 counties)
DIR sets the same asbestos and lead abatement laborer rates, row for row, in 12 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.
$78.54an hour, base wage + fringe benefits · Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker
$49.20 base wage + $29.34 fringe benefits
On California public works in each of these 12 counties, an asbestos and lead abatement laborer working as asbestos and lead abatement worker must be paid at least $78.54 an hour in total: $49.20 in wages plus $29.34 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $103.14 and Sunday and holiday work is $127.74.
DIR general determination SC-102-882-1-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
Base wage and fringe benefits: $49.20 + $29.34
The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, the fringe benefits DIR calls employer payments, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $78.54 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) | $49.20 |
| Health and welfare | $9.85 |
| Pension | $12.92 |
| Vacation and holiday (footnote a) | $5.20 |
| Training | $0.85 |
| Other payments (footnote b) | $0.52 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $78.54 |
Straight time covers an 8-hour day.
When does this rate change?
- A project pays the rates in effect on its bid advertisement date for the life of the job, plus any increase DIR set in advance (DIR FAQ).
- DIR issues new determinations on February 22 and August 22, and they take effect 10 days later. This rate is from determination SC-102-882-1-2026-1, issued August 22, 2026; DIR's expiration date for it is June 30, 2027.
Scheduled increases
DIR has scheduled an increase for this rate, but it's in a regional PDF we haven't matched to this classification yet. The amounts are in DIR's increase file.
The double asterisk after DIR's expiration date means the next rate is already set. If the work runs past that date you have to pay the new rate, and DIR says to build it into contracts signed now (DIR FAQ, Q8).
Source: DIR increase PDF
Davis-Bacon asbestos and lead abatement laborer rates in these counties
The counties share DIR's rates, but not always the same federal wage determination. When a California awarding body runs a federally funded or assisted project, DIR's rates must be paid where they are higher than the Davis-Bacon rates (DIR public works FAQ).
| County | Federal classification | Base + fringe | WD | vs DIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Inyo County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Kern County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Los Angeles County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Mono County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Orange County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Riverside County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| San Bernardino County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| San Diego County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| San Luis Obispo County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Santa Barbara County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
| Ventura County | Federal rates listed on the county page; no one-to-one match | |||
How Southern California compares
The main asbestos and lead abatement laborer rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.
Every county in California
Base wage and fringe benefits, nearby
- Southern Californiabase $49.20$78.54
- Ventura Countybase $49.20$78.54
- Orange Countybase $49.20$78.54
- Tulare Countybase $39.65 · Area 2$71.96
Which county is in which asbestos and lead abatement laborer group
Every California county with a asbestos and lead abatement laborer rate. Counties DIR treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.
| Counties | Main classification | Base wage | Total rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern California, 12 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura | Asbestos and Lead Abatement Worker | $49.20 | $78.54 |
| Area 1, 7 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara | Asbestos and Lead Removal Worker (Area 1) | $40.65 | $72.96 |
| Area 2, 39 counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba | Asbestos and Lead Removal Worker (Area 2) | $39.65 | $71.96 |
3 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 0 counties with rates of their own.
California asbestos and lead abatement laborer prevailing wage by county, with a map
Footnotes on this rate
DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.
- a Includes an amount for supplemental dues.
- b Includes amounts for Center for Contract Compliance, Contract Administration Fund, Industry Fund, and Laborers' Trust Administrative Trust Fund.
- c Saturdays in the same work week may be worked at straight-time if the job is shut down during the normal work week due to inclement weather, or reasons beyond the control of the employer.
DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.
More from DIR on this rate
- Holidays (DIR PDF)
- Scope of work: which tasks this rate covers
- Travel and subsistence
- Apprentice rates: DIR publishes these separately, by program. Look them up on DIR.
Every trade's rates, county by county: Imperial · Inyo · Kern · Los Angeles · Mono · Orange · Riverside · San Bernardino · San Diego · San Luis Obispo · Santa Barbara · Ventura
Are you being paid this rate?
Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $78.54. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.
Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.
Source
California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination SC-102-882-1-2026-1, page 1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Southern/SC-102-882-1.pdf
Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download every California rate as CSV · Report an error