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Construction Inspector & Materials Tester prevailing wage, Southern California (11 counties)
DIR sets the same construction inspector or materials tester rates, row for row, in 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.
$104.53an hour, base wage + fringe benefits · Group 1
$65.18 base wage + $39.35 fringe benefits
On California public works in each of these 11 counties, a Group 1 construction inspector or materials tester must be paid at least $104.53 an hour in total: $65.18 in wages plus $39.35 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $137.12 and Sunday and holiday work is $169.71. DIR puts 7 job titles in Group 1, field soils and materials tester and load testing inspector among them.
DIR general determination SC-23-63-2-2026-2D, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
DIR lists 3 construction inspector or materials tester rates for each of these counties, from $104.53 to $108.31 an hour. See all of them.
Base wage and fringe benefits: $65.18 + $39.35
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 $104.53 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) | $65.18 |
| Health and welfare | $17.45 |
| Pension (footnote b) | $17.40 |
| Vacation and holiday (footnote c) | $2.95 |
| Training | $1.10 |
| Other payments | $0.45 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $104.53 |
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-23-63-2-2026-2D, issued August 22, 2026; DIR's expiration date for it is June 30, 2027.
Scheduled increases
DIR has already set these increases. Work on or after each date is paid the higher rate. DIR often leaves part of an increase "to be allocated to wages and/or employer payments" and confirms the split when it comes due, and it can reduce a scheduled increase in a later notice, so check DIR's increase page before you pay it.
| Takes effect | Increase per hour | Total after increase |
|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2027 | +$4.51 | $109.04 |
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
Construction Inspector & Materials Tester Group 1 job titles
Work DIR classifies in Group 1, copied as printed. The other groups and their rates are in the table below.
- Field Soils and Materials Tester
- Field Asphaltic Concrete (Soils and Materials Tester)
- Field Earthwork (Grading Excavation and Filling)
- Load Testing Inspector
- Roof Inspector
- Soils Inspector
- Water Proofer/Methane
Source: Group 1, page 4
Every construction inspector or materials tester rate in Southern California
As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.
- Group 3$108.31
- Group 2$106.31
- Group 1$104.53
| Classification | Base wage | Fringe benefits | Total rate | Daily OT | Determination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | $65.18 | $39.35 | $104.53 | $137.12 | SC-23-63-2-2026-2D |
Group 214 jobs in this group
| $66.96 | $39.35 | $106.31 | $139.79 | SC-23-63-2-2026-2D |
Group 33 jobs in this group
| $68.96 | $39.35 | $108.31 | $142.79 | SC-23-63-2-2026-2D |
How Southern California compares
The main construction inspector or materials tester 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 $65.18$104.53
- Ventura Countybase $65.18$104.53
- Orange Countybase $65.18$104.53
- San Diego Countybase $63.18$104.49
Which county is in which construction inspector or materials tester group
Every California county with a construction inspector or materials tester 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, 11 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura | Group 1 | $65.18 | $104.53 |
| San Diego County | Group 1 | $63.18 | $104.49 |
| Northern California, 46 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba | Group 1 | $65.89 | $101.99 |
2 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 1 county with rates of its own.
California construction inspector or materials tester 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 For classifications within each group, see Page 4.
- b Includes an amount for Annuity.
- c Includes an amount withheld for supplemental dues.
- d Rate applies to the first 4 overtime hours. All other daily overtime is paid at the Sunday rate.
- e Rate applies to the first 12 hours worked. All other time is paid at the Sunday rate.
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 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 $104.53. 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-23-63-2-2026-2D, page 1: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Southern/SC-023-63-2(D).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