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6. NEW BUSINESS (Continued) a. (Continued) Mr. Robinson: I understand, but if you are going to take the money and put it in with someone not qualified really to do the work, you might as well throw it out the window. I would rather have them spend a little more money and get a qualified job that is good for the inhabitant, than have a whole bunch of jobs just because you want to scatter the money around. I don't think that's the answer. Mr. Crighton: The term "qualified contractor" is kind of an arbitrary point to assume. We really can't say whether a con- tractor is qualified or unqualified. If he's got a good record and a good Dun & Brad, and he's able to provide us with hazard insurance, he can bid on any of this work. Chair: Apparently you've been getting some ripples and complaints from contractors about the amount of paper work. Is that right? Mr. Crighton: Yes. The Labor Standards Provisions requires them to submit weekly and monthly reports and they have gotten more complex. It is taking a lot of time and they have ob- viously been passing costs on to us. Chair: What are these reports, what do they consist of? Mr. Crighton: They are primarily manpower utilization reports which they submit to the Equal Employment Officer, Mr. Alford (upstairs). This is a requirement under Section 8 of Revenue Sharing, but it is not a requirement under Community Develop - ment. The fact is, I suppose a very important aspect of this would be that, (I believe it-was February 17 of this year) seven unions signed an agreement with the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment officials to work at rates less than the pre- vailing wage rate under Section 8 housing. Section 8 is re- quired, keep that in mind, to use prevailing wage rates, but because of the problems they have had with construction, the unions negotiated with NAHRO and they did reach an agreement. I believe as of two days ago, six of the seven agreements were signed. What it will mean is that they are reducing the rate by 15 -20% in Section 8 housing. All the major unions were in- volved. Mr. Wiggins: Davis -Bacon establishes the wage rate per hour that is paid to the various trades, is that right? Mr. Crighton: Right, as far as prevailing rates are concerned, yes. Mr. Wiggins: Well, it establishes what the prevailing rates are. Mr. Robinson: On a federally funded project, right.