HUD-4010 federal labor standards provisions: what the clauses say on a HUD-funded job

What the HUD-4010 is, and which jobs carry it

The HUD-4010 is a set of contract clauses, not a form you fill in. HUD uses different clause forms for different programs, and Handbook paragraph 3-12(B) lists the main ones:

For whether Davis-Bacon reaches your funding at all, see the housing authority guide.

Who attaches it, and who asks for your payroll

The agency running the program does. Handbook paragraph 1-6(B) makes the local contracting agency (LCA) that runs the program responsible for seeing that every bid document, contract and subcontract carries the labor standards provisions and the wage decision. The LCA also reviews certified payroll reports and interviews workers on site.

You carry the clauses down. Paragraph 3-12(A) makes the prime responsible for including them in every subcontract. Clause 6 of the form covers the 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1) through (11) clauses and the wage determination, with a flow-down clause for lower tiers. B.4 (overtime), on contracts over $100,000 that are subject to the overtime provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, and F.3 (health and safety), on prime contracts over $100,000, add the same duty.

Clause 3.ii.A of the form sends weekly payrolls to HUD if HUD is a party to the contract, and otherwise to the applicant, sponsor, owner or other entity that keeps the records, for transmission to HUD. The prime submits every subcontractor's payroll. The form calls the WH-347 optional (WH-347 guide).

Your packet may refer to the form instead of attaching it

Paragraph 3-12(C) lets an agency attach the form, copy its clauses into its own documents, or refer to it. A reference to the form must name the exact form and where to get it. A wage decision may be referenced by its SAM.gov location plus decision number, modification number and date. Hard copies of anything referenced must be provided on request.

Which edition is current

HUD posts Form HUD-4010 (10/2023), and each page is marked "Previous editions obsolete". Older text still turns up in packets. A HOME labor standards packet from a Connecticut state agency (DOH), as read on November 4, 2026, reproduces a form stamped HUD-4010 (2/84). That text has no priority paragraph for withheld funds, no interest clause, no electronic-signature sentence and no operation-of-law paragraph. It already allowed withholding from any other federal contract with the same prime contractor, or any other federally assisted contract subject to Davis-Bacon, so cross-contract withholding is not new in 10/2023.

What an older edition in your packet means

It depends on when your contract was entered into. Paragraph E of the 10/2023 form says the clauses and the correct wage determinations are part of every prime contract that must include them, by operation of law, whether or not included, unless DOL grants a variance, tolerance or exemption. That is 29 CFR 5.5(e), added by DOL's August 23, 2023 final rule for contracts entered into after October 23, 2023, and the prime must be compensated for any resulting wage increase in accordance with applicable law. For an earlier contract, DOL says the contract's terms and the regulations then in effect govern, and Handbook paragraph 3-13 says using the wrong provisions, or none, does not relieve the prime contractor of potential liability.

Withholding on the prime's other jobs, and your surety

Under clause 2.i of the form, HUD may on its own action, and must on an authorized DOL representative's written request, withhold accrued payments or advances to cover wages and monetary relief, including interest, owed by the prime contractor or any subcontractor. The money can come from this contract, any other federal contract with the same prime contractor, or any other federally assisted contract held by that prime that is subject to Davis-Bacon, whichever agency awarded or assisted it. On the form's wording, the Davis-Bacon condition qualifies the federally assisted contracts, not the other federal contracts.

29 CFR 5.2 defines "prime contractor" for these clauses to include the controlling shareholders or members of an entity holding a prime contract, joint venturers or partners in a joint venture or partnership holding one, and a contractor delegated responsibility for overseeing all or substantially all of the construction. Under sections 5.5 and 5.9, related entities holding different prime contracts count as the same prime contractor.

If you are a subcontractor, the clause speaks of contracts held by the same prime contractor, not by you, unless one of those relationships applies to you, such as holding a controlling share of an entity with a prime contract. Clause 6 of the form makes the prime responsible for its subcontractors' compliance, and clause 2.i covers a subcontractor's liabilities, so money withheld for your underpayment can come from the prime's other contracts. Paragraph B.3.i lets HUD or "the recipient of Federal assistance" withhold the same way for unpaid wages, monetary relief including interest, and liquidated damages required by the clauses in 29 CFR 5.5(b), on contracts over $100,000 that are subject to the overtime provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

Clause 2.ii then ranks the claims. It says "The Department has priority to funds withheld or to be withheld" over claims to those funds by a contractor's sureties (including performance and payment bond sureties), the contracting agency for reprocurement costs, bankruptcy trustees and estates, assignees, successors, and claims under the Prompt Payment Act.

The form does not define "the Department", and clauses 2.i and 6 name HUD in full or as "HUD". The words in clause 2.ii copy 29 CFR 5.5(a)(2)(ii), and DOL's August 23, 2023 final rule describes that wording as DOL's priority to withheld funds, including cross-withheld funds, which are reserved for paying workers until the wage issue is resolved.

Signature: the form and the handbook differ

Paragraph 3.ii.E of the form says the signature on the Statement of Compliance must be an original handwritten signature or a legally valid electronic signature. Handbook paragraph 5-10(K) says each Statement of Compliance shall bear an original signature, in ink or other permanent marker, and paragraph 4-3(D) also calls for ink.

Handbook paragraph 5-1 says chapter 5, which includes the ink rule in 5-10(K), addresses administration and enforcement by LCA staff performing delegated functions for programs such as CDBG and HOME. Paragraph 3-12(C)(2), on incorporating the clauses into other documents such as a program participant's own forms, says that in all cases the requirements imposed by the applicable HUD form and wage decision remain in force. The form's e-signature sentence and the handbook's ink rule differ. The sources do not say which controls on a CDBG or HOME job, so ask the agency in writing which it accepts. More detail is in ink or e-signature on HUD jobs.

Who may sign

Clause 3.ii.C of the form has the contractor or subcontractor, or the agent who pays or supervises the payment of the workers, sign. Handbook 4-3(D) names the owner, an executive or corporate officer, or a designee they authorize, and 5-10(K) requires the designee's authorization in writing. If the signer is not one of those people, or the signature is not an original, 5-10(K) has the employer submit a corrected statement.

Electronic payroll on HUD jobs: Notice H 2015-09

HUD's Notice H 2015-09 (October 5, 2015) made its Davis-Bacon Electronic Certification Submission Program mandatory after March 31, 2016 for projects less than 50 percent complete in the programs it lists: FHA-insured, Section 542 Risk Share, healthcare and Public Housing Authority construction loans. A PIN is the electronic signature, and the notice sends users to a web address on elationsys.com.

The notice's list in section II.B names none of the programs the handbook assigns to the HUD-4010, and the form names no electronic system. The notice does say the service is to be used on all in-house contracts where staff administer and enforce labor standards compliance, and that it stays in effect until amended, superseded or rescinded. See Elation Systems for contractors for the vendor side.

Handbook paragraph 5-10(B), in the chapter that covers LCA staff on CDBG and HOME, encourages employers to use the HUD system in use for Electronic Payroll or the WH-347, and names no program, vendor or PIN. Paragraph 4-3(A) says FHA employers are highly recommended to use the HUD-authorized Electronic Payroll System.

HUD-11 interviews and your payroll

Clause 3.iv.A of the form requires you to make records available and let HUD or DOL representatives interview workers on the job during working hours. The agency compares the inspector's HUD-11 with your payroll (Handbook 5-10(L)); see the HUD-11 guide.

What to do with a HUD-4010 packet

1. Check the footer for "Form HUD-4010, (10/2023)" on each page. If it is older, or the clauses were copied into the agency's own forms, ask the agency for the current text.
2. Find the wage decision, or its number, modification number and date. Ask for a hard copy if you have only a reference.
3. Ask in writing who receives payrolls, in what format or electronic system, which signature method is accepted, and who may sign. Keep the reply.

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