VEVRAA for Construction Contractors: What's Different

Ask a federal construction contractor about affirmative action and you will hear about hours. For decades, the job was tracking hours by trade. You measured women and minority hours against goals set in 1978 and 1980. That program sat in its own rulebook, 41 CFR part 60-4. No written plan was asked for. You logged hours, kept good-faith records, and answered the audit letter.

That program is gone. The veteran program is not. And the veteran side never worked the way the construction side did. It asks for a written plan, an outreach record, job listings, and yearly hire data. Plenty of builders never wrote that plan. The hours program told them no written plan was needed.

This guide walks through the fork. It covers which jobs VEVRAA reaches and what the 2025 and 2026 changes removed. It shows how a written plan works across jobsites. And it shows how project hiring fits the job listing rule. The basic duties live in our VEVRAA compliance overview for federal contractors. This post covers only what changes when your work is construction.

Does VEVRAA cover your construction contracts at all?

Start with who signed your contract. This one question splits builders into two groups.

VEVRAA is a federal law, 38 U.S.C. 4212. Its rules define a "Government contract" as a deal between a federal contracting agency and a contractor. The definition says it includes construction. You can read it in 41 CFR 60-300.2.

That wording matters on a jobsite. OFCCP's construction FAQ split the work two ways:

• Direct federal construction: A federal agency signs with you. OFCCP's own example was a GSA contract to build a federal courthouse. VEVRAA can reach this work.
• Federally assisted construction: Federal money pays for the job, but the government is not a party. A state DOT highway job paid with federal grants is the classic case. OFCCP's FAQ said VEVRAA does not reach a firm whose only coverage comes from this kind of work.

The old program worked the other way. It covered both kinds of work over $10,000. So a road builder with only state DOT work may have lived under the old program for years. That same firm may owe nothing under VEVRAA. A firm with one direct GSA or Army Corps job is a different story.

The dollar lines to check

Two numbers decide how much VEVRAA asks of you. Both moved in the last year.

• Basic coverage: A single federal contract or subcontract of $200,000 or more. The FAR raised it from $150,000 on October 1, 2025.
• Written plan: 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more.

DOL wrote both lines into the VEVRAA rules with a final rule published August 21, 2026. It took effect September 21, 2026. Some online copies of the rule still show older dollar amounts. Check the date on any copy you use.

What happened to the old construction affirmative action program?

That old program came from Executive Order 11246. It had parts no supply and service contractor ever saw.

• Participation goals: Women's goal was 6.9% of hours worked in each trade. Minority goals were set for each area.
• Contract specifications: A standard set of construction EEO terms went into covered contracts.
• Good-faith steps: 41 CFR 60-4.3(a)(7) listed actions like keeping recruitment source lists and a harassment-free site.
• No written plan: OFCCP's FAQ said builders did not write an EO 11246 plan. The goals and steps took its place.
• Award notice: Contracting officers and some contractors had to tell OFCCP about covered awards over $10,000.

On January 21, 2025, Executive Order 14173 revoked EO 11246. DOL says it stopped enforcing those rules after that. Then, on August 21, 2026, DOL published a final rule rescinding the EO 11246 regulations. That rule removes part 60-4 along with parts 60-1, 60-2, and others. It takes effect October 26, 2026.

So the hours goals, the contract specs, and the step list are on their way off the books. DOL's own words in that rule say the rescission "largely maintains the status quo," because enforcement already stopped.

VEVRAA is a statute, so an executive order could not end it. Section 503, the disability law, also survives in a narrower form after its own 2026 rule. This post stays on the veteran side.

Do construction contractors need a written VEVRAA plan?

Yes, once you cross both lines. This is the fork that catches builders.

The EO 11246 world told builders they did not write a plan. VEVRAA never made that carve-out. Its plan rule is 41 CFR 60-300.40. It applies to "every Government contractor" with 50 or more employees and a $200,000 contract. OFCCP's compliance manual said the same in its construction chapter. So a builder with 50 or more employees and a covered contract must write a VEVRAA plan.

The rule asks for four things:

• Timing: Build the plan within 120 days after the contract starts.
• Location: Keep one at each establishment.
• Updates: Review and update it every year.
• On request: Send it to OFCCP within 30 days of a request, unless the request says otherwise.

The contents match what a supply and service firm writes. That includes a policy statement, outreach, the hiring benchmark, and the applicant and hire data. Our guide to the sections of a VEVRAA affirmative action plan walks through each one. The benchmark math is in our VEVRAA hiring benchmark explainer.

What differs is the workforce you count. A builder's crew size swings with each job. You may hire 40 carpenters in March and lay off 30 in October. The 50-employee line counts your people, so a busy season may push you over it.

How does the plan work across jobsites and a home office?

A supply and service firm has offices and plants. A builder has a yard, a home office, and jobsites that open and close. The rule says "each establishment," and that word fits a plant better than a bridge job.

OFCCP's older construction FAQ answered this. It pointed to its Construction Contractors Technical Assistance Guide. That guide gave two ways to build the veteran and disability plans:

1. Company-wide: One plan for the firm. It must split out by trade and by area.
2. By geographic area: One plan per area. Records are kept by trade at each project, then added up.

Part of that advice tied to the Section 503 disability goal, which the 2026 rule removed. So treat it as a starting point, and confirm the layout with counsel.

Your plan follows your people, not just the federal job

The same FAQ said covered contractors must comply at all worksites unless something exempts them. Its example was a firm with a federal job in California. That firm had to comply at the California site and at its other U.S. sites too. One covered federal contract or subcontract can pull your whole workforce into the plan.

OFCCP also scheduled construction reviews by area, not by building. Those areas are groups of counties. In a review, OFCCP could ask for records on any of your projects in that area. Federal or not, they counted.

Which project jobs go on the state job bank?

Every covered contractor must list openings with the state workforce agency's job bank or the local employment office. Our post on the VEVRAA mandatory job listing rule covers the basics. Project hiring hits four parts of the clause harder than most fields do.

• Short jobs: Jobs lasting three days or less are outside the listing rule. A two-day cleanup crew may not need a listing.
• Temporary jobs: Temporary work of more than three days is inside the rule. A six-week concrete crew counts.
• Recall lists: Openings you fill from a regularly established recall list count as filled from within. Those can stay off the job bank.
• Timing: The listing must go up at least at the same time as any other recruiting you do.

The recall line has a catch. Once you decide to consider people outside your company for that opening, the exception ends. You can read the full clause at 41 CFR 60-300.5.

Unions and hiring halls

Many builders fill craft jobs through a union hall. VEVRAA speaks to unions in two places. The contract clause says you must tell each union you bargain with that you are bound by VEVRAA. The plan rule says you must tell union officials about your policy and ask for their help.

The listing clause does not mention hiring halls by name. So how a hall referral fits the listing rule is a question for counsel. Ask it before your next big project staffs up. Our guide to hiring veterans in union workplaces covers the practical side of working with a local.

Your subs matter here too. The clause flows down to covered subcontracts. Our post on VEVRAA subcontractor flow-down clauses shows how to pass it on.

What does a construction audit look like now?

Builders had their own audit letter. OFCCP called it the Construction Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing. A revised version applied to reviews scheduled on or after October 1, 2024. It asked for records under three laws at once: EO 11246, Section 503, and VEVRAA.

That letter looked different from the supply and service letter in a few ways:

• Payroll by project: OFCCP asked for payroll data split out by each named project.
• Union records: One item asked which unions and trade groups supply your workers. Firms that use none were told to say so.
• Who counts: Data covered on-site trade workers plus supervisors, inspectors, and forepersons.
• Selection tools: Another item asked for every test and screening tool used to hire.

Much of that letter served the EO 11246 program. In July 2025, Secretary's Order 08-2025 let OFCCP resume VEVRAA and Section 503 work. The same order closed all pending compliance reviews. It also dropped the scheduling list released in November 2024.

As of October 2026, we could not confirm a new construction letter built for VEVRAA alone. Watch for one, and plan as if it will ask for the veteran items. That means your plan, benchmark, outreach records, union notices, and applicant and hire data. Our walkthrough of an OFCCP compliance evaluation on the veteran side shows how a review runs.

One audit difference written into the rule

VEVRAA has a pre-award review for awards of $10 million or more. The rule names "formally advertised nonconstruction" contracts and negotiated contracts. A sealed-bid construction award is not on that list. A negotiated construction award may be. Ask your contracting officer which applies to you.

What should a construction contractor do this month?

You do not need a new compliance department. You need to answer five questions and fix the gaps. Work them in this order.

Then look at outreach. Under the old program, you kept lists of recruitment sources for women and minorities. VEVRAA asks for outreach to protected veterans, and a yearly check on whether it worked. A builder can start close to home. Base transition offices and Registered Apprenticeship programs are two good places to look. Our guide to setting up a Registered Apprenticeship for veterans shows one path. It also builds your craft bench.

What to Do Next

Compliance is the floor. The real reason to do this well is the people. Many service members spent years running crews, heavy equipment, and tight build schedules. Seabee builders and Army horizontal construction engineers often fit your trades with little retraining. Our guide to hiring veterans for construction roles maps those jobs to yours.

A written plan also needs a real source of veteran applicants. That is where we come in. Best Military Resume adds over 1,000 new profiles every month. Our members have built 75,185 resumes on the platform. Your outreach log needs a source you can name and measure. A talent pool you can search fills that line.

If you are a midsize builder with a direct federal job, start with one hard-to-fill opening. Reach out to access BMR's veteran talent pool. Or, if you want a longer partnership for your hiring program, see how partnering with BMR works.