Utility scale solar development is one of the fastest growing segments of construction activity in Illinois and across the Midwest. As that growth has accelerated, it has raised a set of important questions for the industry: who is performing this work, how it is being structured, and whether workers are properly classified and paid prevailing wage consistent with long standing construction standards.
The Illinois Tri Trade Solar Agreement and its national successor, the National Tri Trade Solar Agreement, were developed to provide clear and consistent answers to those questions. This Legal Corner provides an overview of the agreement, its origins, and its practical implications for contractors, workers, and project owners operating in the expanding solar market.
As solar development scaled in Illinois, industry stakeholders engaged in discussions regarding how work on these projects should be allocated. Those discussions revealed a divergence in approach. Some trades favored maintaining traditional craft based jurisdictional lines, while others proposed more consolidated models that would assign broader scopes of work to fewer trades.
Absent a defined framework, that divergence created a risk that established jurisdictional boundaries and the classifications tied to them could become inconsistent across projects. In response, the International Union of Operating Engineers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Laborers’ International Union of North America worked collaboratively to develop a structure that would preserve established craft jurisdictions, support prevailing wage compliance, and promote labor stability.
The Illinois Tri Trade Solar Agreement is a project labor agreement framework specifically tailored to utility scale solar construction. It allocates work among the signatory trades in a manner consistent with established jurisdictional practices and applicable prevailing wage classifications.
The agreement typically covers the full scope of solar construction, including site preparation and grading, installation of racking and mounting systems, panel installation, electrical systems and interconnection, and general site labor.
By establishing jurisdictional expectations at the outset, the agreement reduces the likelihood of work stoppages, jurisdictional disputes, and project delays. It provides a predictable labor structure for developers and contractors, while ensuring that workers are employed under collectively bargained agreements with established wages, benefits, and safety standards.
The framework also supports compliance with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act by aligning scopes of work with recognized classifications, while also supporting compliance with Illinois Power Agency requirements and federal Davis Bacon prevailing wage obligations tied to clean energy tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Illinois framework has since been expanded into the National Tri Trade Solar Agreement, which applies a substantially similar structure across much of the country. Major developers and EPC contractors have increasingly adopted the national agreement as a standard component of utility scale project delivery.
For project owners and contractors, the national framework provides a defined labor structure and reduces the risk of jurisdictional disputes that can delay construction. For the trades, it helps ensure that established standards continue to apply as new energy technologies reshape the industry.
Its broader adoption reflects a practical reality: large, complex infrastructure projects benefit from clear and predictable labor arrangements that support both efficiency and compliance.
Illinois is expected to see continued growth in utility scale solar development under policies such as the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. The Tri Trade framework helps ensure that this growth occurs within a structure that respects established craft jurisdictions and maintains long standing labor standards.
More broadly, the agreement illustrates a central point: labor standards on major construction projects are not self executing. They depend on deliberate coordination, clearly defined agreements, and continued engagement by industry stakeholders.
The Illinois Tri Trade Solar Agreement and its national counterpart demonstrate how the construction industry can adapt to emerging technologies while preserving the standards that have long governed the work.