(

a) Any fuel reduction work, including, but not limited to, residential chipping, rural road fuel breaks, and firebreaks, done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds, as defined in subdivision (

b) of

Section of the Labor Code, except as specified in subdivision (b), subdivision (c),

Section 80202, or

Section 80203, shall be subject to the following standards:

(1) All workers employed in the execution of the contract to perform work that falls within an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades for which an apprenticeship program has been approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to

Section of the Labor Code shall be paid at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area, as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations pursuant to Sections and 1773.9 of the Labor Code, except that apprentices registered in programs approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards may be paid at least the applicable apprentice prevailing rate.

(2) All contractors and subcontractors shall maintain payroll records pursuant to

Section of the Labor Code and make those records available for inspection and copying as provided in that section.

(3) A contractor shall be registered pursuant to

Section 1725.6 of the Labor Code to be qualified to bid on, be awarded contracts for, or engage in the performance of, any work subject to the requirements of this section. For the purposes of this paragraph, “contractor” includes a subcontractor as defined by

Section 1722.1 of the Labor Code. (

b) This division does not apply to fuel reduction work that is awarded by a federal entity using solely federal funds under which federal prevailing wage requirements apply. (

c) This division is applicable only to work performed under contract and is not applicable to work carried out by a public agency with its own forces.