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New battle over Davis-Bacon Act. The AFL-CIO hails a victory in federal court against changes in the law regulating wages on federally funded construction projects. But the US Chamber of Commerce is urging the Reagan administration to ''reform or repeal'' the controversial law.

The act specifies that ''locally prevailing wages'' must be paid on such construction work. Contractors complain that this can force artificially high rates.

Efforts to change or eliminate the law have been turned down by Congress in the past. Last year, the administration tried to put reforms into effect by directives, bypassing legislative action. A US District Court ruled that the changes were ''wholly inconsistent'' with the intent of Congress.

The chamber says the ruling is ''truly unfortunate,'' since it bars stretching federal construction dollars to provide thousands of additional jobs.m