- What it is: the federal weekly certified payroll report for Davis-Bacon (public works) projects.
- Two parts: the payroll grid (columns 1–9) and the Statement of Compliance you sign.
- The hard part: classifying workers by the work performed and getting fringe benefits right.
- Deadline: file within 7 days of the pay date — every week, including "no work" weeks.
- Must sign: an unsigned Statement of Compliance makes the whole submission invalid.
What the WH-347 actually is
WH-347 is the U.S. Department of Labor's standard form for the certified payroll report you must submit on Davis-Bacon projects — public works paid for, in whole or part, with federal money. Using the WH-347 itself is optional; what's mandatory is reporting the same information and signing the Statement of Compliance. Most subs just use the form because it lays everything out. It has two parts: the payroll grid, and the Statement of Compliance on the back.
If you're currently filling this out in Excel, that's where most people start — and it can work for simple situations. See the WH-347 Excel template guide for a field reference and a checklist of where spreadsheets create compliance risk.
Step by step: filling out the form
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Fill in the project header
Your company name; whether you're a contractor or subcontractor; the project name and location; the contract/project number; the week-ending date; and the payroll number. Number payrolls consecutively (1, 2, 3…) and mark the last one "Final."
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Column 1 — worker name and ID
Each worker's name and an individual identifying number (the last four digits of their Social Security number). Full SSNs and home addresses stay in your own records, not on the submitted form.
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Column 2 — withholding exemptions
Optional. You can leave it blank; it doesn't affect compliance.
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Column 3 — work classification
This is where most fines start. Classify each worker by the work they actually performed, not their job title. If someone did two trades during the week (say, electrician and laborer), list each classification on its own line with the correct rate for each.
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Column 4 — hours, day by day
Enter daily hours and split straight time from overtime. Overtime is generally paid at 1.5× the basic hourly rate. Total the week's hours per classification.
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Columns 5–9 — rate, gross, deductions, net
Rate of pay (including the fringe rate), gross amount earned, itemized deductions (FICA, withholding, other), and net wages paid for the week. Deductions have to be ones permitted under the regulations.
Fringe benefits: the part that trips everyone up
On the Statement of Compliance you check how you pay fringe benefits: box 4(a) if you pay into approved plans, funds, or programs, or box 4(b) if you pay fringes in cash. The key rule: for each classification, your base rate plus fringe must meet or exceed the total prevailing wage on the wage determination. If you pay part of the fringe in cash and part into a plan, you account for both. Miscalculating this is how subs accidentally underpay — which is the expensive kind of mistake.
The Statement of Compliance
Page 2 is a short legal certification that your payroll is correct and complete, that everyone was paid at least the required prevailing wage including fringes, and that you're keeping the required records. Fill in your company name and the payroll period, identify your fringe payment method, note any exceptions — and sign and date it. An unsigned or incomplete statement invalidates the entire submission, no matter how perfect the numbers are.
Don't forget the deadline (and "no work" weeks)
Submit your certified payroll within seven days of the regular pay date, every week the job runs. If your crew didn't work a given week but the project is still active, you still file a "no work" report for that week. Keep copies — certified payroll records typically must be retained for three years.
The six mistakes that cause fines
- Classifying by job title instead of the work actually performed.
- Miscalculating fringe or forgetting cash-in-lieu amounts.
- Missing apprentice documentation or exceeding the allowed apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio.
- Hours that don't match the timecards.
- An unsigned or incomplete Statement of Compliance.
- Missing the 7-day deadline or skipping a "no work" week.
Federal Davis-Bacon remedies can include back wages, withheld contract payments, contract termination, and 3-year debarment.
False or fraudulent payroll records may trigger separate civil or criminal laws, depending on the facts. There is no single generic Davis-Bacon fine for every incorrect or late payroll. Use the prevailing wage fine calculator to review common state-law scenarios.
Get the WH-347 compliance checklist
A two-page checklist that walks the whole form — setup, columns, fringe, the Statement of Compliance, and the deadlines — so nothing slips. Free, instant.
When to stop using Excel
Manual entry works until it doesn't. The warning signs: you have workers who switched trades mid-week, you're splitting fringe between cash and a health plan, you copied last week's spreadsheet and forgot to update the payroll number, or you're spending more than an hour on this every Friday and still not fully confident it's right. Those are the situations where an error is easy to introduce and hard to catch. See the full breakdown in the WH-347 Excel template guide.
The faster way
If you'd rather not key all this by hand, the free WH-347 generator does the base, overtime, and fringe math and produces a print-ready report. Covered work in California, New York, or Illinois may also require state reporting — see the California, New York, and Illinois guides.
This guide is general information for small subcontractors, not legal advice, and reflects U.S. Department of Labor WH-347 guidance reviewed in July 2026. Confirm classifications, rates, remedies, and filing rules against current official guidance, the project's wage determination, and the awarding agency's requirements. Have qualified counsel review regulatory claims before relying on them for a specific matter.