What is certified payroll? A contractor's guide to Form WH-347

Certified payroll is one of those construction paperwork requirements that sounds simple until you actually have to file it. For federal and federally assisted construction projects, the proof that you paid your workers correctly is usually submitted on Form WH-347, the U.S. Department of Labor's certified payroll form.

Here's the part many small contractors miss: Form WH-347 is not just a payroll summary — it's a signed compliance statement. When you sign it, you're certifying that the wages, classifications, fringe benefits, deductions, apprentice status, and payroll records are all correct. A wrong classification, a missing fringe benefit, or an incomplete report can turn into back wages, payment holds, contract problems, or worse.

What is certified payroll?

Certified payroll is a weekly payroll report that contractors and subcontractors must submit on government-funded construction projects to prove they paid every covered worker the required prevailing wage. On federal jobs it is filed on Form WH-347 and includes a signed Statement of Compliance certifying the wages, hours, and classifications are correct.

A certified payroll report usually includes:

• Your business information and prime/subcontractor status
• The public project name, location, and contract number
• The payroll week the report covers
• Each covered worker's identifying information and work classification
• Daily and weekly hours, split into straight-time and overtime
• Fringe benefit credits or cash paid in lieu of fringe benefits
• Gross wages, deductions, and net pay
• A signed Statement of Compliance

The word "certified" is what matters. It means someone with responsibility for payroll is signing that the information is correct and that the workers were paid according to the applicable prevailing wage rules.

Certified payroll vs. regular payroll

This trips up almost every first-timer, so let's be blunt: certified payroll is not a different way to pay your workers. Regular payroll answers "What did we pay our employees?" Certified payroll answers "Did we pay every covered worker correctly under the prevailing wage rules for this public project?"

• Regular payroll → pays your workers and handles taxes. Private and public jobs alike.
• Certified payroll → a government report proving prevailing-wage compliance. Public works only.

That's why a normal payroll report from QuickBooks, Gusto, ADP, or your accountant usually isn't enough by itself — those systems don't track wage determinations, classifications tied to the work performed, fringe credits, apprentice status, or the public-vs-private hour split. See does QuickBooks do certified payroll? for the details. Certified payroll sits on top of your normal payroll; it doesn't replace it.

Certified payroll vs. prevailing wage: what's the difference?

People use these terms interchangeably, but they're two different things:

• Prevailing wage is the required wage rate — base plus fringe — for a specific classification of work in a specific location.
• Certified payroll is the weekly report that proves you paid it.

Put simply: the wage determination tells you what you must pay, your payroll system shows what you paid, and certified payroll proves the two match. New to prevailing wage entirely? Start with the first-timer's prevailing wage guide.

What is Form WH-347?

Form WH-347 is the standard federal certified payroll form used for Davis-Bacon and Related Acts projects. It has two main parts:

• The payroll report — where you list workers, classifications, hours, wages, fringes, deductions, and net pay.
• The Statement of Compliance — where an authorized person certifies that the payroll is correct and that workers were paid at least the required prevailing wage.

Technically, WH-347 is optional. Covered contractors must submit certified payroll information weekly, but they may use another format if it contains the required information and includes the Statement of Compliance. In practice, WH-347 is the form most contractors recognize, and many contracting agencies, prime contractors, and project owners expect it. For the box-by-box walkthrough, see how to fill out WH-347, or skip the typing with the free certified payroll generator.

Who has to file certified payroll?

You may need to file certified payroll if your company works on a covered federal or federally assisted construction project. Under the Davis-Bacon Act, any federal contract over $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public works must pay on-site laborers and mechanics no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits. The "Related Acts" extend that to work funded through federal grants, loans, and other assistance. Common covered trades include:

• Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, concrete, carpentry, drywall
• Painting, roofing, welding
• Laborers, equipment operators, and other on-site construction labor

Certified payroll is not just for prime contractors. Subcontractors also file certified payroll when their work is covered — for their own crews. A small electrical subcontractor with five workers on a school renovation can have the same weekly obligation as a much larger contractor. See the guide for first-time subcontractors.

Who is actually covered on the report?

Certified payroll generally covers laborers and mechanics who perform physical or manual work on the covered project site. A few rules that catch small contractors off guard:

• 1099 workers can be covered. Independent-contractor status doesn't automatically exclude someone. If a person performs covered labor or mechanic work on the site, they may still need to be paid prevailing wage and reported.
• Working foremen. If a foreman or supervisor performs manual trade work on-site for more than 20% of their hours in a workweek, they lose exempt status for that period and must be listed and paid the prevailing wage for the work performed.
• "Helpers" are mostly gone. DOL has eliminated most general helper classifications. If a worker performs journeyworker-level tasks, you must pay the full journeyworker rate — regardless of internal job title.
• Apprentices must be registered. Apprentice rates only apply to workers individually registered in a bona fide program (DOL-ETA or a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency). If you exceed the program's apprentice-to-journeyworker ratio on a given day, the extra apprentices must be paid the full journeyworker rate for that day.

Genuinely administrative, executive, professional, or inspection-only staff are usually not covered — as long as they aren't doing manual trade work on-site. When in doubt, ask the contracting agency or a qualified compliance professional before leaving someone off the report.

How prevailing wage rates are set

The required rates come from a wage determination issued by the DOL for each trade and locality. As of the 2023 Davis-Bacon final rule — the first major overhaul in nearly 40 years — the DOL sets rates using a sequential "three-step rule":

• Step 1 — Majority: if more than 50% of workers in a classification earn the same rate, that's the prevailing wage.
• Step 2 — 30% threshold: if no majority, the rate paid to at least 30% of workers is used.
• Step 3 — Weighted average: if no rate reaches 30%, a weighted average of reported wages is used.

Average ("SU") rates are now periodically updated using Bureau of Labor Statistics data so they don't go stale between surveys. The practical takeaway for you: don't guess a rate off the internet — pull the wage determination from your contract documents (or SAM.gov) and build those exact base and fringe rates into your bid.

Fringe benefits: the part that trips everyone up

Prevailing wage is not just the base hourly rate — it includes a separate hourly fringe benefit amount. You can satisfy the fringe obligation with cash, with bona fide benefits, or a mix. The form keeps these separate, and putting a number in the wrong column is one of the most common errors. There are two kinds of fringe plans:

• Funded plans — you make regular (at least quarterly), irrevocable contributions to a third party: health insurance premiums, pension/401(k), union trust funds. No DOL pre-approval needed to take the credit.
• Unfunded plans — you provide the benefit directly (PTO, holidays, self-administered coverage). These need a written, legally enforceable commitment, money set aside at least quarterly, and written DOL approval (via unfunded@dol.gov) to count as credit.

The annualization principle

You can't divide a benefit's cost only by the hours worked on the government job to inflate your credit. The annualization principle requires dividing the total annual benefit cost by all hours worked — public and private — to get the hourly credit. (When hours aren't documented otherwise, DOL assumes a 2,080-hour work year.)

One exception: certain defined-contribution pension plans with immediate participation and essentially immediate vesting (100% within 500 hours) are exempt from annualization, so the full hourly contribution can be credited on covered hours. Getting fringe math right is exactly where spreadsheets quietly go wrong — see the WH-347 Excel template guide.

When is certified payroll due?

Certified payroll is a weekly requirement. On covered Davis-Bacon work, workers generally must be paid weekly, and reports are typically due within seven days after the regular pay date for that period. Payrolls are numbered consecutively starting at "1," and the last one is marked "Final."

For weeks when your crew didn't work the covered project but the job is still active, you don't just skip it — you file a "no work" report (or a Statement of Non-Performance) to keep the numbering and audit trail intact. You usually submit to the contracting agency, prime contractor, funding recipient, project owner, or a required portal — not directly to the Department of Labor. Always check your contract; some projects mandate a specific electronic system.

How to fill out Form WH-347 (the short version)

Here's the flow end to end. For the full box-by-box detail, see how to fill out WH-347.

1. Project and contractor header

   Legal business name and address, prime/subcontractor status, payroll number, week-ending date, project name and location, contract number, and the wage determination number.

2. Each worker's name and ID

   Worker entry number, name, and an individual identifying number — the last four digits of the SSN, never the full number. Keep complete records separately. Mark each worker as a journeyworker or registered apprentice.

3. Work classification

   Use the classification for the work actually performed, matching the wage determination — not the job title. If a worker did two trades in one week (say 30 hrs electrician, 8 hrs laborer), split the hours by classification on separate rows.

4. Hours, day by day

   Daily straight-time and overtime hours, then the weekly total for the covered project. Keep any private-job hours separate in your records.

5. Wage rate, fringe credit, and cash in lieu

   Report the hourly wage paid, the bona fide fringe benefit credit, and any cash paid in lieu of fringes — each in its own field. Don't bury fringe payments in the wrong column.

6. Gross, deductions, net

   Gross earned on the project (and total gross for all work when the form asks), itemized deductions permitted under the Copeland Act / 29 CFR Part 3, and the actual net paid. The numbers should reconcile.

7. Sign the Statement of Compliance

   Page 2 is the certification — that the payroll is correct, classifications match the work, wages and fringes meet the determination, records are kept, and any apprentices are properly registered. It must be signed by someone who paid or supervised payment and knows the facts. An unsigned statement makes the whole submission invalid.

Common certified payroll mistakes to avoid

• Using the wrong wage determination — it should come from the contract documents, not a random online rate.
• Job titles instead of classifications — "foreman," "helper," or "tech" may not match the determination or the work performed.
• Not splitting multiple classifications — if you can't show the breakdown, you may owe all hours at the highest applicable rate.
• Treating 1099 workers as automatically excluded — covered on-site labor is covered regardless of pay arrangement.
• Forgetting or miscalculating fringe — including cash-in-lieu, and the annualization math.
• Reporting full Social Security numbers — use the last four digits only on the weekly submission.
• Missing the Statement of Compliance — a payroll table without the signed statement isn't a complete submission.
• Assuming WH-347 satisfies state rules — many states have their own forms, portals, and deadlines.

State requirements stack on top of federal

About thirty-two states have their own prevailing wage laws — "Little Davis-Bacon" acts — covering state- and locally funded public works. On a job funded with both federal and state dollars, you have to satisfy both, and where they conflict, the higher rate or more protective standard wins. State rules often have their own forms, portals, deadlines, and even different overtime math — California, for example, requires daily overtime (1.5× over 8 hours, 2× over 12) and mandatory electronic filing on its own form, not the WH-347. A few of the big ones:

• California — monthly eCPR through the DIR portal (Form A-1-131). CA DIR eCPR guide →
• New York — electronic filing every 30 days as of 2026. New York guide →
• New Jersey — online through the NJ Wage Hub, 10-day deadline. NJ Wage Hub guide →
• Illinois — monthly IDOL filing, with personal liability for owners. Illinois guide →
• Washington — Intents, certified payroll, and Affidavits through L&I. Washington guide →
• Pennsylvania — weekly to each awarding body; no state portal. Pennsylvania guide →

Keep your records for three years

For Davis-Bacon projects, you generally have to preserve certified payrolls and the supporting payroll records for three years after all work on the prime contract is completed. Keep full SSNs, home addresses, and benefit documentation in your own files — only the last four digits of the SSN go on the submitted form. Agencies can ask to see the full records during an audit.

Do you need certified payroll software?

You can complete WH-347 manually — the DOL even provides a fillable form. Manual filing may be fine if you have one small project, a crew that rarely changes, everyone in one classification, and no separate state portal. It gets risky fast when:

• Workers perform multiple classifications
• You have apprentices and daily ratio rules to track
• You work in multiple counties or states
• Your crew changes week to week
• You split time between public and private projects
• You need state-specific forms or electronic filing
• Your GC holds payment until reports are accepted

For small subs, the hard part isn't typing numbers into a form — it's knowing whether the numbers are right before you sign. That's the whole reason this is stressful.

A simple certified payroll checklist

Before you submit your next report, check:

• Is this project covered by Davis-Bacon, a Related Act, or a state prevailing wage law?
• Do I have the correct wage determination from the contract?
• Did I use the classification for the actual work performed?
• Did I split hours for workers who performed multiple classifications?
• Did I confirm apprentice registration and daily ratios?
• Did I separate public-project hours from other work?
• Did I calculate fringe benefits — and annualization — correctly?
• Did I report cash in lieu of fringes in the right place?
• Did I avoid full Social Security numbers on the weekly submission?
• Did the right person sign the Statement of Compliance?
• Did I submit through the correct agency, prime, or portal — and save the records?

How PrevailComply helps small subcontractors

PrevailComply is built for small subcontractors who work on public projects but don't have a compliance department. The goal is simple: No Excel. No guessing. No Friday afternoon panic.

Instead of rebuilding Form WH-347 by hand every week, it organizes the project, worker classifications, hours, wage rates, fringe benefits, and the certified payroll report in one workflow — starting with the problems small subs feel first: federal WH-347 reporting, prevailing wage classification checks, fringe benefit and annualization math, weekly filing reminders, and the state-specific requirements where WH-347 isn't enough. If certified payroll is already taking over your Fridays, sign up for PrevailComply.

Certified payroll FAQ

The bottom line

Certified payroll is more than a form — it's weekly proof that your company paid the right workers the right prevailing wage for the right classifications. Form WH-347 helps organize that proof, but it won't protect you from using the wrong wage determination, missing a fringe benefit, misclassifying a worker, or signing an incomplete Statement of Compliance. Treat it as a weekly compliance process, not a Friday-afternoon data-entry task: get the wage determination, track the work by classification, separate the hours, calculate fringes correctly, and sign only when you know the report is right.

And if you'd rather not do all of that in Excel, the free certified payroll generator handles the math and produces a clean report, while the WH-347 walkthrough covers every box.

This guide is general information for small subcontractors, not legal advice, and reflects U.S. Department of Labor Davis-Bacon and WH-347 guidance reviewed in July 2026. Always confirm classifications, rates, thresholds, forms, 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.