WH-347 Form: Your Complete Guide to Certified Payroll

Federal construction projects come with strict requirements. The certified payroll WH-347 form is mandatory under the Davis-Bacon Act. Missing deadlines, misclassifying workers, or calculating wages incorrectly leads to audits, penalties, and contract disqualification, and managing multiple projects with different prevailing wage rates makes compliance even harder. The U.S. Department of Labor publishes the WH-347 form, its annotated guide and an online fillable version to help contractors submit accurately.

Dapt is a tool that adds prevailing wage to the payroll you have. It connects the time tracking, payroll and accounting a contractor already runs; applies classification rates and fringe credit, produces certified payroll in federal, state and portal formats from the payroll record, and posts fully burdened labor cost to the job. Nothing is replaced. Each week's WH-347 comes from the payroll you already run in ADP, Paychex, Paylocity or Paycom.

This guide covers everything about the WH-347 certified payroll form. You'll learn who files, when to submit, how to complete each section, common mistakes to avoid, and ways to streamline compliance across all your projects. Whether you're handling your first prevailing wage job or managing dozens simultaneously, you'll get practical steps to stay compliant without excessive paperwork.

What is Certified Payroll Form WH-347?

WH-347 is the official document that contractors use to demonstrate wage compliance on federally funded construction projects. This form is a legal declaration with serious consequences if you get it wrong. Knowing what this document requires, why it exists, and whether your business needs to submit it helps you avoid compliance problems that can stop your projects and harm your professional standing.

Understanding the Davis-Bacon Act Requirements

The Davis-Bacon Act became law in 1931, establishing that contractors working on federal construction projects must pay workers prevailing wage rates. These rates are determined by the US Department of Labor based on specific geographic regions and trade classifications. Many of those published rates match local collectively bargained scales, which is why it helps to understand how prevailing wage differs from union wages. The federal law applies to any construction, alteration, or repair contract exceeding $2,000 that involves public buildings or public works. The Act stops contractors from winning bids by paying below-market wages, which would create unfair competition and damage local labor markets.

Congress expanded these protections through the Davis-Bacon Related Acts. These extensions apply prevailing wage standards to federally assisted projects funded through grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance programs. The scope of covered work reaches beyond traditional construction to include painting, electrical work, plumbing, drywall installation, and certain cleaning services performed on covered projects.

Any federal construction contract over $2,000 for building, altering, or repairing public structures triggers Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements.

The Purpose of Form WH-347

The WH-347 certified payroll form acts as the government's verification tool to confirm proper wage payments. Each report documents employee names, work classifications, and hourly wage rates (including fringe benefits), daily and weekly hours worked, deductions made, and actual wages paid. If you are working out the fringe portion yourself, see how to calculate fringe benefits per hour. The signed “Statement of Compliance” section transforms this payroll record into a legally binding certified document. This signature makes the person signing personally accountable for the accuracy of every piece of information provided.

Who Must File Certified Payroll Forms

Prime contractors with direct federal contracts and all subcontractors at every tier performing covered work must file form WH-347. This requirement includes companies building or repairing public structures like schools, highways, government facilities, and any firm performing construction-related activities on covered project sites. Prime contractors carry special oversight responsibility: They must submit their own reports and are responsible for the submission of certified payrolls by all subcontractors at every tier (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A)). This structure makes prime contractors accountable for subcontractor compliance issues as well.

{{banner-large-1="/banners"}}

When Certified Payroll Requirements Apply

Figuring out whether your project needs certified payroll reporting comes down to three main factors: where the funding comes from, how much the contract is worth, and what type of work you're doing. Getting clarity on these trigger points before you start work saves you from expensive headaches down the road. You'll want to understand federal thresholds, state-specific regulations, and which activities actually count as covered work.

Federal Construction Projects and Thresholds

Any federal contract over $2,000 for construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public works triggers Davis-Bacon requirements. This threshold has been in place since a 1935 amendment (the original 1931 Act applied above $5,000), meaning that virtually every federal construction project falls under these rules. The contract value encompasses all labor and materials for the complete project scope, not just individual change orders or specific phases.

Projects that receive federal financial assistance through grants, loans, loan guarantees, or insurance also require certified payroll reporting. These federally assisted projects create administrative challenges because funding structures often involve multiple agencies and complex arrangements. Highway construction funded through Department of Transportation grants, school renovations using HUD Community Development Block Grants, and environmental remediation projects with EPA funding all require compliance.

Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions have been added to more than 50 federal program statutes, on assistance agreements administered by agencies like HUD, EPA, and DOT.

State-Level Prevailing Wage Laws

About half of the states enforce their own prevailing wage laws (see the Department of Labor's table of state thresholds), and they work independently from federal requirements. State laws generally apply to construction contracts funded with state or local government money. Each state establishes its own threshold amounts, filing procedures, and wage determination processes. California, New York, and Illinois run particularly strict state prevailing wage programs with lower dollar thresholds than federal regulations. California's program runs through the Department of Industrial Relations; this guide explains how DIR certified payroll works in California.

Projects can face dual compliance obligations when they involve both federal and state funding. You might need to compare federal and state wage determinations for identical work classifications and pay whichever rate is higher. Some states accept the federal WH-347 form while others require their own certified payroll templates. In practice, the same weekly report goes to one or more of four places, none of which is a tool a contractor buys: the federal WH-347; each state's own form; California DIR eCPR, the state's electronic certified payroll portal; and compliance portals such as LCPtracker Pro. LCPtracker Pro is labor compliance software used by public agencies and prime contractors; the contractors working under them upload their certified payroll into it, and the agency checks it against the wage determination. This patchwork of requirements creates considerable administrative work for contractors operating across multiple jurisdictions.

Project Types That Trigger Compliance

Covered work goes well beyond traditional vertical construction to include numerous project categories. The table below breaks down common project types and their compliance status, helping you quickly identify whether your work falls under certified payroll requirements.

Renovation and repair work qualifies as covered construction when performed on public facilities. Painting government buildings, installing electrical systems in federal offices, and repairing HVAC systems in public hospitals all require form WH-347 submission. The line between maintenance and construction sometimes creates confusion: Routine upkeep generally doesn't trigger requirements, but substantial alterations do.

How to Complete the WH-347 Certified Payroll Form

Filling out form WH-347 requires careful attention to detail in every field. Mistakes can create audit risks, delay payment approvals, and potentially trigger investigations that damage your reputation with contracting agencies. This section walks you through each component of the certified payroll form WH-347, explaining what information goes in each field and how to avoid the most common errors contractors make during submission.

Required Contractor and Project Information

The top section of the WH-347 form captures essential identification details. Enter your business's legal name and full business address, mark whether you are the prime contractor or a subcontractor, and enter the project name, the project or contract number, the project location, and every wage determination number and revision that applied to the work that week. If you're working across multiple project sites under one contract, you might need to file separate reports for each location, depending on the contracting agency's requirements.

Certified payroll is weekly, whatever your pay cycle. The DOL's WH-347 instructions state that covered contractors and subcontractors are “required by the DBRA regulations and the contract clauses to submit payroll information on a weekly basis,” citing 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii). A contractor on a biweekly or semimonthly payroll still files one report per workweek, entered against the workweek ending date. Each report is numbered per project: “Beginning with the number ‘1’, each weekly certified payroll that a contractor or subcontractor submits for a project should be given a payroll number.” On the last report for the project, mark the box for the final submission.

Employee Classification and Work Details

Column 1 identifies each worker: an entry number (1A), last name, first name and middle initial (1B to 1D), and an individual identifying number such as the last four digits of their Social Security number (1E). Full Social Security numbers must not be included. List every person who performed any work on the project during the reporting period, regardless of how many hours they worked. Column 2 marks each worker as a journeyworker (“J”) or registered apprentice (“RA”), and Column 3 captures the labor classification for the work actually performed. This classification must match the labor categories listed in the applicable wage determination. Common misclassification errors occur when contractors assign workers to lower-paying categories than the work they actually performed.

When a worker splits the week across classifications, use a separate row for each. The DOL is explicit about what happens without that record: “If the contractor did not maintain an accurate breakdown of hours worked by a worker in each labor classification, the worker must be paid for all hours worked using the highest applicable prevailing wage rate (basic hourly rate and fringe benefits).”

Worker misclassification represents one of the most frequent audit triggers, with estimates suggesting that 10-30% of employers misclassify workers across construction projects.

Column 4 documents the hours worked each day on this project, entered as straight time (“ST”) and overtime (“OT”). Column 5 captures the total hours worked for the week, which should match the sum of daily entries.

Wage Calculations and Fringe Benefits

Column 6A shows the hourly rate actually paid for straight time and overtime, Column 6B the total fringe benefit credit taken for bona fide plans, and Column 6C any cash paid in lieu of fringe benefits. Contractors can satisfy fringe benefit requirements through actual benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, or paid leave, or by paying the fringe amount as additional cash wages. The Davis-Bacon fringe benefits guide explains that qualifying benefits include health insurance, retirement plans, life insurance, and approved training programs, but they specifically exclude items like tools, uniforms, mileage reimbursement, meals, or company equipment.

Column 7A tracks gross wages earned on this project, and Column 7B the gross for all work that week, including other projects. Column 8 lists all deductions taken from that total, including tax withholdings, FICA, and any other permitted deductions. Column 9 shows the net amount actually paid to the worker for all work that week.

Statement of Compliance and Signature Requirements

The bottom section contains the Statement of Compliance, which transforms your payroll report into a certified legal document. The statement does not need to be notarized, but it is subject to the penalties in 18 U.S.C. § 1001, so the person signing it certifies that the information is accurate and complete, that all workers received the required wages and fringe benefits, and that no kickbacks or deductions occurred except those documented on the form. This signature creates personal liability for the accuracy of every detail listed above it, making verification of all entries before signing necessary. The DOL instructions say it must be signed by the contractor or subcontractor, or their agent who paid or supervised the payment of the workers. Legally valid electronic signatures are accepted; photocopied or scanned signatures are not.

Streamlining Certified Payroll Compliance for Project-Based Teams

Submitting accurate certified payroll reports week after week across multiple projects creates real administrative challenges. Small mistakes compound quickly when you're managing dozens of employees working on different sites with varying wage determinations. Understanding what triggers compliance issues and implementing systems that reduce manual entry errors directly impacts your ability to scale operations without proportionally increasing back-office overhead.

Common Errors That Trigger Audits

The Department of Labor conducts investigations when inconsistencies appear in submitted reports. Worker classification errors represent the most frequent violation, e.g., paying a laborer rate to someone performing carpenter duties or listing an electrician as a general laborer. Each wage determination includes specific descriptions of what tasks fall under which classification. When investigators review your forms, they cross-reference job descriptions against the actual work scope documented in daily reports and project plans.

Incorrect wage calculations create another red flag. Contractors sometimes forget to include the full fringe benefit amount in total compensation calculations, or they fail to pay the correct overtime rate on hours exceeding 40 per week. On contracts covered by the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, overtime is at least one and one-half times the basic rate of pay, and fringe benefit amounts, whether paid into plans or as cash in lieu, are excluded from that calculation, per the DOL's guidance on overtime pay on government contracts. Missing this detail on even a few employees can result in substantial back-wage liabilities.

Signature authority violations occur when office staff without proper authorization sign statements of compliance, creating legal exposure for individuals who lack full knowledge of payroll accuracy.

Documentation gaps appear when contractors submit reports late, skip payroll periods entirely, or fail to include workers who only worked a single day on the project. Every person performing covered work during any part of the reporting week must appear on that week's form, whether they worked one hour or 40. Under 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i), payroll records must be preserved for at least three years after all the work on the prime contract is completed, yet many contractors lack organized filing systems that enable quick retrieval during audits.

Comparison of Manual and Automated Compliance Workflows

The difference between manual and automated compliance workflows becomes clear when you examine each component of the process. Here's how the two approaches compare across key operational areas.

Automating Certified Payroll Workflows

Integration between your time tracking, payroll processing, and compliance reporting systems eliminates repetitive data entry that creates transcription errors. When employees clock in and out using digital time collection tools, those hours should flow directly into your payroll system and then populate the appropriate fields on form WH-347 without manual intervention. A connection of this type ensures that the hours you pay match the hours you report, removing a common source of discrepancies that investigators notice during audits.

Dapt's Project Profitability Platform addresses certified payroll complexity through its Intelligent SYNCHRONIZATION Engine, which connects your existing systems. The platform pulls time data from tracking tools like QuickBooks Time, retrieves payroll information from providers including ADP and Paychex, and maps this information to specific projects and work classifications. This automation handles varying labor rates across different projects, calculates fringe benefit requirements, and generates compliant reports that meet Davis-Bacon standards. When you're managing construction crews across five different federal projects, each with unique wage determinations, the system applies the correct rates automatically based on where each employee worked each day. 

If you need support implementing automated compliance workflows that reduce administrative burden while maintaining audit readiness, contact us to discuss how integration can work with your current technology stack.

{{banner-small-1="/banners"}}

Staying Compliant Without Sacrificing Efficiency

Federal construction projects demand certified payroll compliance, and the WH-347 form lies at the center of meeting those obligations. You now understand the Davis-Bacon requirements, know when they apply to your work, and have step-by-step instructions for accurate completion. 

The difference between businesses that struggle with compliance and those that handle it smoothly comes down to systems. Manual processes create bottlenecks that limit growth, while connected platforms eliminate redundant work and reduce costly mistakes. 

Dapt is a tool that adds prevailing wage to the payroll you have. It connects the time tracking, payroll and accounting a contractor already runs; applies classification rates and fringe credit, produces certified payroll in federal, state and portal formats from the payroll record, and posts fully burdened labor cost to the job. Nothing is replaced. Payroll stays in ADP, Paychex, Paylocity or Paycom, and the same weekly record goes out as the federal WH-347, a state form, a DIR eCPR upload or a compliance portal submission.

Review your current workflow honestly: If you're spending hours each week manually transferring data between timesheets, payroll systems, and compliance forms, that's time you could redirect toward estimating new projects and improving margins. Start by documenting where information currently lives in your organization, identify gaps where data gets re-entered multiple times, then evaluate whether integration can give you both compliance confidence and operational capacity to take on additional work.

FAQs

Can I submit certified payroll WH-347 forms electronically, or do they need to be paper copies?

Most contracting agencies now accept electronic submission of certified payroll reports, though you should confirm the preferred method with your specific contracting officer. The Department of Labor publishes the WH-347 as a PDF and as an online fillable version, and legally valid electronic signatures are accepted. Dapt produces the weekly report in federal, state and portal formats from the payroll record, so the same data reaches the agency as a WH-347, a state form, a DIR eCPR upload or a compliance portal submission.

What happens if I discover an error on a WH-347 form I already submitted?

You should immediately submit a corrected report clearly marked as “Amended" or “Correction" with an explanation of what changed and why. Proactively correcting mistakes before an audit demonstrates good faith compliance and typically results in less severe penalties than errors discovered during investigations.

Do I need to submit separate forms for employees who worked on multiple projects during the same week?

Yes. When employees work on different covered projects during a single payroll period, you must allocate their hours and submit separate certified payroll reports for each project. Each report should only include the hours, wages, and classifications specific to that particular contract.

How long does it typically take to prepare weekly certified payroll reports for a mid-sized construction crew?

Manual preparation typically takes 2-4 hours per project per week for crews of 15-30 workers, depending on how many classifications you're managing. Automated systems can reduce this to 15-30 minutes by eliminating manual data entry and automatically applying correct wage rates.

Are truck drivers who deliver materials to federal construction sites required to be listed on certified payroll reports?

Drivers who spend substantial time on the project site beyond simple delivery may need to be included, but occasional deliveries typically don't trigger coverage. The determining factor is whether the driver is performing construction work at the site versus merely transporting materials, which often requires case-by-case evaluation based on specific duties performed.