Certified payroll guides

Who has to file certified payroll, what goes on it, how often, what the statement of compliance commits you to, and where the liability sits — with the regulation quoted.

What is common to every certified payroll portal, what to establish before your first submission, and why producing a correct form and filing it are two separate steps.

How certified payroll filing differs by state, covering California's eCPR, New York's electronic mandate and Illinois's Certified Transcript of Payroll — with the statute and agency for each.

The exact information federal regulations require on a certified payroll, quoted from 29 CFR 5.5, and how each item maps to a column of Form WH-347.

The January 2025 revision of Form WH-347, what actually changed on the page, and what is and is not established about when the previous version stops being accepted.

What the January 2025 WH-347 asks for, field by field, and how it differs from the layout most payroll systems still export — with the basis for each comparison stated.

If a payroll went in on the previous version of the form, here is the practical sequence — and an honest account of what is and is not established about whether it is a problem.

The widely reported date is September 30, 2026 — but no DOL notice establishing it could be located. Here is exactly what we checked, and what actually governs your project.

The regulation requires a payroll for each week in which covered work is performed. Why many agencies still want a no-work payroll, and how to find out what yours expects.

A column-by-column walkthrough of Form WH-347 (Rev. January 2025), including what changed on page 2 and the eight-worker limit that forces a second sheet.

Column (2) of the revised WH-347 asks you to classify every worker as a journeyworker or a registered apprentice. What the regulation requires before you can use the apprentice rate.

The WH-347 asks for a wage determination number. Where it comes from, how to read it, and why the copy in your contract matters more than the current one online.

How overtime works on Davis-Bacon jobs: the weekly forty-hour threshold under CWHSSA, why the multiplier applies to the base rate and not the fringe, and where state daily rules differ.

How the fringe portion of a prevailing wage obligation works: discharging it in plans or cash, what an hourly credit is, and where annualisation makes the arithmetic harder.

How the revised WH-347 reports fringe benefits: six plan columns, funded versus unfunded, cash in lieu, and the six-plan limit that catches mixed crews out.

Certified payroll is submitted weekly — but where does the widely cited seven-day deadline come from? What the regulation and the FAR clause actually say, and what governs your contract.

What actually happens when Davis-Bacon obligations are not met: withheld payments, back wages, $33-per-day liquidated damages for overtime, and three-year debarment under 29 CFR 5.12.

Under 29 CFR 5.5(a)(6) the prime contractor is responsible for compliance by any subcontractor or lower tier subcontractor. What that means in practice, quoted.