What certified payroll is, who has to file it, and when

Certified payroll is a weekly report that lists every laborer and mechanic who worked on a federally funded construction job, what they were paid, and a signed statement that the pay met the wage determination in the contract. The requirement comes from the Davis-Bacon Act and the contract clauses in 29 CFR 5.5.

Who has to file

Every contractor and every subcontractor performing covered work. The rule says "the contractor or subcontractor must submit weekly, for each week in which any DBA- or Related Acts-covered work is performed." A second-tier sub with 2 employees on site for 1 week files for that week.

The Davis-Bacon Act itself covers federal contracts over $2,000 for construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public works. Dozens of other statutes, called the Related Acts, attach the same requirement to projects that receive federal money through grants, loans, loan guarantees, or insurance. HUD housing, highway work funded through the Federal Highway Administration, and water projects funded through the EPA are common examples. If your contract or the prime's contract has a Davis-Bacon clause and a wage determination attached, you file.

Who it goes to

If a federal agency is a party to the contract, payrolls go to that agency. If the money flows through someone else (a city, a housing authority, a school district), payrolls go to that applicant, sponsor, or owner, which forwards them to the federal agency.

In practice the sub sends payrolls to the prime, and the prime sends the full set up the chain. The regulation makes this explicit: "The prime contractor is responsible for the submission of all certified payrolls by all subcontractors." That is why a prime's compliance person will chase you on Monday morning.

When

Weekly, for each week in which covered work was performed. The regulation sets the deadline: within 7 days after the regular payment date of the payroll period (29 CFR 3.4(a)). The pay period is the contractor's own workweek; the form asks for the week-ending date.

Whether you must file anything for a week with no work on the project is a separate question. The federal clause requires submission for weeks in which work is performed. Many agencies and primes want a "no work" payroll anyway so the sequence stays unbroken. More on no-work weeks.

What goes on it

The weekly submission must include everything the contractor is required to keep in its basic payroll records, with 1 exception. For each worker:

• name and an individually identifying number
• classification or classifications of work actually performed
• hourly rates paid, including fringe contributions or cash paid in lieu of fringe
• daily and weekly hours, in total and on the covered contract
• deductions
• actual wages paid

The exception is privacy. Since the regulation was amended, "full Social Security numbers and last known addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses must not be included on weekly transmittals." The payroll uses an identifying number instead, such as the last 4 digits of the SSN or an employee number. The contractor still keeps the full information in its own records, and a prime may require a sub to provide it privately. More on identifying numbers.

The form

Form WH-347 is the Department of Labor's optional form for the report. The regulation says the information "may be submitted using Optional Form WH-347 or in any other format desired." Agencies, primes, and software all use the WH-347 layout because everyone downstream knows how to read it, and because page 2 of the form contains the Statement of Compliance with the exact wording the regulation requires.

The current revision is dated January 2025 (OMB control number 1235-0008). It added separate columns for last name, first name, and middle initial, made column 6A the basic rate alone, gave fringe paid to plans and fringe paid as cash their own columns, and replaced the withholding-exemptions column with the journeyworker or apprentice code. A column-by-column walkthrough.

What you sign

Each payroll must be accompanied by a Statement of Compliance signed by the contractor, subcontractor, or the agent who pays or supervises payment. You certify 3 things: that the payroll is correct and complete and the underlying records are being kept; that each worker was paid the full weekly wages earned with no impermissible deductions or rebates; and that each worker was paid at least the wage and fringe rates in the wage determination for the classification of work actually performed.

The signature can be handwritten or a legally valid electronic signature. Photocopied or scanned signatures do not satisfy the requirement; the electronic signature has to be the kind that identifies the signer.

Falsifying the statement is a federal offense. The clause cites 18 U.S.C. 1001 (false statements) and 31 U.S.C. 3729 (the False Claims Act). Contractors have been debarred from federal work for 3 years over falsified payrolls. More on the Statement of Compliance.

How long you keep it

Certified payrolls, the underlying payroll records, and the contract documents must be kept for 3 years after all work on the prime contract is completed. Not 3 years after your part is done: 3 years after the prime finishes. On a 2-year project where you worked the first summer, that can mean holding records for 5 years. More on retention.

What happens when it's wrong

The most common consequence is the least dramatic: the prime or agency rejects the payroll, and your progress payment waits until you fix it. Contracting agencies can also withhold funds from the prime to cover back wages found due to workers, and the prime will pass that pressure down.

Underpayments found in an investigation are owed to the workers with interest. Disregarding these obligations can lead to debarment. False statements on the certification carry criminal exposure. Most contractors never get near the serious end of that list; the rejected-payroll end is a weekly fact of life for anyone doing this by hand.

What certified payroll is not

It is not a separate payroll. You run payroll the way you always have, in QuickBooks or Gusto or with your bookkeeper. Certified payroll is a report built from those numbers, for one project, for one week, in the format the government reads.

It is also not a state requirement in itself. About half the states have their own prevailing wage laws for state-funded work, with their own forms and portals. Those are separate obligations with different fields. How the state systems differ.