← State compliance tips
Certified PayrollState RulesNorth Carolina
State Rules

North Carolina Certified Payroll and Prevailing Wage Rules

There is no separate North Carolina prevailing wage law to track. Federal Davis-Bacon is the only rulebook that applies on a North Carolina job.

○ FEDERAL DAVIS-BACON ONLY

A purely state- or locally-funded North Carolina project generally has no prevailing wage or certified payroll requirement. That does not make North Carolina paperwork-free on a federal job, it just means the only rulebook is the federal one.

North Carolina has never enacted a state prevailing wage law for public construction.

North Carolina at a glance

  • No state prevailing wage law applies, only the federal Davis-Bacon Act on federally funded work.
  • A purely state- or locally-funded North Carolina project generally has no prevailing wage or certified payroll requirement.
  • On a federally funded or assisted job over $2,000, the standard WH-347 and SAM.gov rates apply exactly as they would anywhere else.

U.S. DOL: State Prevailing Wage Laws

What this means for your paperwork

There is no North Carolina form to add to the pile. A federally funded North Carolina project just needs the federal WH-347, filed weekly. Certified Payroll only handles the federal side: it checks the rate against the live SAM.gov wage determination and fills out the WH-347 with its Statement of Compliance. It does not file North Carolina's own state form, so budget for that as a separate step if a different state law ever applies.

Frequently asked

Does North Carolina have its own prevailing wage law?+

No. North Carolina has never enacted a state prevailing wage law for public construction.

Does Certified Payroll file North Carolina's state certified payroll form?+

Certified Payroll files the federal WH-347 under Davis-Bacon. Since North Carolina has no state form of its own to add, a federally funded North Carolina project only needs the one report, and that is what it handles.

This is a general informational summary, not legal advice, and covers state-level rules only. Verify current requirements with North Carolina's labor department or a qualified compliance advisor before relying on it.

Certified Payroll checks every rate against the live wage determination as you enter hours, then generates the completed WH-347 with its Statement of Compliance.

Start your first payroll free