What certified payroll is
Certified payroll is a weekly report of wages paid to every laborer, mechanic and other covered employee on a federally funded construction project, submitted with a signed statement certifying the report is accurate and that everyone was paid at least the required prevailing wage.
The "certified" part is not decoration. It is a signature on a legal certification, and signing one that is wrong carries real consequences.
Two things make certified payroll reporting different from ordinary payroll:
- It reports per project, per week, not per pay cycle across your whole company
- Every rate has to be checked against a wage determination, the government's minimum rate list for that trade, county and construction type
Certified payroll requirements at a glance
| Requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Who files | Contractors and subcontractors performing covered work on federally funded projects |
| Who it covers | All laborers, mechanics and other employees performing covered work on site |
| How often | Weekly, separately for each project |
| Deadline | Within seven days after the regular pay date for that period |
| Pay floor | Base rate plus fringe benefits, at least the wage determination rate |
| Certification | Signed Statement of Compliance, every week |
| Records | Kept three years after the prime contract is closed out |
| Enforced by | The U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division |
Who has to file it
Certified payroll reporting is required on construction contracts over $2,000 that are federally funded or federally assisted, under the Davis-Bacon Act. The rules are written and enforced by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
- Contractors and subcontractors performing covered work each file a report for their own employees
- The prime contractor is responsible for making sure every subcontractor's reports get submitted, not just their own
- Reports go to the federal agency if it is a party to the contract, otherwise to the applicant, sponsor or owner who forwards them on
If you are a subcontractor, you usually hand yours to the general contractor, and they pass it up the chain.
When it is due
Weekly, and this is one of the certified payroll requirements people most often get wrong. Under 29 CFR 3.4(a), each report is due within seven days after the regular pay date for that payroll period.
The trigger is the day your workers were paid, not the day the pay period ended. A period ending Sunday with payday the following Friday starts the seven days on Friday. Most guides leave this out, and it is where late filings come from.
Weeks with no work on the project usually still need a "no work performed" report, so the weekly sequence has no gaps. Agencies handle this one differently, so check the contract.
What goes on the report
The federal form is the WH-347. Page one is the payroll, page two is the Statement of Compliance. In short: contractor and project identification, then for each worker their name and identifying number, work classification, daily and total hours, rate of pay, gross earnings, deductions, net pay, and how fringe benefits were paid.
The form itself does no math and checks no rates. Every number on it is only as right as what you worked out before typing it in. Which certified payroll forms you actually need covers the WH-347 and the situational ones alongside it.
What "certified" commits you to
The Statement of Compliance on page two certifies that:
- The payroll is correct and complete
- Every employee was paid not less than the applicable wage determination rate, counting base pay and fringe benefits together
- No unlawful deductions were taken
It needs a signature from the owner, a corporate officer, or an authorized designee, every week. Not once at project start.
Records, and what happens when it goes wrong
- Keep records for three years after the prime contract is closed out, including hours worked in each classification and actual wages paid
- Contract funds can be withheld to cover unpaid wages and liquidated damages
- Debarment for three years, barring you from bidding on government work, is on the table for disregarding obligations: false payroll records, wage kickbacks, or repeated violations
Most problems are not fraud. They are a report that is internally consistent but checked against the wrong wage determination, the wrong classification, or a modification that changed mid-project. The mistakes that come up most are almost all of that kind.
Federal is not the whole picture
A federal WH-347 does not satisfy state prevailing wage requirements, and a state form does not satisfy the federal one. Roughly 30 states have their own prevailing wage law, form and filing cadence, and on projects covered by both, contractors file both.
Our state compliance overview covers whether a given state has its own law on top of Davis-Bacon. You can check the federal rates any report has to meet with the free wage determination lookup, and the glossary defines the terms that show up on the form itself.
Frequently asked
Is certified payroll the same as prevailing wage?+
No. Prevailing wage is the rate you have to pay. Certified payroll is the weekly report proving you paid it.
Do I need certified payroll for a private job?+
No, unless the contract says so. The requirement attaches to federal or federally assisted funding, not to construction generally. Some private owners do require it contractually anyway.
Who signs the Statement of Compliance?+
The owner, a corporate officer, or someone they have authorized in writing. Not automatically whoever prepared the payroll, unless that person is the authorized signer.
What if I made a mistake on a report I already submitted?+
File a corrected payroll for that week and pay any restitution owed. Correcting it yourself is treated very differently from an auditor finding it.
Do owners and working partners go on the report?+
Owners who perform covered manual work on the project generally do appear, since the requirement follows the work performed rather than the job title. Check with the contracting agency for your specific situation.