Certified payroll and prevailing wage: a field-first guide for contractors
Public work pays well and pays slowly, and the paperwork between the two is certified payroll. This guide explains what prevailing wage is, what a certified payroll report has to contain, where contractors usually go wrong, and what the time clock on site has to capture so the Friday report is a print job rather than a reconstruction. It describes the rules as of October 2026 and is not legal advice.
What prevailing wage is
On federally funded construction in the United States, the Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors and subcontractors on contracts above 2,000 dollars to pay workers at least the locally prevailing wage and fringe benefits for their classification, as published in the wage determination attached to the contract. Many states have their own prevailing wage laws for state-funded work, often called "little Davis-Bacon" acts, with their own rates and forms.
The wage has two parts: a base hourly rate and a fringe rate. The fringe can be paid into bona fide benefit plans or paid as cash on the cheque. Either way, the report has to show it.
What certified payroll is
Certified payroll is the weekly report that proves the prevailing wage was paid. On federal work it is form WH-347 or an equivalent, submitted for every week the contractor has workers on the project, signed with a statement of compliance by someone who can be prosecuted for a false statement.
• Each worker, with their classification for each hour worked on the project.
• Hours per day and total hours for the week, with overtime hours shown separately.
• The rate of pay, the fringe paid in cash or to plans, gross pay for the project and gross pay for all work, deductions and net pay.
• A signed statement of compliance covering fringe benefits and any apprentice ratios.
Reports are due weekly, usually within seven days of the pay date, to the prime contractor or the contracting agency. Late or missing reports can hold up progress payments for the whole project, which is why primes chase subcontractors for them.
State requirements that go further
• California: certified payroll records are filed electronically with the Department of Industrial Relations through its eCPR system, and apprentices must be employed at the required ratio.
• New York: the state Department of Labor publishes prevailing wage schedules by county and requires certified payroll on public work, with supplements shown separately from the base rate.
• Washington: intents and affidavits of wages paid are filed with Labor and Industries, and certified payroll must be provided on request within ten days.
• Illinois: certified payroll is filed monthly through the Department of Labor's portal.
In Canada, prevailing or fair wage rules come from provinces and municipalities rather than one federal act. Quebec's construction industry is governed by Act R-20 and the rates set through the Commission de la construction du Québec, and several Ontario municipalities, Toronto among them, apply fair wage policies to their own contracts.
Where contractors go wrong
• Wrong classification: a labourer who ran the excavator for three hours was paid as a labourer all day. The report has to split the day by classification.
• Fringe not accounted for: the cash equivalent of the fringe was never added to the cheque, or the benefit plan contribution was not documented.
• Hours not split by project: a worker on two jobs in one day shows all hours on one report, so the project totals and the gross-for-all-work column no longer reconcile.
• Overtime under the wrong rule: daily overtime owed under state law or the wage determination, but the report only shows weekly overtime.
• Reports reconstructed on Friday from memory, with hours that do not match the site log the inspector is holding.
What the time clock on site has to capture
Every mistake above traces back to something that was not recorded at the moment it happened. A time clock that supports certified payroll records, for each punch, the project, the classification of the work being done, the time and the site, and lets a worker or foreman switch classification during the day without losing the earlier hours.
It also has to keep its records. Davis-Bacon requires payroll records to be kept for three years after the project is complete; some state rules are longer. The record should include the original punch and every edit with the editor's name and reason.
How HourTrail is built for it
HourTrail captures project, cost code and classification on every punch, keeps the original punch next to any edit, and applies the overtime rule of the state or province where the work was done. Payroll and the client invoice come from the same approved hours, so the project totals on the certified report match the invoice. The product is pre-launch; the waiting list holds a numbered spot with founding-member pricing.
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