Guide / Construction
Certified payroll reporting and Form WH-347: where the hours go
Certified payroll reporting is the weekly payroll record contractors on federal or federally assisted construction jobs must submit, with a signed Statement of Compliance. Form WH-347 is the U.S. Department of Labor's optional form for it. Most of the work is upstream: hours by classification, rates and fringe, checked before payroll runs.
01
What certified payroll reporting is
From the U.S. Department of Labor's WH-347 instructions, checked October 2026:
- Who. Contractors and subcontractors on federal or federally assisted construction contracts covered by the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.
- When. Payroll information every week.
- Signed. Each payroll comes with a Statement of Compliance: the payroll is accurate and complete, and every worker was paid at least the required prevailing wage.
- To whom. The federal agency if it is party to the contract. If not, the applicant, sponsor or owner who passes it on.
State prevailing wage jobs can have their own rules and forms. Check the contract.
02
What certified payroll form WH-347 asks for
WH-347 is optional. The information is not. Per worker, per week:
| Field | Note |
|---|---|
| Name and identifying number | For example, last four digits of the SSN. Full SSNs are not allowed. |
| Journeyworker or apprentice | "J" or "RA" for registered apprentice. |
| Labor classification | For the work actually done, from the job's wage determination. |
| Hours each day | Straight time and overtime, then the weekly total. |
| Hourly rates paid | Straight time and overtime. |
| Fringe benefits | Hourly credit for bona fide plans, or cash in lieu. |
| Gross pay | For this project, and for all work that week. |
| Deductions and net pay | What was withheld and what the worker got. |
A worker in two classifications gets a separate row for each, with the same entry number. The DOL also offers an online fillable version.
03
Where contractors lose time on certified payroll
- Retyping. Paper or app timesheets keyed into payroll, then again into the report.
- Classifications. A day split between trades has to be split on the report too.
- Fringe. Hourly credit worked out per worker and checked against the wage determination.
- Mixed weeks. Hours on the covered job separated from private work.
- Fixes after the fact. A wrong rate found after payroll means a correction and a resubmission.
04
Check before payroll runs
Most errors on the report start in the timesheet. Catch them there:
- Job. Every hour tied to a job. Covered work flagged.
- Classification. Every covered hour has one. Splits shown.
- Rate. Paid rate plus fringe checked against the wage determination.
- Overtime. Straight and overtime hours split by day.
- Approve. A person accepts each suggested fix. Nothing changes silently.
Clean lines then feed the payroll system and the weekly report from the same data.
05
Construction payroll software or a custom check
If you buy construction payroll software, check that it handles:
- Several classifications for one worker in one week.
- Your fringe plans and cash in lieu.
- Your wage determinations, kept current.
- The timesheets your crews already use.
If it does, buy it. If your time data is the problem, a review step in front of payroll fixes it without changing providers. deltaV builds and hosts that step for a monthly retainer; your data stays yours. See workflow automation and replacing spreadsheets.
The payroll review prototype shows the pre-payroll check with sample data: problem punches ranked, fixes suggested with their arithmetic, every hour costed to a job.
Questions
Direct answers
Is Form WH-347 required?
The form is optional. Weekly payroll information and a signed Statement of Compliance are required on covered federal and federally assisted construction contracts (U.S. Department of Labor, WH-347 instructions, October 2026).
Can certified payroll be signed electronically?
Yes, says the Department of Labor, if the process shows acceptance of the record and verifies the signer's identity (WH-347 instructions, October 2026).
What does a custom pre-payroll check cost?
It depends on complexity and the business case. Book a call and bring last week's timesheets.