Certified Payroll in California (DIR eCPR)

If you are a subcontractor about to run your first California public-works job, the biggest surprise is usually this: California does not want a paper Form WH-347. It wants an electronic certified payroll record (eCPR)submitted through the state's own online system. The rules overlap with the federal Davis-Bacon WH-347 you may have read about, but California adds its own registration, its own wage determinations, and — the one that trips people up — its own overtime rules.

Who runs certified payroll in California

Federal certified payroll is governed by the U.S. Department of Labor. California prevailing wage is governed by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), through its Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring Unit. On a state-funded or state-monitored public works project, you report to the DIR, not to the DOL. On a project that mixes federal and state money, both sets of rules can apply at once, and the higher wage rate governs.

Step 1: Register with the DIR (PWC registration)

Before you can bid or work on most California public works, your company must be registered as a Public Works Contractor (PWC registration) with the DIR and pay the annual fee. This came out of Senate Bill 854. Every contractor and subcontractor on the job needs an active registration — a general cannot list an unregistered sub. Confirm your registration is current before the job starts; an expired registration can hold up payment.

Step 2: Submit eCPR through the DIR portal

For projects monitored by the DIR (Labor Code section 1771.4), you furnish certified payroll records electronically through the state's eCPR systeminside the DIR's online public-works portal. You have two practical options:

• Key the data in online— type each worker's hours, classification, and rates directly into the eCPR web form. California's own reporting form is Form A-1-131, the state's Public Works Payroll Reporting Form — the DIR equivalent of the federal WH-347.
• Upload an XML file — generate a CPR XML filethat matches the DIR's published schema (schema version 1.3) and upload it to the same portal. This is the fast path once you have more than a handful of workers, because you are not retyping the same crew every week. On the Pro plan, Certiwage builds this file for you from a payroll you've already entered.

Like the federal form, a California CPR is filed weekly, per project. One California-specific wrinkle on the SSN: the federal WH-347 shows only the last four digits, but the DIR's eCPR upload requires each worker's full Social Security number inside the file itself (the portal then stores and displays it masked). Certiwage keeps only the last four at rest and asks for full SSNs only at the moment you generate an eCPR file — they are never saved.

California wage determinations and apprenticeship

California issues its own prevailing wage determinations, set by the Director of Industrial Relations and published by county and by craft. These are separate from the federal Davis-Bacon determination attached to your contract, and they are updated on a fixed schedule, so the classifications and rates you enter must come from the determination that applies to your project and time period.

Apprentices are handled through the DIR's Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS). If you employ apprentices, they must be registered in an approved program, and California has its own award and dispatch paperwork (commonly the DAS 140 and DAS 142) on top of the payroll record itself. Every worker's classification on the eCPR has to match a class that exists on the applicable determination.

The overtime difference that catches subs off guard

This is the single most important thing to flag. Federal Davis-Bacon and CWHSSA overtime is weekly only — the premium kicks in after 40 hours in the workweek. California prevailing-wage determinations generally require daily overtime: time and a half after 8 hours in a single day (and often double time past 12), plus premium pay on the seventh consecutive day. A crew can owe overtime in California even in a week under 40 hours.

Here is a worker who puts in four 9-hour days — 36 hours for the week:

The dollar math on each overtime hour follows the same prevailing-wage logic in both systems, and it is the other place subs overpay or underpay. Overtime is 1.5 times the basic hourly rate, with fringe added at straight time on top — it is not 1.5 times the whole base-plus-fringe package. Take a base rate of $40 and a fringe rate of $12:

OT hourly rate = (1.5 × $40) + $12 = $72.00, not 1.5 × ($40 + $12) = $78.00.

Applying the premium to fringe would overpay $6 an hour here — small per hour, but it compounds fast across a crew and a season.

Fringe benefits — still the number-one audit issue

Whether you file federally or in California, the prevailing wage is base rate plus fringe, and you have to prove you delivered both. You can satisfy the fringe portion by paying into bona-fide benefit plans, paying it as cash on the check, or a mix of the two — but the total package for each hour has to meet or beat the determination. Coming up short on fringe is the most common finding in a prevailing-wage audit, so it is worth checking the math before you certify, not after.

How Certiwage helps with California filings

Certiwage lets you enter your crew's hours and rates once and generates a correct, fringe-checked certified payroll report — with California's daily overtime and double-time premiums computed for you (over 8 and over 12 hours a day, plus the 7th-consecutive-day rule). On the Pro plan, one click exports a DIR eCPR XML upload filethat matches the CPR schema, so you won't have to retype the same crew into the web form every week. You can build your first federal WH-347 free in the builder to see exactly how the report comes together.

Verify before you file

California's requirements change, and the DIR's registration, eCPR system, forms, and XML schema are updated over time. Certiwage is a document-preparation tool — it is not legal advice, and it is not affiliated with the DIR or the U.S. Department of Labor. Always confirm the current DIR rules, the schema version the portal accepts, and the wage determination that applies to your project before you certify and submit. When in doubt, the DIR and your awarding body are the authorities.

Ready to see the numbers work? Build a report free in the WH-347 builder and check your fringe and overtime before your California eCPR is due.