How to Fill Out Form WH-347 (Step by Step)

Filing your first certified payroll is nerve-racking, but Form WH-347 is really just a timesheet with a few extra columns and a signed statement on the back. You file one form per week, per project, for as long as your crew is on a Davis-Bacon job. Below is exactly what goes in every field. If you would rather have the math done for you, the free WH-347 builder fills all of this in and checks your fringe before you print.

Before you start: what you need

Have these four things in front of you:

• Your crew's daily hours for the week (Monday–Sunday).
• The wage determinationattached to your contract — this lists each classification's base rate and fringe rate.
• Each worker's deductions (FICA, federal withholding, etc.).
• The last 4 digits of each worker's Social Security number.

Never write a full SSN on the form. The DOL revised WH-347 years ago to take only the last four digitsas the worker's identifying number. Store the rest somewhere secure and off the form.

Step 1 — Fill in the header

The top strip of the form identifies the payroll. Go left to right:

• Contractor or subcontractor:your company name, and check the box that says which one you are. Subs check "subcontractor."
• Address: your business address.
• Payroll No.: start at 1for your first week on the job and number them consecutively (1, 2, 3…). Your final week is marked "Final" instead of a number.
• For week ending: the last day of that workweek — the same day every week, however your workweek is defined.
• Project and location: the project name and the city and state where the work is performed.
• Project or contract no.: the number the awarding agency assigned to the job.
• Wage determination no.: the DOL wage determination incorporated into your contract (for example, CA20240001).

Step 2 — Columns 1 through 9

Each worker gets two stacked rows: an O row for overtime hours and an S row for straight-time hours. Here is what belongs in each column.

• Column 1 — Name and identifying number:the worker's full name and the last 4 of their SSN.
• Column 2 — Withholding exemptions: optional. Most contractors leave it blank, and the DOL says you may.
• Column 3 — Work classification: the trade classification, and it must match a class on your wage determination (Laborer, Electrician, Carpenter, and so on). If one person works two classifications in the same week, give them a separate line for each.
• Column 4 — Hours worked each day: seven day columns. Put daily hours over 40 for the week on the O row and the rest on the S row.
• Column 5 — Total hours:the sum of that row's daily hours. Straight and overtime totals are added separately.
• Column 6 — Rate of pay: on the S row, write the base rate and any cash-in-lieu fringe as "$20.00/8.00" — base over fringe paid in cash. If you pay fringe into bona-fide benefit plans instead of cash, show only the base rate and check box 4(a) on page 2. On the O row, write the overtime hourly rate (see the math below).
• Column 7 — Gross amount earned: a diagonal split. Write the gross earned on this project above the line and the gross earned on all projects that week below it. If the worker only worked this job, the two numbers are the same.
• Column 8 — Deductions:FICA, federal withholding tax, two columns you label yourself, "Other," and a Total. Deductions are taken on allof the worker's pay, not just this project.
• Column 9 — Net wages paid for week: the all-projects gross from Column 7 minus the total deductions from Column 8.

Step 3 — Get the overtime rate right

This is the single most common mistake on a WH-347. Under Davis-Bacon, overtime is 1.5 × the basic hourly rate, plus the fringe at straight time — the fringe is not multiplied by 1.5. The formula is:

OT hourly rate = (1.5 × base rate) + fringe rate

A Laborer with a $20.00 base and $8.00 fringe earns (1.5 × $20.00) + $8.00 = $38.00 per overtime hour — not $42.00. Multiplying the whole $28.00 package by 1.5 overpays by $4.00 an hour, which auditors will flag. Here is a full week worked out.

The straight-time gross is 40 × ($20.00 + $8.00) = $1,120.00. The overtime gross is 10 × $38.00 = $380.00. Together the worker's gross for the week is $1,500.00, which goes in Column 7. If all 50 hours were on this project, that $1,500.00 appears both above and below the diagonal. For more on the fringe half of the package, see our guide to certified payroll fringe benefits.

Step 4 — Sign the Statement of Compliance (page 2)

The back of the form is the part that makes it "certified." It opens with "I, (Name of Signatory Party) (Title), do hereby state," followed by four numbered paragraphs:

1. Paragraph 1: you paid or supervised payment of the people on this payroll, took no unlawful rebates, and made only deductions permitted under the Copeland Act (29 CFR Part 3).
2. Paragraph 2: the payroll is correct and complete, and every rate paid is at least the rate required by the applicable wage determination, with classifications that conform to the work performed.
3. Paragraph 3: any apprentices listed are duly registered in a bona-fide apprenticeship program (a State agency or the DOL Office of Apprenticeship). If you have no apprentices, this simply does not apply to you.
4. Paragraph 4 — the fringe boxes: check the one that fits how you paid fringes. 4(a) = paid into approved plans or funds; 4(b) = paid in cash; and 4(c) = exceptions, where you list any craft that is handled differently and explain it. This must line up with how you wrote Column 6.

Add the name and title of whoever is signing, then sign and date it. The form carries a plain-spoken warning you should take seriously: willful falsification of any of these statements may subject the contractor or subcontractor to civil or criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 31 U.S.C. 3729. That is why it is worth getting the numbers right the first time.

A few things that trip people up

• File weekly, even for a $0 week.If your crew was on the site but did no covered work, some agencies still want a "no-work" payroll so the numbering stays continuous.
• Fringe is the number-one audit issue. Confirm that base plus fringe meets or beats the prevailing wage on the determination for every classification, every week.
• Match Column 6 to box 4.Cash fringe belongs in the "/8.00" part of Column 6 and box 4(b); plan contributions leave Column 6 showing base only and check box 4(a).

None of this is legal advice, and Certiwage is not affiliated with the Department of Labor — always check your report against your own wage determination before you sign. When you are ready to stop doing the overtime math by hand, our free WH-347 builder generates a print-ready form with the fringe checked for you, and upgrading unlocks unlimited weekly reports.