eCPR XML reports, PWCR tracking, prevailing wage checks. We handle the DIR stuff so you can stay on the job.
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If you're working California public works, you answer to the DIR. Their rules are separate from federal Davis-Bacon, and usually stricter. Here's what you need to know.
Active PWCR
You need Public Works Contractor Registration. $400/year, renew every July, no exceptions.
Weekly eCPR submission
XML upload through the DIR portal, every week. Not monthly. Not when you feel like it.
Pay the DIR prevailing wage
Workers get the DIR's rate for their craft, county, and project type. It's usually higher than federal rates.
DAS-140 and DAS-142 forms
File DAS-140 for apprenticeship requests and keep your journeyman-to-apprentice ratios in line (usually 1:5).
Break out fringes
Health, pension, training — report them separately from the base hourly rate.
Skilled & Trained Workforce rules
Some CA projects need graduated apprentice percentages under AB 3018 and SB 54. Check your contract.
Everything you need for DIR eCPR reports without the spreadsheet headache.
Both are certified payroll. Different jurisdictions, different formats.
| Feature | Federal WH-347 | California eCPR |
|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Federal (DOL) | California (DIR) |
| Format | PDF form | XML file |
| Submission | To contracting agency | DIR online portal |
| Wage rates | Davis-Bacon | California prevailing wage |
| Typical rates | Lower | Often higher |
| Registration required | SAM.gov | PWCR ($400/yr) |
| Apprentice forms | Optional | DAS-140 / DAS-142 required |
| Applies to | Federal projects over $2,000 | CA public works over $1,000 |
PWCR is the DIR registration every contractor and sub on a California public works job has to keep active. No PWCR, no bidding, no working, no certified payroll. Period.
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Start Free TrialIt's the weekly eCPR you send to the California DIR on public works jobs. Proves your guys got paid the DIR's prevailing wage. Miss it and payments get held up.
eCPR stands for electronic Certified Payroll Record. It's California's digital version, submitted as an XML file through the DIR portal. You don't mail paper anymore on CA public works. The format tracks California's classification codes, fringes, and apprentice hours.
Yeah, you need it. PWCR is required to bid or work public works in California. It's $400 a year and you have to renew every July. No active PWCR means you can't submit certified payroll — and you shouldn't be on the job in the first place.
WH-347 is the feds' form for Davis-Bacon jobs. eCPR is California's state version, submitted electronically as XML to the DIR. CA prevailing wages tend to run higher than federal Davis-Bacon. If your project is both federal AND California public works, you file both.
We spit out the DIR-compliant eCPR XML file, ready to upload to the DIR portal. Pro and Enterprise plans include California reports. Direct API submission is coming.
DIR publishes CA prevailing wages by craft, county, and project type. You find them on the DIR website, and they reissue the sheets twice a year. Load the right rate sheet into CertifiedPayrollPro once and we check every week's payroll against it.
Yes. California requires a set journeyman-to-apprentice ratio on public works, usually 1:5. We track apprentice hours, handle DAS-140 compliance, and flag you when the ratio's out of whack.
DIR can hold your progress payments, hit you with penalties ($200+ per worker per day), and if it's bad enough, yank your PWCR. Our compliance checks catch problems before you submit so you don't end up there.
Go Pro for DIR eCPR XML, PWCR tracking, and apprentice ratio monitoring.
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