Guide 2 of the series

Your first WH-347, field by field

The January 2025 form, one field at a time. Step through it with the buttons or the arrow keys; the part of the form you are filling lights up, and the Department of Labor's own instruction sits beside it.

Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Weekly Certified Payroll Form (page 1)

Project name
Example Pump Station
Project no. or contract no.
EXAMPLE-26-C-0041
Certified payroll no.
7
Business name
Reyes Construction (example)
Project location
Example County, State
Wage determination no.
XX20260001 Mod 3
Week ending date
6/20/2026
Business address
100 Example St, Anytown
☐ Submission of final DBRA certified payroll form☐ Prime contractor☑ Subcontractor
(1A) to (1E) Worker: entry no., last, first, MI, identifying no.(2) J / RA(3) Labor classificationST / OT(4) Hours worked each day(5) Total hours(6A) Rate paid, ST and OT(6B) Total fringe credit(6C) Cash in lieu(7A) Gross, this project(7B) Gross, all work(8) Deductions for all work: tax, FICA, other, total(9) Net pay, all work
S
6/14		M
6/15		T
6/16		W
6/17		T
6/18		F
6/19		S
6/20
1ReyesAnaL4471JElectricianST888884035.00630.000.001,400.001,505.00180.60115.130.00295.731,209.27
OT2252.50105.00
2OkaforDan9120RAElectrician, apprentice level 2ST88883221.000.00480.001,152.001,440.00172.80110.160.00282.961,157.04
OT0
2OkaforDan9120JLaborerST8824.000.0096.00288.00
OT0

A schematic of the January 2025 form with made-up numbers. The highlighted part is what this step describes.

Step 1 of 23 · Header

Say which project, which week, and who you are

Project name and location (the complete address or, where there is none, a description that at least names the county or counties and state), the project or prime contract number the agency assigned, your business' legal name and address, the wage determination number(s) and revision number(s) in the contract (all that applied to this week's work), the week ending date, and the certified payroll number: start at 1 and count up, one per weekly payroll. Check PRIME CONTRACTOR or SUBCONTRACTOR, and check SUBMISSION OF FINAL DBRA CERTIFIED PAYROLL FORM only on your last week of work on the project.

The final box is a statement that this is your final certified payroll on the project. Check it once, on the last payroll, not out of habit.

All 23 steps as text, to read or print
  1. 1. Header: Say which project, which week, and who you are. Project name and location (the complete address or, where there is none, a description that at least names the county or counties and state), the project or prime contract number the agency assigned, your business' legal name and address, the wage determination number(s) and revision number(s) in the contract (all that applied to this week's work), the week ending date, and the certified payroll number: start at 1 and count up, one per weekly payroll. Check PRIME CONTRACTOR or SUBCONTRACTOR, and check SUBMISSION OF FINAL DBRA CERTIFIED PAYROLL FORM only on your last week of work on the project.Watch: The final box is a statement that this is your final certified payroll on the project. Check it once, on the last payroll, not out of habit.
  2. 2. Columns 1A to 1E: The worker: entry number, name, identifying number. Beginning with 1, give each worker an entry number (1A), then last name, first name and middle initial (1B to 1D) and an identifying number (1E), for example the last four digits of the Social Security number. A worker who did two kinds of work in the week appears on two rows with the same entry number.Watch: Never the full Social Security number, address, telephone number or email on the payroll you submit; those stay in your own records, where the rule requires them (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(B); (a)(3)(i)(B)).
  3. 3. Column 2: Journeyworker or registered apprentice. Enter J for a journeyworker or RA for a registered apprentice in a program approved by the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) or a State Apprenticeship Agency (SAA); for an apprentice, also list the level of progression within the program. A worker not individually registered in such a program is paid the full journey-level rate and marked J (29 CFR 5.5(a)(4)(i)).Watch: Marking RA means box 4 on page 2 and its apprenticeship table must be filled in.
  4. 4. Column 3: Labor classification. The classification for the work the worker actually performed, as the wage determination in your contract names it. A worker who did two kinds of work gets a row for each, with the hours split between them and each paid at least that classification's rate. If the determination has no classification for work someone performed, contact the Contracting Officer or agency representative immediately.Watch: Without an accurate breakdown of hours by classification, all of the worker's hours are owed at the highest applicable rate, basic plus fringe (the DOL instructions; 29 CFR 5.5(a)(1)(i)). Box 3 on page 2 certifies the classifications are the work actually performed.
  5. 5. ST / OT rows: Two rows per worker: straight time on top, overtime below. The unnumbered column between 3 and 4 marks the two rows: ST (straight time) on top, OT (overtime) below. Hours, rates and totals for straight time go on the top row and for overtime on the bottom row.Watch: On contracts covered by the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (generally federal contracts over $150,000 under FAR procurement, and other covered or federally assisted contracts over $100,000, per DOL's overtime page; 29 CFR 5.5(b) says in excess of $100,000), hours over 40 in the workweek are overtime at one and one-half times the basic rate, fringe excluded; the FLSA's 40-hour rule can apply where CWHSSA does not, and some states add daily overtime rules on their own public works.
  6. 6. Column 4: Hours worked each day. Write the first letter of each day of your workweek on the top line and the dates on the line below (a workweek can start on any day), then the hours worked on this project each day: straight time on the ST row, overtime on the OT row. On CWHSSA-covered contracts, hours over 40 in the week count as overtime, counting hours worked on and off the site of the work.
  7. 7. Column 5: Total hours for the week. The sum of the hours in column 4, totaled separately on the ST row and the OT row.
  8. 8. Column 6A: Hourly wage rate paid, ST and OT. The hourly rate actually paid, straight time on the top row and overtime on the bottom row. This is the cash wage rate only: cash paid in lieu of fringe benefits is not part of it.Watch: On the straight-time row, the rate here plus the per-hour plan credit from the page-2 table plus any cash in lieu paid per hour must reach the determination's basic rate plus fringe for that classification. Columns 6B and 6C then carry the week's totals of those two.
  9. 9. Column 6B: Total fringe benefit credit. The total for the week of your contributions to, or reasonably anticipated costs of, bona fide fringe benefit plans, funds or programs for this worker. A weekly total, not an hourly figure: hourly credit times hours.Watch: Any amount here means box 5 on page 2 and its Hourly Credit for Fringe Benefits table must be completed, plan by plan.
  10. 10. Column 6C: Payment in lieu of fringe benefits. The total cash paid to the worker this week in place of fringe benefits. Also a weekly total. If you have no plans, the determination's whole fringe amount is owed here, in cash, for every hour.Watch: Cash in lieu is paid as wages on the check and belongs in the worker's gross pay (columns 7A and 7B); it is not a deduction and not part of 6A.
  11. 11. Column 7A: Gross amount earned on this project. What the worker earned this week for hours on this federal or federally assisted project.
  12. 12. Column 7B: Gross amount earned for all work. If the worker also worked elsewhere this week, the week's total gross for all work. Deductions and net pay are figured on this number, so when a worker only worked this project, 7A and 7B are the same.Watch: If 7B is higher than 7A, the deductions in column 8 and the net in column 9 must match the whole paycheck, not the project share.
  13. 13. Column 8: Deductions for all work. Tax withholdings, FICA, Other, and the total, taken from the worker's gross for all work (7B). One Other deduction is described under Additional Remarks on page 2; several need an addendum itemizing each. If the worker also worked other jobs, do not pro-rate: show the actual deductions from the whole week's pay.Watch: Deductions must follow the Copeland Act regulations (29 CFR part 3): those listed in 29 CFR 3.5 (taxes, court orders, benefit fund contributions with the worker's written consent, union dues under a collective bargaining agreement, and a few more) need no approval; anything else needs the Department of Labor's prior approval (29 CFR 3.6). Box 6 on page 2 certifies no other deductions were taken.
  14. 14. Column 9: Net pay to the worker for all work. The dollar amount actually paid to the worker for the week across all projects: column 7B minus column 8. It should match the pay the worker received.
  15. 15. Page 2 header: The same project and week, and the person certifying. Project name, project or contract number, payroll number, your business name, project location, week ending date, and the certifying official's name and title: the person who paid or supervised the payment of the workers for this week.
  16. 16. Box 1: The payroll is correct and complete, and the rates meet the determination. You certify that the payroll information is correct and complete for this project and period, and that the wage and fringe benefit rates paid, counting any credit for bona fide fringe plans, are not less than the rates in the wage determination incorporated into the contract, for the classifications of work actually performed.Watch: Boxes 1, 2, 3 and 6 are checked on every certified payroll; they are the certification itself.
  17. 17. Box 2: Your payroll records are complete and available. All regular payrolls and other basic records you are required to maintain for this period are complete and accurate and will be made available on request to the agency or the Department of Labor.Watch: Keep them for at least three years after all the work on the prime contract is completed (29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i); 29 CFR 3.4(b)).
  18. 18. Box 3: The classifications are the work actually performed. The classification reported for each worker is the classification of the work that worker actually performed.
  19. 19. Box 4: Apprentices are registered. Check this box only if any worker was paid as an apprentice. You certify that each is registered in a bona fide program registered with the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) or a State Apprenticeship Agency (SAA), and you list each program's name, whether it is OA or SAA, and the classification. With no apprentices, the table reads Not Applicable.
  20. 20. Box 5: How fringe benefits were paid. Check this box whenever fringe benefits were paid, in cash and/or to bona fide plans, funds or programs. If you paid the whole fringe as cash (column 6C), check the box and leave the table empty. If you claim a credit for plan contributions (any amount in column 6B), the Hourly Credit for Fringe Benefits table lists each plan's name, type and number, whether it is funded or unfunded, and the hourly credit claimed for each worker, with the total hourly credit.Watch: An unfunded plan (benefits you provide yourself rather than pay a trustee) counts only with the Department of Labor's prior approval (29 CFR 5.28; 5.5(a)(1)(v)). More than six plans needs an addendum.
  21. 21. Box 6: Full wages paid, no impermissible deductions. All workers on the project were paid the full weekly wages earned, and no rebates or deductions have been or will be made, directly or indirectly, other than permissible deductions as defined in 29 CFR part 3.
  22. 22. Additional remarks: Explain anything unusual. Space for information on deductions, the hourly cost of fringe benefits, or anything on page 1 that needs a word: a worker on two classifications, a mid-week rate change. Required when column 8 shows a single Other deduction, which is described here; otherwise optional. More than fits goes on a separate page carrying the same contractor and project information.
  23. 23. Signature: Sign, date, and give a phone number and email. The person who paid or supervised the payment of the workers signs and dates the statement and gives a phone number and email. The statement need not be notarized. A legally valid electronic signature is acceptable (an electronic process that records acceptance and verifies the signer's identity); a photocopied or scanned signature is not. Then the payroll goes, within 7 days after the regular payment date, to the agency if it is a party to your contract, or to the applicant, sponsor or owner that keeps the records, for transmission to the agency; a subcontractor normally hands it to the prime, who is responsible for every subcontractor's payrolls (29 CFR 3.4(a); 5.5(a)(3)(ii)(A)).Watch: The form's own words: willful falsification of any of the statements may subject the contractor or subcontractor to civil or criminal prosecution (18 U.S.C. 1001 and 31 U.S.C. 3729) and debarment. The DOL instructions add that the statement is subject to the penalties of 18 U.S.C. 1001, a fine, imprisonment of not more than five years, or both, and that the signer should know the facts. Certify numbers you can account for.

The form itself, and its instructions

Download the real form and read the instructions from the source: dol.gov, Form WH-347 (Form WH-347, Rev. January 2025, OMB No. 1235-0008, expires 01/31/2028). Using the form is optional; providing the same information weekly with a signed Statement of Compliance is required. For the longer column-by-column reference, see our WH-347 instructions.

Where CertifiedPayrollPro fits

Each step above says where it happens in the app. Workers and classifications are entered once, hours by day, the determination is linked so the rates are checked, and the WH-347 comes out signed. The first 3 certified payroll reports are free, with no credit card. Delivery stays yours; the app files nothing with any agency.

Start free with 3 reports

Sources, pulled on 2026-10-02

Every rule on this page comes from one of these, pulled from the government site on the date shown and written against that text. Open them; they are the authority, not us.

Keep going

Start here: certified payroll for the newly assigned

Who files, to whom, when, and your first week in order.

WH-347 instructions, column by column

The longer reference for every field, with common mistakes.

WH-347 checklist

A printable checklist from the header to the signature.

Fringe benefit calculator

What columns 6B and 6C should hold for your crew.

WH-347 Walkthrough: Every Field of the Certified Payroll Form (2025 Form) | CertifiedPayrollPro