How to Fill Out Form WH-347 (Certified Payroll)

Contractors and subcontractors working on federal or federally assisted construction contracts that include Davis-Bacon wage requirements must submit payroll information every week. The DOL's instructions state that using Form WH-347 is optional, but the weekly payroll submission is not. You may use another format if it contains the same information and a signed Statement of Compliance with identical wording.

The prime contractor is responsible for submitting payrolls to the contracting or funding agency, including those of its subcontractors. The requirement comes from the Copeland Act (40 U.S.C. 3145) and the regulations at 29 CFR parts 3 and 5.

The DOL's form is marked with a revision date, and the January 2025 revision replaced the older version. Compare the revision date printed on the copy you are using with the form on the DOL's website, and ask your contracting agency which revision it accepts for the payroll you are submitting.

On December 16, 2025, the DOL announced an online fillable version of WH-347 and an annotated guide with visual instructions. The annotated guide is the best place to confirm which column holds which item on the current form, so this guide describes each item by name rather than by column number.

• Header. Enter your company, payroll number, week-ending date, project name and location, and contract number, and complete every other header field the form asks for from your contract.
• Worker identification. Each worker gets a row with name and an individual identifying number. The DOL says to use something like the last four digits of the Social Security number. Full Social Security numbers must not be included.
• Journeyworker or apprentice. Show whether each worker is a journeyworker or a registered apprentice in an approved program, using the codes in the DOL's instructions.
• Work classification. Use the classification that matches the work actually performed, taken from the contract's wage determination. If a worker performs work in more than one classification in the week, use a separate row for each and show the hours in each. If you cannot show an accurate hours breakdown, the highest applicable rate applies to all hours.
• Hours worked. Record hours per day, split between straight time and overtime, with a weekly total. For contracts covered by the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, overtime applies to hours over 40 in the week.
• Rate paid and fringes. The hourly rate actually paid may exceed the wage determination. Cash paid instead of fringes does not go in the hourly rate paid. Contributions or costs for bona fide fringe plans go in their own entry, which the DOL says should equal total hours multiplied by the hourly fringe credit. Cash paid in lieu of fringes goes in another entry, again hours multiplied by the hourly cash amount.
• Gross, deductions and net. Gross earnings are for the week on this project. Deductions must follow 29 CFR part 3, and apart from the exceptions in 29 CFR 3.5, deductions need prior DOL approval. Deductions are not prorated across projects: report the actual deductions taken from the worker's total weekly gross. Net pay is the actual dollars paid for all hours worked across projects.

Each weekly payroll must be accompanied by a signed Statement of Compliance. It certifies that the payroll is correct and complete, and that each worker was paid at least the required wage and fringe benefits. It must be signed by the contractor or an authorized officer or employee who supervises payment of wages. A handwritten or legally valid electronic signature is acceptable.

The statement is subject to 18 U.S.C. 1001, which carries a fine, up to five years' imprisonment, or both.

Older versions of the form had separate Statement of Compliance paragraphs for fringes paid to approved plans, funds or programs, fringes paid in cash, and exceptions. The January 2025 form describes fringes as paid "in cash and/or to bona fide fringe benefit plans, funds, or programs," and uses an hourly credit section for plan contributions.

The DOL's instructions say that if you claim an hourly credit, you must list plan information and the hourly credit for each worker, and that a mix of plan and cash payments goes in the credit section and in the cash in lieu entry. Claiming credit for an unfunded plan requires prior DOL approval under 29 CFR 5.28. Use the annotated guide to see how the Statement of Compliance on the current form is laid out.

Submit weekly. Prime contractors collect subcontractor payrolls and deliver them to the agency in the time and manner the contract specifies. Your contract or contracting agency tells you how and where payrolls are submitted.