What Form WH-347 Is, Who Files It, and How Often

David Gul · Last updated September 18, 2026

Form WH-347 is the U.S. Department of Labor’s optional form for the weekly certified payroll that contractors and subcontractors on Davis-Bacon covered construction work must submit. It is optional only in the sense that any document carrying the same information and the same Statement of Compliance would do; almost everyone uses the form, because a proper WH-347 satisfies the requirement in one document. It is two pages: the payroll on page 1, the Statement of Compliance on page 2. The current revision is January 2025.

Where the requirement comes from

The Davis-Bacon Act and the Related Acts require contractors on federal and federally assisted construction contracts to pay their laborers and mechanics no less than the prevailing wage and fringe benefits set out in the contract’s wage determination. The Copeland Act adds the reporting half: a weekly statement of the wages paid, certified by the contractor. The regulations that spell this out are 29 CFR part 3 (the weekly statement and permissible deductions) and 29 CFR 5.5 (the contract clauses, including the payroll clause at 5.5(a)(3)).

The contract clause says that the payrolls submitted must set out accurately and completely the required information for each laborer and mechanic, and that each payroll must be accompanied by a Statement of Compliance. It then says that proper execution of the optional Form WH-347 will satisfy the requirement for the Statement of Compliance. That sentence is why the form exists and why it is the one used.

Who files it

Every contractor and every subcontractor performing covered work on the contract, for every week in which any covered work is performed. A subcontractor’s payroll is submitted through the prime contractor, and the prime is responsible for the subcontractor’s compliance. A week in which no covered work was done does not need a payroll, though many agencies ask for a short note saying so, so the numbering stays continuous.

The person who signs is the contractor or subcontractor, or the officer or employee who supervises the payment of wages. The form’s page 2 asks for that person’s name and title, and the signature asserts personal knowledge of what the payroll says.

How often, and to whom

Weekly. The contract clause requires submission for each week in which covered work is performed, and 29 CFR 3.4(a) sets the delivery: within seven days after the regular payment date of the payroll period, to a representative of the contracting or financing agency at the site of the work. In practice most agencies name a submission route in the contract, on paper or through an electronic system, and the seven-day clock runs from the day the workers were paid, not from the end of the workweek.

Payrolls are numbered in sequence for the contract, and the last one is marked as the final payroll (the checkbox at the top of page 1 on the 2025 revision). The agency keeps them for three years after all the work on the prime contract is completed, and must produce them for the Department of Labor on request.

What the form contains

Page 1 is the payroll: one line per worker per classification, with the worker’s name, an identifying number, whether they are a journeyworker or a registered apprentice, the work classification from the wage determination, hours each day split into straight time and overtime, the hourly rate paid, the fringe benefits paid to plans or in cash, gross earned on this project and on all work, the deductions, and net pay. The column-by-column guide walks through each one.

Page 2 is the Statement of Compliance: four numbered certifications, a set of boxes about how fringe benefits were paid, an exceptions table, and the signature line. The Statement of Compliance guide covers what each one commits the signer to.

What the form does not contain

Since the 2023 rule change, the weekly submission does not carry Social Security numbers or home addresses. Column 1E asks for an individually identifying number, which in practice is the last four digits of the Social Security number. The full number and the address stay in the contractor’s own payroll records, which must be kept for three years after the prime contract is completed and produced on request. The records guide lists what those records must hold.

More in this series: How to Fill Out Form WH-347, Column by Column · The Statement of Compliance on Form WH-347: What Signing It Asserts · All certified payroll guides