WH-347: how to review a subcontractor's report line by line

To review a subcontractor's WH-347, check each worker line against your project's wage determination and then check the Statement of Compliance on the second page. For every worker, confirm the classification is listed, the rate is at least the base rate, hours over 40 carry overtime, and gross pay equals rate times hours.

This guide is for the prime who receives the form rather than fills it in. It walks through the order we would read one report in, what a missing or wrong entry looks like, and the email that gets it fixed. Whether the form is the federal WH-347 or a state report, the review works the same way; where a rule differs by state or contract, the contract and your agency win.

What is on a WH-347 that a prime should check?

The form lists one row per worker for the week: name, an identifier, classification, hours by day, total hours, rate, gross pay and deductions. A prime's review is the comparison of those rows with your wage determination:

• Classification. The title written on the row must be one your determination lists, or an alias you have accepted. A title that is not on the list is an exception to resolve, not a rate to guess.
• Rate. The hourly rate must be at least the base rate for that classification. If the report shows a single total rate, it should be at least base plus fringe, unless the sub pays fringes into bona fide plans.
• Overtime. Where a worker's hours exceed 40 in the week, overtime hours should be shown, paid at 1.5 times the base rate.
• Gross pay. The figure should equal the rate times hours, with the overtime premium included.
• Identifier. The report needs only the last four digits of a social security number, not the whole number.

How do you check the Statement of Compliance?

Look at page 2 for a signer, a title, a date and a signature. A report with the statement blank or unsigned is not complete, however clean the rows are. Note also which way the sub says fringes are paid: to plans or in cash, because that changes what the rate column must show.

Your tool or spreadsheet cannot decide that the person signing is the right person. It can only tell you the fields are blank. A person on your side still reads the statement.

What errors come back most often?

Four exceptions cover most of what a reviewer finds:

1. A classification that is not on the determination, often a trade title a foreman wrote from habit.
2. A rate under the base rate, or under base plus fringe when the sub reports a total.
3. A worker over 40 hours with no overtime hours, the most common slip in a week with a long day.
4. An unsigned or half-filled Statement of Compliance.

Beyond rows, check that the payroll number follows the previous week's with no repeat or skip, and that the week-ending date is the one you expected. The sample run shows these exceptions on a fictional library job: one paying a laborer under base, one with a worker at 46 hours and no overtime, one unsigned statement and a classification not on the table.

What do you send the sub to fix it?

Name each worker line and the problem, in plain text, and say what you need back. A useful correction email has:

• the project and the week ending;
• one line per problem: the worker, what the report says and what the table says;
• the link where the corrected report goes, so the new file replaces the old one and the old one stays in your records.

An invented example: "Week ending 10/12, Harbor Street job: J. Alvarez is listed as Laborer at $26.10; the base rate on our table is $28.40. Please correct and re-upload."

How do you do this review without reading every PDF by eye?

Sub Certified Payroll reads text PDFs, Excel and CSV payrolls and checks each worker line against the wage table you enter. You approve each report before it counts, and a scanned PDF has no text to read, so you type its rows beside the file. The checks are the ones above: classification on your table, rate against base or base plus fringe, overtime on hours over 40, gross pay, and a filled-in, ticked Statement of Compliance. Apprentice and trainee rows are listed for you to review rather than checked.

The check does not choose the right classification, look at a worker's hours on other projects, apply state daily overtime or apprentice ratio rules, or verify payments to fringe plans, and it never says a report is compliant or will be accepted. You can try it on the sample job with no sign-up.

For the wider process, see how to collect certified payroll from subcontractors each week, a certified payroll review checklist to keep beside you, and a comparison of software for certified payroll.

FAQ

What is the WH-347 form used for?

It is the Department of Labor's optional form for the weekly certified payroll a contractor or subcontractor on a covered public-works job submits. A prime collects its subs' reports and reviews them before submitting them with the pay application.

Is the WH-347 required, or can a sub use its own format?

The WH-347 is an optional-use form; a payroll with the same information can be accepted instead, and many states have their own report. Ask your agency or contract which one it requires.

How long must certified payroll records be kept?

Sub Certified Payroll keeps reports until three years after you mark a project complete, the period in 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3)(i). Your contract or state may require longer, so check it.