For contractors on public work
Certified Payroll for Arizona Contractors
What certified payroll is, when it usually comes up, and what to ask a payroll provider before you count on it.
Need certified payroll handled?
We'll match you with a payroll or PEO provider that prepares your WH-347s every week, keeps classifications and fringe in line with the wage determination, and gets them out on time so your pay isn't held up.
General information, not legal advice. Whether certified payroll applies to a job depends on the contract. Your contract documents, and the agency or prime contractor that issued them, are the final word.
What is certified payroll?
Certified payroll is a payroll report, signed by the contractor, showing that each worker on a covered project was paid at least the required rate for the work they did. It's most often associated with the federal Davis-Bacon Act and related laws, which set prevailing wage rates for construction work on certain public projects.
When does it usually come up?
- Federal construction contracts. The Davis-Bacon Act applies to contracts over $2,000 for building, altering, or repairing public buildings or public works on federal or District of Columbia contracts. U.S. Department of Labor
- Federally assisted projects. Prevailing wage requirements can also attach to projects paid for with federal grants, loans, loan guarantees, or insurance, often called "Related Acts" projects.
- Subcontracts. Requirements on a covered prime contract usually flow down to subcontractors, so a subcontract may ask for certified payroll even if you've never bid public work directly.
Many construction businesses never need certified payroll. If your work is private residential or commercial, it may never come up.
In Arizona, state and city projects generally can't require prevailing wages on their own, so the requirement usually comes from federal money. Prevailing wage in Arizona, explained.
How it's submitted
On covered federal projects, contractors submit certified payrolls weekly. The Department of Labor publishes an optional form, WH-347, and some projects use an online reporting system instead. Your contract will say which format and system to use. Step-by-step: how to fill out the revised WH-347.
What to ask a payroll provider
- Can you produce certified payroll reports for our projects, in the format our contracts require?
- Can one worker be paid different classifications and rates in the same week, with overtime calculated correctly?
- How are fringe benefits shown on the report?
- Who prepares, reviews, and signs each report, and what's the weekly deadline?
- Can reports be uploaded to the online system our project uses?
- Is certified payroll included in the quote, or priced per report or per project?
Not every payroll service supports certified payroll, and support varies between providers. Get the answers in writing before your first covered job. For the other questions to ask about hours, costs, and switching, see our guide to choosing a payroll service. Working Phoenix-area public jobs? See certified payroll for Phoenix contractors. For how certified payroll fits into running payroll week to week, see how to do construction payroll.
Workers' compensation reporting
Separately from certified payroll, workers' compensation premiums for construction businesses are usually tied to payroll by job classification. Ask whether a provider can report wages by the classifications your policy uses, and what reports you'll have for your insurer's audit. If you're comparing a PEO, ask whether workers' compensation is included and how your trades are classified. See how payroll only and a PEO differ.
Have a public project coming up?
PayMyCrew can talk through your needs and coordinate your certified payroll questions with the provider. A free 15-minute conversation, no payroll documents needed, no obligation to switch. Prefer a callback?
Information checked October 2026.