13.1 Prevailing Wage, DIR Registration, and Certified Payroll

Prevailing Wage, DIR Registration, and Certified Payroll

Quick Answer: If a roofing job is paid for in whole or part with public funds, it is a public work and three obligations attach at once: the contractor must be registered with the DIR (fiscal year July 1 to June 30, $400 per year, with one-, two-, and three-year options at $400, $800, and $1,200); every worker must be paid the general prevailing rate of per diem wages determined by the Director of Industrial Relations for the craft and the county; and certified payroll records must be filed electronically with the Labor Commissioner. Registration and certified payroll obligations key off project thresholds of more than $25,000 for construction and more than $15,000 for maintenance.

Public Works is 5 percent of the Law and Business exam. Small weight, high stakes — the penalties dwarf the margin on a roofing job.

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1. When Is a Roofing Job a Public Work?

A public work is generally construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or maintenance work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds. That includes:

• School district and community college reroofing
• City, county, and state facility roofs
• Special district buildings — water, fire, transit
• Housing and other privately-built projects that receive public subsidy or financing, which is a trap: a private-looking job can be a public work because of its funding source

Read the bid documents. If they reference prevailing wage, DIR registration, certified payroll, or Labor Code § 1720, the answer is yes. When in doubt, ask the awarding body in writing.

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2. DIR Public Works Contractor Registration

• Who: every contractor and subcontractor that bids on, is listed on a bid for, or performs public works.
• Term: by fiscal year, July 1 through June 30. Contractors may register or renew for one, two, or three fiscal years at $400, $800, or $1,200.
• Effect of not registering: an unregistered contractor's bid is generally non-responsive, and a prime that uses an unregistered subcontractor is exposed to penalties.
• Small project exemption: registration and the related reporting obligations are tied to project thresholds of more than $25,000 for construction work and more than $15,000 for maintenance work.

Note on currency: as of July 1, 2026 the Director may adjust the annual registration and renewal fees by publishing them on the DIR website without formal rulemaking. Confirm the current amount at registration rather than relying on a figure from a prior year.

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3. Reading and Applying a Prevailing Wage Determination

The general prevailing rate of per diem wages is determined by the Director of Industrial Relations by craft or classification and by county, and it is not a single number. A determination states:

Fringe benefits may be paid in cash or to a bona fide plan. A non-union roofing contractor commonly pays the entire total as wages; a contractor with a qualifying plan credits the plan contributions against the fringe portion. What is not permitted is paying only the basic hourly rate and ignoring the employer payments.

Overtime follows the determination, not your handbook. The determination specifies the overtime and holiday rules for the craft — which shifts, which days, and at what multiple. It may differ from the general California daily overtime rules in Section 10.4, and the determination governs on the public job.

Other determination-driven items: shift differentials, travel and subsistence, and the specific holidays recognized.

Classification matters. A worker performing roofing work is paid the roofer determination for that county. Paying a laborer rate for roofing work is a classic underpayment finding.

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4. Apprenticeship

Public works contracts above the statutory threshold carry apprenticeship obligations: submit the contract award information to the applicable apprenticeship committees, employ apprentices at the required ratio of apprentice hours to journeyman hours for the craft, and pay the training fund contribution stated in the determination (or to the California Apprenticeship Council where no approved program applies). Failure to request dispatch, or failure to employ the required ratio, is its own penalty category.

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5. Certified Payroll Records

• What: for each worker on the public job, each pay period — name and address, an identifier, classification, straight-time and overtime hours, the rate paid, fringe payments and to whom, deductions, and net pay — certified as true under penalty of perjury.
• How: submitted to the Labor Commissioner through the DIR electronic certified payroll reporting system, and furnished to the awarding body on request.
• When: on the schedule the project and the DIR system require, typically weekly or monthly; records must also be available for inspection.
• Retention: keep the underlying payroll records at least three years, consistent with Labor Code § 1174.

Non-reporting has its own penalties, independent of whether the workers were actually paid correctly. A contractor that paid every dollar of prevailing wage and failed to file is still exposed.

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6. Penalties for Getting It Wrong

Withholding from progress payments. The awarding body may withhold from payments to cover assessed wages and penalties, which means the money is gone before the dispute is resolved.

Debarment is the real risk. A roofing contractor whose business depends on school district work and loses the ability to bid for three years does not have a penalty problem; it has an existence problem. Price the compliance cost into the bid — accurate classification, correct fringe handling, apprentice dispatch, and someone who owns the certified payroll filing every week.