California Labor Code 1777.5: Ratios, DAS Forms, and Penalties

California Labor Code section 1777.5 requires contractors on public works projects of $30,000 or more to employ registered apprentices alongside journeymen in every apprenticeable trade on the job, contribute to apprenticeship training funds, and file specific paperwork on tight deadlines.¹ Miss a ratio, a contribution, or a filing window and the state can impose daily fines and, for repeat offenders, bar you from public work for up to three years.

Which Contracts and Contractors Are Covered

The $30,000 threshold applies to general contractors and to specialty contractors who bid directly on public work. If a direct contract sits below that number, the apprenticeship requirements do not apply to that contractor. Subcontractors working under a general contractor are covered regardless of their own subcontract amount, because the statute defines “contractor” to include any subcontractor performing public works not otherwise excluded by the exemption.¹

Covered projects include the full range of publicly funded construction awarded by state agencies, school districts, and local political subdivisions: road work, building repairs, utility installations, school construction, and similar improvements. Each trade classification on the job has to be checked against state guidelines to see whether it counts as an apprenticeable craft. If it does, both the apprentice employment and the training fund obligations attach to that trade.

Only workers registered in a program approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, and who have signed a written apprentice agreement under Labor Code section 3070 and following, count as apprentices for wage and ratio purposes.¹ Paying an unregistered worker at the apprentice rate is itself a violation.

The Apprentice-to-Journeyman Ratio

The default is one hour of apprentice work for every five hours worked by a journeyman. The calculation runs trade by trade using total straight-time hours across the whole project, not a daily or weekly snapshot, and overtime hours do not count on either side of the ratio.² If your electricians log 500 straight-time journeyman hours over the life of the job, the project needs at least 100 apprentice hours in that same trade before it closes out.

When the hourly method is not workable for a given craft, the Administrator of Apprenticeship can approve a headcount ratio instead: one apprentice for every five journeymen employed in that classification.¹ A joint apprenticeship committee may have its own approved ratio for its trade, and where that exists it controls.

Because the Department of Industrial Relations checks these totals at closeout, contractors on longer jobs need to track hours continuously. Trying to balance the numbers at the end rarely works, and a shortfall in a single trade is enough to trigger enforcement.

Training Fund Contributions

Every contractor employing journeymen or apprentices in an apprenticeable trade on public works owes training fund contributions. The per-hour amount comes from the prevailing wage determination for that craft in the county where the work is done.¹ The Director of Industrial Relations’ prevailing wage determination is the place to look up the current rate.

Where the contribution goes depends on the contractor’s affiliation. Contractors participating in an approved apprenticeship program that can supply apprentices to the project generally pay into that program’s local training trust fund. Contractors who are not affiliated with such a program, or who choose not to pay into a local fund, send their contributions to the California Apprenticeship Council instead.³ Payments to an approved local program count as a credit against what would otherwise be owed to the Council.¹ Non-union status does not exempt anyone from the contribution. The cost can be built into your bid.

Required Forms and Filing Deadlines

Two forms drive compliance: DAS 140 and DAS 142. Missing either deadline is where contractors most often get caught, and the fines run by the day.

DAS 140: Contract Award Information

Before starting work, each contractor must send contract award information to the applicable apprenticeship committees. Contractors approved to train send it to their own committee. Contractors not approved must send it to every apprenticeship committee in the relevant trades within the project’s geographic area.⁴ The form reports the estimated journeyman hours, the number of apprentices you plan to employ, and the approximate dates you will need them.¹

Under California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 230(a), the information must reach the committees within 10 days of executing the prime contract or subcontract, and in no case later than the first day workers are on site. If the awarding body asks for a copy, that goes out too.

DAS 142: Request for Dispatch of an Apprentice

When you actually need an apprentice on the job, DAS 142 is the formal request to the committee. It must reach the committee at least 72 hours before the apprentice is needed, excluding weekends and holidays, and can go by first-class mail, fax, or email.⁵ The form asks for the apprenticeable craft and the exact address of the work.

Post-Project Statement

Within 60 days after finishing work on the contract, every contractor and subcontractor must submit a verified statement of the journeyman and apprentice hours performed. It goes to the apprenticeship program, and to the awarding body if requested.¹ That final accounting is how the state confirms the ratios were met.

When the Committee Cannot Send an Apprentice

Committees do not always have workers to dispatch. If you send a DAS 142 and no apprentice is available, keep a written record of the request and the committee’s response. That documentation is your main defense in a Labor Commissioner audit. Without proof that you asked and were told none were available, nothing protects you from a ratio-violation finding. Contractors who skip the request and assume no one is available have no such protection.

Penalties for Noncompliance

Labor Code section 1777.7 sets the penalties, and they climb with repeat behavior:

First violation: a civil penalty of $100 to $300 for each calendar day the violation continues.
Repeat violation within three years: up to $500 per day.
Debarment: contractors with repeated violations can be barred from bidding on or working on any public works contract for up to three years.

These penalties reach ratio violations, unpaid training fund contributions, and missed filing deadlines alike.⁶ On a multi-month job, daily fines can eat a serious share of the margin. Debarment is the harder blow: three years without public work reshapes a contractor’s business.

If the Project Also Takes Federal Money

Section 1777.5 is state law, but a California public works project that also receives federal funding can carry a second layer of apprenticeship rules on top. Davis-Bacon projects require federal prevailing wages and federal apprentice classification standards, including paying registered apprentices no less than the rate in their program’s standards. For certain energy-related construction under the Inflation Reduction Act, projects that began construction in 2024 or later must have at least 15% of total labor hours performed by qualified apprentices from registered programs, and any employer with four or more workers on the job must employ at least one apprentice.⁷

Federal recordkeeping also goes further than California’s. Contractors on federally funded projects must keep payroll records showing hours by classification, actual wages paid, copies of dispatch requests, the registered program’s ratio, and daily ratio counts, all available to the IRS or Department of Labor on request.⁷ The daily ratio tracking is the piece state law does not require, and it is worth building into your project logs from day one if federal funds are in the mix.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1777.5
2
California Department of Industrial Relations. Division of Apprenticeship Standards – Minimum Ratios
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. California Code of Regulations Title 8 230.2 – Payment of Apprenticeship Training Contributions to the Council
4
Department of Industrial Relations. DAS 140 – Public Works Contract Award Information
5
Department of Industrial Relations. Request for Dispatch of an Apprentice – DAS 142 Form
6
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1777.7
7
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions About the Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Under the Inflation Reduction Act