The California DAS 142 form is the written request a public works contractor uses to ask an apprenticeship committee to dispatch apprentices to a job. Despite the name, it does not go to the Division of Apprenticeship Standards. It goes directly to the joint or unilateral apprenticeship committee that covers your craft and project area, and it has to arrive at least 72 hours before you need the apprentice on site.
When You Have to Send It
California requires contractors and subcontractors on public works projects to employ registered apprentices. DAS 142 is how you make the request, and it is your written proof of a good-faith effort if your compliance is later audited.
Two rules govern timing and scope. First, the form must reach the committee at least 72 hours before the apprentice’s report date, not counting weekends and holidays. Second, you need a separate DAS 142 for every craft. A job that needs electricians and plumbers takes two forms sent to two different committees.1Department of Industrial Relations. Request for Dispatch of an Apprentice – DAS 142 Form
There is one narrow exemption. If a project involves fewer than 40 hours of journeyworker labor in a given craft, the dispatch requirement does not apply to that craft. Otherwise, the 72-hour written request is mandatory, and requests must be for no fewer than eight hours of apprentice work at a time.
What Each Section of the Form Asks For
The form is one page and every field matters. An incomplete submission will not count as a valid dispatch request if questions come up later.
Apprenticeship Committee Information
At the top, identify the committee you are sending the request to: name, mailing address, phone, fax, and email. Sending the form to a committee that does not cover your trade and project location is treated the same as not sending it at all.
Contractor Information
Enter your business name and address, your contractor license number, your Public Works Contractor (PWC) registration number, and your phone, fax, and email. The PWC number links the request back to California’s public works contractor registration system.
Project Information
List the PWC project number, contract number, total contract amount, subcontract amount if you are a subcontractor, project name, and project address. These details let a committee or an auditor tie the request to the specific job.
Dispatch Request Details
The last block is the request itself: number of apprentices, craft or trade, report date, report time, the person on site they should report to, and the reporting address. Remember the 72-hour advance notice and the eight-hour minimum increment when you fill this section.1Department of Industrial Relations. Request for Dispatch of an Apprentice – DAS 142 Form
How to Submit and Prove You Submitted
The form itself states in capitals: “DO NOT SEND THIS FORM TO DAS.” Send it to the committee identified at the top. First-class mail, fax, and email are all valid, as long as the committee receives the request at least 72 hours before the report date.1Department of Industrial Relations. Request for Dispatch of an Apprentice – DAS 142 Form
Keep proof. A fax confirmation, an email read receipt, or certified mail tracking all work. If the committee replies that it cannot fill the request because no apprentices are available, keep that response too. It shows you made the effort even when no apprentice was dispatched.
Mistakes That Create Audit Problems
Timing is the most common failure. A DAS 142 that arrives fewer than 72 hours before the report date has not met the notice requirement, even if the committee processes it anyway. On audit, a late submission and a missing submission look the same.
Combining crafts on one form is the next. A single form listing “electricians and carpenters” is not a valid request for either. Two crafts means two forms to two committees.
The third is confusing DAS 142 with DAS 140. The DAS 140 reports contract award information for each craft on a public works project. The DAS 142 is the dispatch request. Filing the 140 without following up with a 142 for each craft leaves half the compliance picture undone.
What Noncompliance Costs
Two different Labor Code sections carry penalties, and they can apply at the same time.
Under Labor Code Section 1777.7, a contractor or subcontractor that knowingly violates the apprenticeship employment requirements faces a civil penalty of up to $100 per calendar day of noncompliance for a first offense. A second or subsequent knowing violation within three years rises to up to $300 per day when the noncompliance results in apprenticeship training not being provided. The Labor Commissioner may reduce these amounts when a penalty would be disproportionate to the severity of the violation.2Department of Industrial Relations. California Prevailing Wage Laws
Separately, if the failure to employ apprentices also leads to workers being paid less than the prevailing wage, Labor Code Section 1775 imposes penalties of $40 to $200 per day for each underpaid worker. The $40 floor applies when the underpayment was a good-faith mistake that the contractor promptly corrected once notified.3California Legislative Information. California Code, Labor Code – LAB 1775 A contractor who neither requested apprentices nor paid the correct prevailing wage can face daily penalties under both sections at once.