How to Fill Out and Submit the RI Certified Weekly Payroll Form

Rhode Island’s Certified Weekly Payroll form is the DLT-prescribed record that contractors and subcontractors on covered public works projects use to document each worker’s hours, classification, wages, and fringe benefits for a single work week. You complete one form per week per employer, have an authorized signer certify the Statement of Compliance, and submit the batch of weekly forms to the awarding authority once a month, covering all work in the preceding month.¹

When the Form Is Required

Rhode Island’s prevailing wage rules apply to every public works contract over $1,000 with the state, a municipality, or a public or quasi-public agency for construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public works, plus school transportation services.² Once a project crosses that threshold, every contractor and subcontractor on it owes certified payroll reports to the awarding authority. Highway and bridge work, building renovations, heavy construction, and painting and decorating on public buildings all fall in scope.

Wages are set by the applicable Davis-Bacon Wage Determination on SAM.gov. Use the rates in effect on the contract award date and refresh them each July 1 to match any updated determination.³

Where to Get the Form

Download the DLT’s Rhode Island Certified Weekly Payroll form and its instruction sheet from the prevailing wage page at dlt.ri.gov.³ There is one alternative: on Department of Transportation or other road, highway, or bridge public works projects, you can use the federal WH-347 payroll form instead.¹ If the DLT opens an investigation, the director can still require you to resubmit on the state form or turn over your actual payroll records, whatever the project type.

Filling Out the Header

At the top of each weekly form, enter your business name and address, the project name, the project location, the week-ending date, and the Davis-Bacon Wage Decision number with its effective date.⁴ Look up the correct wage decision number for the project on SAM.gov.⁵

Filling Out the Payroll Grid

The body of the form is a row-per-employee grid. The DLT instructions call for the following columns:⁴

Employee name, residential address, and phone number for every worker on the project that week.
Work classification, using the exact trade title from the applicable wage determination.
Date and hours worked, split into project straight time (P.S.), project overtime (P.O.), and the form’s other categories, including holiday and related overtime hours.
Total hours for the week.
Hourly pay rate (base wage).
Hourly fringe rate, entered separately from the base wage.
Gross wages, calculated from hours multiplied by the applicable pay and fringe rates.
Deductions, itemizing federal and state taxes, FICA, and any authorized voluntary withholdings.
Net wages after deductions.

The final column asks you to list every prevailing wage project each employee’s time was charged to that week. That entry matters when a worker splits time across job sites.

Getting Work Classifications Right

Each employee’s classification has to match one of the trades in the project’s Davis-Bacon determination. A single Rhode Island wage determination on SAM.gov breaks out separate base and fringe rates for dozens of classifications, from hazardous material handlers to electricians to ironworkers.⁵ Listing a plumber as a laborer will draw an audit flag. If a worker performs duties in more than one classification during a day, split the hours between classifications.

Entering Fringe Benefits

Fringes get their own column so the DLT can confirm that base plus fringe meets or exceeds the prevailing rate. Two approaches are acceptable. You can pay the fringe portion into a bona fide plan or fund, such as a health trust, pension, or apprenticeship program, and enter the hourly contribution in the fringe column. Or you can pay the fringe portion in cash on top of the base rate, in which case that amount is added to the base and reflected in gross wages. The Statement of Compliance on the second page requires you to specify which method you used.

Signing the Statement of Compliance

The second page is a sworn declaration. An authorized signer, typically the business owner or a corporate officer, prints their name, title, and the date and signs to certify the payroll data is true and complete. Checkboxes on that page indicate whether fringes were paid into an approved plan, paid to employees in cash, or a combination. The signature is tied to the specific project and week-ending date at the top of the form, and it makes the signer legally responsible for every figure on the grid.

When and How to Submit

The form is filled out weekly, but the statutory submission cadence is monthly. Send the batch of weekly forms to the awarding authority once a month, covering all work completed in the preceding month.¹ Delivery method depends on the awarding authority: physical copies, email, or an electronic portal. Confirm the preferred channel with the contracting agency at the start of the project.

If the DLT director requests your payroll records directly during an investigation, you have 10 days to produce them.¹

The Separate Daily Log on Larger Projects

On any public works project where the general or primary contract is $1,000,000 or more, each contractor also has to keep a separate daily log for its own employees.¹ The DLT publishes a uniform daily log form, and it records each worker’s name, primary job title, and employer.⁶ The log stays on site and must be available for inspection at any time by the awarding authority or the DLT. Road, highway, and bridge projects are exempt from the daily log rule.

Recordkeeping and Public Access

Rhode Island requires employers to keep records of hours worked and wages paid for at least three years, and that window covers your certified payroll copies.⁷ The DLT can ask to see them at any point during that period.

Certified payroll records are public records under Rhode Island law, and anyone can inspect and copy them.⁸ Before release, each employee’s name, address, and Social Security number are redacted. The contractor’s name and address are not.

Penalties for Missing or Falsifying Payroll

The consequences escalate quickly:

Payment withholding. The awarding authority has to withhold the next scheduled payment to any contractor or subcontractor that fails to submit certified payrolls or respond to a DLT records request. No further payments issue until compliance is restored. When the offender is a subcontractor, the withholding is proportionate to that subcontractor’s share.¹
Daily fines. The DLT can impose a penalty of up to $500 for each calendar day of noncompliance with the payroll reporting rules, with a minimum of $100 per day. Simple errors or omissions in the daily log alone are not grounds for these penalties.³¹
Wage violations. Contractors or subcontractors found in violation of the prevailing wage payment requirements face civil penalties between $1,000 and $3,000 per violation.²
Debarment. Any person, firm, or corporation found to have violated the prevailing wage chapter can be barred from bidding on, being awarded, or performing work on any public works contract during the debarment period. Awarding authorities check the DLT’s debarment list before awarding a contract and must disqualify anyone on it.³⁹

Knowingly keeping a false or fraudulent daily log carries a separate penalty of up to $500 per calendar day.⁶

1
Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code Title 37 Chapter 37-13 – Section 37-13-13
2
Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 37-13-7 – Specification in Contract of Amount and Frequency of Payment of Wages
3
RI Department of Labor & Training. Prevailing Wage
4
RI Department of Labor & Training. Instruction for Completing RI Certified Weekly Payroll Forms
5
SAM.gov. Davis-Bacon Act WD RI20260001
6
RI Department of Labor & Training. Rhode Island Certified Prevailing Wage Daily Log
7
Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code 28-14-12 – Employment Records
8
Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island Code Title 39 Chapter 39-26.9 – Section 39-26.9-8
9
Cornell Law Institute. 260 RICR 30-15-3.4 – Rules and Regulations