Apprentices on public work projects summary of requirements

Address Change

The address for CAC Training Fund Contributions has changed.

Effective March 17, 2015, please send all contributions to:

Department of Industrial Relations
California Apprenticeship Council
P.O. Box 511283
Los Angeles, CA 90051-7838

The Basics

Summary of requirements

California Labor Code Section 1777.5 requires all public works contractors and subcontractors to:

  1. Submit contract award information
  2. Employ registered apprentices
  3. Make training fund contributions

Submit contract award information

If you are a contractor already approved to train apprentices (a member of a DAS recognized Apprenticeship Committee
“Contractors who are already approved to train apprentices must provide contract award information to the apprenticeship committee for each applicable apprenticeable craft or trade that has approved the contractor in the area of the site of the of the public works project.”  The Contract Award Information must be in writing and submitted to the applicable committee(s) within 10 days of the date of the prime or subcontract but in no event later than the first day the contractor has workers employed on the public works project. You may use form DAS 140 for this purpose. This is simply a notification of award; it is not automatically a request for dispatch of a registered apprentice.

If you are not already approved to train by an Apprenticeship Committee
Contractors not already approved to train apprentices must submit Contract Award Information (DAS 140) to every apprenticeship program in the geographic area of the public works project, for each craft you intend to employ on the project.  You can determine which apprenticeship programs are approved in specific geographic locations by clicking on the following link  http://www.dir.ca.gov/databases/das/pwaddrstart.asp  
The Contract Award Information must be in writing and submitted to the applicable committee(s) within 10 days of the date of the prime or subcontract but in no event later than the first day the contractor has workers employed on the public works project.  This is simply a notification of award; it is not automatically a request for dispatch of a registered apprentice.

Employ registered apprentices

A contractor on a public works project must employ one (1) hour of apprentice work for every five (5) hours performed by a journeyman. Title 8 California Code of Regulations, Section 230.1.for each separate craft at the end of a project.  Please check the DAS Important notices to determine if any exemptions exist for your craft or trade.  http://www.dir.ca.gov/DAS/PublicWorksForms.htm

Contractors who do not already employ enough apprentices to meet the ratio requirements must request dispatch of an apprentice from an apprenticeship program (for each apprenticeable craft or trade) by giving the program actual notice of at least 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays) before the date on which apprentices are required. A DAS 142 form is provided for this purpose. All requests for dispatch must be in writing and sent by first class mail, fax or email. 

Contractors who do not receive a sufficient number of apprentices from their initial request, must request dispatch apprentices from all other apprenticeship committees, if more than one exists in the area of the public works project.  To determine which apprenticeship programs are approved for your craft or trade in a specific geographic location click the following link   http://www.dir.ca.gov/databases/das/pwaddrstart.asp

Make training fund contributions

Contractors who are awarded public works jobs must make training fund contributions in the amount established in the prevailing wage rate publication for journeymen and apprentices. This nominal fee contributes to the assurance that new apprentices coming into the craft will be guaranteed the highest level of training and as skilled craftsmen retire, the trade will survive.

Contractors who contribute to an apprenticeship program are entitled to a full credit in the amount of those contributions. Contractors who do not contribute to an apprenticeship program must submit their contributions to:

DIR – California Apprenticeship Council (CAC)
P.O. Box 511283
Los Angeles, CA 90051-7838

Training fund contributions to the Council are due and payable on the 15th day of the month for work performed during the preceding month. The contribution should be paid by check and be accompanied by a completed training fund contribution form.

All training fund contribution payments to the California Apprenticeship Council should be accompanied by a California Apprenticeship Council approved online CAC2 form. All other CAC2 fillable pdf forms found on the web are deem obsolete and may take up to a maximum of 30 days to process and post on the history website. The primary reason is because these outdated CAC2 forms require manual input. The online CAC2 form is automated and once completed and printed from the DAS website it is assigned a unique “Transaction ID” number. Once the contribution payment and CAC2 form is received both are processed based on this Transaction ID number which will expedite the processing and posting of training fund contribution payments to the Training Fund payment history website with no manual input. The Transaction ID number is the key to the retrieval of all the information from the CAC2 remittance invoice which will automatically be uploaded to the Training Fund Contribution Payment history search website.

Comments, suggestions and questions welcome. Email to daspublicworks@dir.ca.gov or call your local district office.