Overview

If you're working on a California state funded construction project, you more than likely need to employ apprentices. Any Public Works contract valued over $30,000 requires apprentices for 90%+ crafts!

You must meet a few requirements in order to stay compliant on these projects. Two of the most important steps include:

1. Notifying apprenticeship committees that you're kicking off work soon (with a signed DAS 140 form)
2. And, requesting the dispatch of apprentices at the appropriate time (with a signed DAS 142 form)

While this sounds straightforward, there are a few common pitfalls, and if you don’t follow these requirements you can receive hefty fines.

We'll help you navigate this process in the article below. We'll cover how to submit your DAS 140 and DAS 142 forms, some of the common problems that come up, and how a system like Miter can help you stay compliant.

Understanding Apprentice Requirements

Let's start with the basics.

California Labor Code 1777.5 and California Code of Regulations 230.1 states that all California Public Works contracts valued at $30,000 or more require contractors to hire apprentices. This rule applies to all contractors and subcontractors on a project, even if your specific subcontract is less than $30,000.

You’ll need to check the specifics of the applicable project prevailing wage determination, but it is safe to assume that this is required for 90%+ of crafts.

(Helpful tip:  If the title of the craft has a # sign, that means it’s apprenticeable. If there is no sign or a ## sign, then the craft is NOT apprenticeable.)

As you can imagine, this is a common requirement for Public Works projects and the state has robust processes to monitor that contractors on these jobs are following the rules.

We'll cover these in more detail below.

Contractor Responsibilities

If you're working on a project that meets the criteria of the apprentice mandate, you have a few responsibilities. Public Works requirements indicate you must: 

1. Submit the DAS 140 form for each craft required on the project. The DAS 140 Form notifies applicable apprenticeship programs (by craft) that a contract has been awarded and that your company will be requesting apprentices to use on site
2. Make monthly training fund contributions in the amount established in the prevailing wage rate – either to an applicable apprenticeship committee, or the California Apprenticeship Council (CAC). This training fee is reported and paid for each hour, and for each apprenticeable craft used on site
3. Contact the applicable apprenticeship committee to request apprentices for each craft or trade on your project using the DAS 142 form. 
4. Employ apprentices in the correct ratio. Be sure to employ one hour of apprentice work for every five hours performed by a journeyman level worker.
5. Provide worker’s compensation benefits to apprentices.

There are limited exceptions to the apprenticeship requirement. Reference the Apprentice Requirement FAQs to learn more about the latest rules on exemptions. 

There is a lot to unpack in each of these requirements - for the rest of this article we’ll focus on the forms themselves. 

About the DAS 140 Form

What is it?

The DAS 140 is the official notice to all of the relevant apprenticeship committees (by craft) in the project area that you’ve been awarded work

Who do you send it to?

If your organization has already been approved to train apprentices (via a DAS 7 form), all you need to do is submit the form to your specific apprenticeship committee.

If your organization does not have a DAS 7 approval form, you must submit the DAS 140 Form to ALL apprenticeship committees related to your specific craft

You can find contact information through the DIR website or use the embedded Miter apprentice hall database. 

Sending a DAS 140 to all committees in your area can be tricky because it means that you need to sift through the DIR database and create unique forms for each committee and craft. In most cases this requires numerous trips to the copy machine which adds up quickly when you're working across multiple crafts with multiple committees.

When is it due?

It's important that you file this form within 10 days of executing your contract (and before work begins on a project). If you start any work at all without filing your DAS 140, you're considered out of compliance and could be subject to fines of $100 per day for every day that your forms are late (and up to $300 per day on subsequent violations). 

Since you may have multiple forms due on any given project, these fines can snowball into many thousands of dollars if you don't file properly!

How to file your DAS 140 Forms

Step 1: Plan to send your forms

It's best practice to complete all of your DAS 140 forms as soon as you've been awarded the work. You want to leave yourself a buffer so that you know you'll be able to submit each form well before you begin the work.

Step 2: Fill in the forms

To fill out the form properly, you’ll need to gather specific project details related to your company, the awarding body, and the apprenticeship committee you’re notifying. This includes a key fields like:

• Company Name, Address & License
• Project Name & Address
• Awarding Body Name & Address
• Apprenticeship Committee Name & Address
• and more other project specifics (e.g., craft, estimated hours)

Since you need a unique form for each craft and for each Apprenticeship Committee, you may find yourself copy and pasting across many different forms. We prefer the Miter form generator that pre-populates most of these fields for you already. 

Step 3: Submit the forms

Once completed, you can send the form to all of the relevant Apprenticeship Committees via email, fax, or mail. This step is simple if you're approved to train apprentices - you should submit directly to the apprenticeship committee that you are affiliated with.

If you're not approved and need to submit to all apprenticeship committees, it's best practice to send every sponsor listed in the DIR database - even if some of the names or locations appear similar. This approach demonstrates that you’re doing everything possible to ensure that the right people are notified at the right time, even if it means completing a few extra forms.

Step 4: Archive your proof of submission

Once you've sent your forms via email, fax, or mail, you should always maintain some proof of submission (whether that's a confirmation receipt for email or certified mail tracking). 

Keep these proof of submissions alongside other relevant project paperwork so that you're always ready to prove your compliance.

About the DAS 142 Form

What is it?

Again, the DAS 142 form is sent to request dispatch of an apprentice to a project from one of the apprenticeship committees.

This form is important if you don't employ enough apprentices by craft to meet the ratio requirements on your project and need to find additional apprentices from one of the programs in the area.

Who do you send it to?

If the apprenticeship committee from which you’ve requested a dispatch from does not dispatch apprentices as requested, you must request apprentices from another committee providing training for that craft near the site of the project. 

These requests must be made to every relevant committee until you’ve reached out to every committee in your area or until you have met your 20% obligation of apprentices to journeyman hours.

When is it due?

Unlike the DAS 140, you'll submit DAS 142s over the course of the project as you require apprentices. These forms must be submitted at least three business days before you need apprentices on site, so you need a bit of planning in advance to make sure that apprentices show up and you can meet your ratio requirements.

The official requirement is that apprentices must be employed in a minimum of 1 hour for every 5 hours, or 20% of journeyman straight time hours. This is true for every craft employed on the project so coordinating your apprentices requires some upfront planning. 

How to file a DAS 142 form

The DAS 142 process is very similar to the DAS 140 process. If you're approved to train apprentices, you only need to submit your DAS 142 to that specific program.

If you're not approved, you need to submit the form to all applicable programs near the project required to meet your 20% ratio. You can send the forms to apprenticeship committees via email, fax, or mail.

It's important here as well to maintain proof of submission. There will be cases where the apprentice committees are unable to dispatch apprentices in time. In these cases, if you don't meet your apprentice ratios, you can stay compliant by clearly demonstrating that you submitted all of the required DAS 142 forms at the appropriate time.

Where things typically go wrong in the process

We typically see three main issues managing this process. 

The first issue is dealing with quick turnarounds. Both the DAS 140 and 142 forms are time consuming to fill, sign, and submit, and must be submitted~3 to 10+ days in advance to stay in compliance. We often see customers who have a project with multiple trades across multiple apprenticeship committees who suddenly find themselves with 10+ hours of paperwork that they need to fit into their week.

The second issue is that some contractors do not maintain detailed records of their submissions. It’s important to maintain clear documentation on what form was submitted, who it was submitted to, and when it was submitted. Without this paper trail it’ll be challenging to prove that you didn’t violate any of these requirements. 

And the third issue is that contractors have challenges tracking their apprentice hours and reporting on their apprentice ratios over the duration of the project. It's important to track the actual hours used to ensure that they align with the estimates that you provided in your DAS 140 and DAS 142 and to ensure that you are on track to meeting your 20% ratio goal of apprentices to journeymen

How Miter can help

Miter makes it easy for you to fill, sign, and mail your DAS forms online. With just a few clicks, you're able to populate and send compliant DAS forms to every applicable apprenticeship committee in 27 seconds.

We're able to accomplish this using our DAS Form Generator, which includes a few features to streamline this process for you:

• Apprentice hall database: Access apprenticeship program contact information with a few clicks, without going to the DIR website.
• eSignature Functionality: Sign documents from your computer to avoid printing and scanning every form.
• Email, Fax, and Certified Mail: Select your preferred delivery method, and always receive a confirmation receipt.
• File Storage & Download: Manage all of the files across your projects to quickly access or download for offline use. Store all of your proof of submissions automatically. 

Reach out to our team to learn more!