California DAS Forms: DAS 140, DAS 142, and Deadlines

California DAS forms are the paperwork contractors file to comply with the apprenticeship requirements of Labor Code Section 1777.5 on public works projects. Three documents do most of the work: the DAS 140 notifies local apprenticeship committees that you have been awarded a public works contract, the DAS 142 requests apprentices to be dispatched to your job site, and the CAC2 reports your monthly training fund contributions to the California Apprenticeship Council.¹ Each has its own deadline, its own recipient, and its own consequences if you get it wrong.

When You Have to File

The apprenticeship obligations under Section 1777.5 attach to public works contracts of $30,000 or more. Contracts below that threshold are exempt for general contractors and for specialty contractors who are not bidding through a general or prime contractor.² Above the threshold, you file the DAS 140 whether or not you plan to use apprentices.

A separate practical carve-out applies to dispatch. For projects involving fewer than 40 hours of journeyworker work in a given craft, the requirement to request and employ apprentices in eight-hour increments does not apply.³ That exemption affects the DAS 142, not the DAS 140. You still send the contract award notification.

Information to Gather First

Both forms pull from the same pool of project data, so assemble it once. California Code of Regulations Title 8, Section 230.1 lists what the dispatch notice must include, and the DAS 140 tracks a similar set for the award.⁴ You will need your legal business name, address, phone, fax or email, and CSLB license number; the project name and address, PWC project number from DIR registration, contract number, and contract or subcontract amount; the awarding agency’s name and address plus the award date; and the specific craft classifications you will employ and the county where the work will happen.

Trade and county matter because they determine which local apprenticeship committees have jurisdiction. If your work spans multiple crafts, you file separately for each so the notice reaches the right committee.

The DAS 140: Contract Award Notification

The DAS 140 tells local apprenticeship committees that you have been awarded a covered contract and how you intend to meet your apprenticeship obligations. It downloads as a PDF from the DIR site.⁵

The check boxes on the form are the part that most often goes wrong. If you are already approved to train apprentices through a program, you check that box and file only with the committee that approved you in the relevant craft and area. If you are not approved to train, you must send the DAS 140 to every apprenticeship program in the geographic area of the project for each craft you will employ.⁶ The other boxes affect your ratio ceiling and where training contributions flow. Checking the box that binds you to a specific program’s standards for the current project can open access to a higher maximum ratio, though the 1:5 minimum still applies. Checking the box to be governed by California Apprenticeship Council regulations locks both the minimum and maximum at 1:5.⁷ Read the language on each box before selecting; it controls obligations for the whole project.

DAS 140 Deadline

The DAS 140 must reach the applicable committees within 10 days of the contract award date, but no later than the first day you have workers on the public works site, whichever comes first.⁶ The site-mobilization deadline is the one that catches people. If your crew starts within a few days of signing, the 10-day window collapses. When the start date is imminent, send it the day the contract is signed.

The DAS 142: Apprentice Dispatch Request

The DAS 142 is the form that actually asks a committee to send apprentices to your project. The DAS 140 announces the contract; the DAS 142 requests bodies on site.³ The DAS 140 instructions confirm the dispatch request is separate, made under Section 230.1.⁵

The form asks for the number of apprentices needed, the craft or trade, the date and time to report, the physical job site address, and the name of the person they should report to.⁴ For projects with 40 or more journeyworker hours in a craft, apprentices must be requested and employed in increments of at least eight hours.³

DAS 142 Deadline and Delivery

The DAS 142 must be submitted in writing at least 72 hours before apprentices are needed, excluding weekends and holidays.³ That works out to three business days of lead time.⁸ The form accepts first-class mail, fax, or email; some committees also accept submissions through their own portals. Whichever method you use, save the transmission confirmation. A postal receipt, fax confirmation page, or sent-email record is your proof of timeliness.

If a committee cannot fill your request or does not respond, document that. A good-faith attempt to request dispatch is your primary defense if apprentice hours fall short at the end of a project. Keep the form, the transmission receipt, and any committee response together.

Where the Forms Go

Both the DAS 140 and the DAS 142 are filed with local apprenticeship committees, not with a central state office. DIR publishes the forms but does not receive them. Sending them to DIR instead of the committee counts as a missed submission.

Training Fund Contributions and the CAC2

Section 1777.5 also requires every contractor employing journeyworkers or apprentices in an apprenticeable trade to pay the prevailing apprenticeship training contribution for the project area.² If you already pay into an approved apprenticeship program that can supply apprentices in that craft and area, those payments credit against the California Apprenticeship Council obligation.

You report contributions on the CAC2 form, submitted online through the DIR website. It asks for your contractor details, CSLB license number, the contribution period, the county and location of work, the craft classification, total hours worked, and the applicable rate.⁹ Payments are due by the 15th of each month. If no work happened during a month, no zero-amount filing is required. After you enter the data, the system generates an invoice coupon to print and mail with payment.

The contribution rate is not a flat statewide number. It is tied to the prevailing training contribution for the trade and area, so check the applicable prevailing wage determination for your project.

The Ratio the Forms Support

The forms exist because the statute requires a minimum ratio of one hour of apprentice work for every five hours of journeyworker work in each craft on a covered project.² The ratio is calculated per craft, and only straight-time hours count on either side.¹⁰ One hundred straight-time journeyworker hours in a craft means at least 20 apprentice hours in that same craft by the end of the project. If you bound yourself to a specific program’s standards on the DAS 140, a higher maximum ratio may apply, but the 1:5 floor holds.⁷

Records to Keep

Filing is the start of compliance, not the end. Keep copies of every DAS 140 and DAS 142 you send, together with the transmission confirmations, and maintain certified payroll records showing actual apprentice hours worked at the correct prevailing wage rate for the period of training. Discrepancies between the hours requested on a DAS 142 and the hours that appear on payroll will draw questions during an audit.

Enforcement of apprenticeship requirements on public works falls to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, not the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.¹ Investigators compare your forms against payroll records and site activity.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

Labor Code Section 1777.7 authorizes a civil penalty of up to $100 per calendar day of noncompliance for a knowing violation of Section 1777.5. A second or subsequent knowing violation within three years, where the noncompliance results in apprenticeship training not being provided, raises the maximum to $300 per calendar day.¹¹ Penalties are imposed separately for each contract, so violations across projects stack.

The Labor Commissioner can reduce a penalty when the amount would be disproportionate to the severity, weighing whether the violation was intentional, whether the contractor corrected the problem after being notified, and the extent of training opportunities lost. For a first-time violation, and with the agreement of an applicable apprenticeship program, the Labor Commissioner can order equivalent apprentice employment hours in place of a monetary penalty.¹¹

Serious or repeated violations can also lead to debarment from public works contracts for up to three years.¹² That closes off the public works market entirely for the debarment period, which is why the paperwork on the front end is worth doing carefully.

1
Division of Apprenticeship Standards. Division of Apprenticeship Standards – Public Works Information
2
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 1777.5
3
Department of Industrial Relations. Request for Dispatch of an Apprentice – DAS 142 Form
4
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 8 230.1 – Employment of Apprentices on Public Works
5
Department of Industrial Relations. DAS 140 – Public Works Contract Award Information
6
California Department of Industrial Relations. Apprentices on Public Work Projects Summary of Requirements
7
Division of Apprenticeship Standards. Public Works Information – Frequently Asked Questions
8
Department of Industrial Relations. Public Works Apprenticeship Requirements
9
Department of Industrial Relations. CAC – Training Fund Contributions
10
Division of Apprenticeship Standards. Minimum Ratios
11
California Legislative Information. California Code, Labor Code LAB 1777.7
12
Department of Industrial Relations. Enforcement of Public Works Law