---
title: California Public Works Activity: DIR Registration Data
url: https://wellstanding.com/data/california-public-works-activity/
description: Live statistics from 3,548 California public works project registrations: by awarding body, body type, contractor county, and trade. Updated 2026-10-18.
updated: 2026-10-18
type: data
publisher: WellStanding Certified Payroll
---
# California public works activity, from DIR project registrations

What the public PWC-100 registrations on the [DIR Public Works Portal](https://services.dir.ca.gov/pw) show about where California public works is happening and who is doing it. Aggregates only, refreshed every night.

Data updated 2026-10-18

The short answer

Between June 26, 2026 and October 18, 2026, the WellStanding registry captured 3,548 California public works projects from DIR's public PWC-100 registrations, issued by 1,306 awarding bodies. It is a sample of recent registrations, refreshed every night, not a complete count.

- Most active awarding bodies in the sample: City of Los Angeles, Caltrans, County of Santa Barbara General Services, Procurement Services.
- City and school district projects together are 49% of the sample.
- Every registered project means certified payroll for each contractor on it, filed with DIR at least monthly under [Labor Code 1771.4](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&sectionNum=1771.4).

3,548projects registered 2026-06-26 to 2026-10-18

1,306awarding bodies

2,532listed contractors matched to CSLB records

## The most active awarding bodies

Projects per awarding body in the sample. Each linked name has its own page with the portal and filing rules for that body.

| Awarding body | Projects |
| --- | --- |
| [City of Los Angeles](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/city-of-los-angeles/) | 88 |
| [Caltrans](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/caltrans/) | 69 |
| [County of Santa Barbara General Services, Procurement Services](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county-of-santa-barbara-general-services-procurement-services/) | 52 |
| [City of San Diego](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/city-of-san-diego/) | 45 |
| [County of Sacramento](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county-of-sacramento/) | 27 |
| [County of Los Angeles](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county-of-los-angeles/) | 25 |
| [LAUSD](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/lausd/) | 22 |
| [City of Santa Cruz - Public Works Department - Wastewater Treatment Facility](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/city-of-santa-cruz-public-works-department-wastewater-treatment-facility/) | 21 |
| [San Joaquin County - Purchasing & Support Services](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/san-joaquin-county-purchasing-support-services/) | 21 |
| [The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/the-metropolitan-water-district-of-southern-california/) | 19 |
| [Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/cal-poly-state-university-san-luis-obispo/) | 18 |
| [Judicial Council of California - (PUB WORKS)](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/judicial-council-of-california-pub-works/) | 18 |
| [University of California - San Diego](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/university-of-california-san-diego/) | 18 |
| [CAL FIRE BSO](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/cal-fire-bso/) | 17 |
| [City and County of San Francisco](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/city-and-county-of-san-francisco/) | 17 |

## Projects by type of awarding body

| Body type | Projects | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| City | 928 | 26% |
| School district | 804 | 23% |
| Public agency | 554 | 16% |
| County | 484 | 14% |
| Water or sanitation district | 228 | 6% |
| University | 198 | 6% |
| State agency | 152 | 4% |
| Community college district | 144 | 4% |
| Transit | 29 | 1% |
| Port | 22 | 1% |

## Where the listed contractors are based

Contractor home county from CSLB license records, which is not always the county where the project is. Counts are contractors listed on the registrations in this sample.

| County | Contractors listed | As subcontractors |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Los Angeles](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/los-angeles/) | 347 | 156 |
| [Orange](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/orange/) | 259 | 120 |
| [San Diego](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/san-diego/) | 245 | 130 |
| [Riverside](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/riverside/) | 173 | 72 |
| [San Bernardino](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/san-bernardino/) | 156 | 62 |
| [Alameda](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/alameda/) | 109 | 46 |
| [Sacramento](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/sacramento/) | 105 | 44 |
| [Santa Clara](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/santa-clara/) | 93 | 40 |
| [Fresno](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/fresno/) | 81 | 40 |
| [Contra Costa](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/contra-costa/) | 76 | 38 |
| [Kern](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/kern/) | 72 | 30 |
| [San Luis Obispo](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/county/san-luis-obispo/) | 64 | 36 |

## Trades on the registrations

License classifications held by the listed contractors. A contractor can hold more than one, so these add to more than the contractor count.

| License classification | Contractors |
| --- | --- |
| General building (B) | 987 |
| General engineering (A) | 908 |
| Electrical (C-10) | 526 |
| HVAC (C-20) | 222 |
| Plumbing (C-36) | 188 |
| Landscaping (C-27) | 170 |
| Hazardous substance removal (HAZ) | 167 |
| Concrete (C-8) | 150 |
| Painting and decorating (C-33) | 137 |
| Earthwork and paving (C-12) | 120 |
| Roofing (C-39) | 117 |
| Low voltage systems (C-7) | 115 |

## How this data is built

- **Source.** Awarding bodies register public works contracts with DIR on the PWC-100, and DIR publishes the registrations on its [DIR Public Works Portal](https://services.dir.ca.gov/pw). Our registry collects recent registrations from that portal every night.
- **Matching.** Contractors named on a registration are matched to the Contractors State License Board's public license data for county and license classification.
- **Coverage.** The registry holds a sample of recent registrations, not every project DIR receives, and collection paused from July 7 to September 3, 2026, so this page does not publish monthly counts. Use the shares for comparisons and the counts as a floor.
- **Privacy.** This page publishes aggregates only. No contractor contact details appear here.

Download the tables: [california-public-works-activity.csv](https://wellstanding.com/data/california-public-works-activity.csv). Cite as: WellStanding analysis of California DIR PWC-100 public works project registrations, June 26, 2026 to October 18, 2026, https://wellstanding.com/data/california-public-works-activity/.

## Questions

How many public works projects are registered in California?**

This page counts the projects the WellStanding registry captured from DIR's public PWC-100 registrations: 3,548 registered between June 26, 2026 and October 18, 2026. The registry collects a sample of recent registrations every night, so treat these figures as a floor, not a total.

Which awarding bodies register the most public works projects?**

In this sample the most active were City of Los Angeles (88), Caltrans (69), County of Santa Barbara General Services, Procurement Services (52), City of San Diego (45), County of Sacramento (27). The full top 15 is in the table above.

Can I use these numbers?**

Yes, with attribution, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Cite them as: WellStanding analysis of California DIR PWC-100 public works project registrations, June 26, 2026 to October 18, 2026, https://wellstanding.com/data/california-public-works-activity/. The underlying tables are in the CSV download.

## Related

- [The PWC-100, explained](https://wellstanding.com/guides/pwc-100-explained/)
- [Requirements by awarding body and county](https://wellstanding.com/requirements/)
- [Every certified payroll deadline in California](https://wellstanding.com/guides/certified-payroll-deadlines-california/)