LCPtracker vs DIR eCPR: do you need both
Yes, in almost every case. LCPtracker, Elation, PRISM, or any other awarding body portal is a separate duty from your DIR filing, and finishing one does not finish the other. The state's own eCPR FAQ says so directly, and this page walks through what that means for your money.
The rule, in DIR's own words
The state's eCPR FAQ asks this exact question, worded broadly enough to cover any portal, not just LCPtracker by name:
"If the contractor is required to submit certified payroll records (CPRs) to a union, to the prime contractor, or to the awarding body or LCP, does the contractor still have to submit CPRs to DIR?"
DIR's answer:
"Yes. Submitting CPRs to other agencies does not put you in compliance with the state unless you submit eCPRs directly to DIR."
That is the whole dispute, resolved at the source, and it covers every version of the question: filing to your union, filing to the prime contractor, filing to the awarding body, and filing into an LCP tracking portal. None of those substitute for the DIR filing. The portal your GC or awarding body makes you use is not the state's system. Uploading there, on time, perfectly, every week, leaves your state filing obligation untouched.
Does LCPtracker submit to DIR eCPR for you?
No. LCPtracker, like the other awarding body portals, is built to generate compliance records for the awarding body that mandated it, not to file your eCPR with the state. There is no automatic hand off from LCPtracker's database into DIR's system. You, or whoever handles your filings, still have to log in to DIR's own eCPR system under your own contractor registration and submit there, separately, on the same weekly or monthly schedule. See our guide to the DIR eCPR system for how that filing works end to end.
Why there are two systems at all
The two filings serve two different masters, and knowing which is which makes the rest of the rules make sense.
| Awarding body portal (LCPtracker, Elation, PRISM, OCPS) | DIR eCPR | |
|---|---|---|
| Who requires it | The awarding body or the prime, through your contract | The State of California, through Labor Code 1771.4 |
| What it is for | The body's own labor compliance monitoring on its projects | The Labor Commissioner's statewide enforcement record |
| Where it goes | The vendor system named in your contract documents | Directly to DIR at services.dir.ca.gov/pw, under your own registration |
| Who is on the hook | You, per your contract | You, per state law, regardless of what the contract says |
No live integration forwards your portal upload to the state. The portal vendors' own product pages describe generating files a contractor then uploads to state systems separately. Treat any claim that "the portal handles DIR for you" with suspicion, and ask for it in writing, because the state's default position is the quote above. Our full list of GC and agency portals against the DIR filing covers LCPtracker, Elation, PRISM, OCPS, and the rest of the field the same way.
The one real exception: the four legacy compliance programs
Projects run under a DIR-approved Labor Compliance Program, or covered by a qualifying project labor agreement, are exempt from the direct eCPR duty, per DIR's exemptions page. The four legacy LCPs on that list are Caltrans, the City of Los Angeles, LAUSD, and the County of Sacramento. DIR's own LCP FAQ says it no longer approves private third party LCPs, and it only approves an awarding body as an LCP when a specific state statute requires one, which is why that list of four has not grown on its own.
Read that list carefully, because the trap hides in the gap between two ideas. An awarding body that mandates a portal does not thereby hold a Labor Compliance Program. LA County mandates LCPtracker, and LA County projects still owe the DIR filing: the County's own LTWHP guidance says certified payrolls are submitted on both the DIR and LCPtracker. San Francisco runs LCPtracker citywide for its own contractor payroll reporting, and the DIR duty stands. The exemption follows the compliance program, not the software. Our requirements pages by awarding body track who is who, with live registration data.
What this means for a working sub
- Count your filings per project. A non-exempt project with a portal mandate means the portal upload plus the DIR eCPR, on every filing period, plus the weekly federal WH-347 where federal funds are in the job. Three artifacts is normal on a transit or county job.
- Do not let the portal's green checkmark lull you. Portal-compliant and state-compliant are different states of the world. Never filing the eCPR itself carries its own penalty under Labor Code 1771.4(a)(3)(B), $100 per day capped at $5,000 per project, and it runs off DIR's own filing record, not the portal's. On top of that, if DIR sends a written request for your records under Labor Code 1776(h) and you do not comply within 10 days, that adds $100 per worker per day, with no cap, until you do. See our full certified payroll penalties in California breakdown for every track that can stack on top of a missed DIR filing.
- During setup, get the routing in writing per project. Which portal, which DIR project ID, exempt or not. It changes body by body, and sometimes project by project. This is a standard part of our onboarding, because filing the right thing in the wrong place is still a miss.
Where we fit
WellStanding covers the state side and the federal side from one payroll export: the validated DIR eCPR file and the finished WH-347, every week, checked by software and verified by a person. During setup we confirm exactly where each of your projects' filings must go, including any portal the awarding body requires. Your first weekly filing is free, and the pricing is published on the home page. If you already pay for LCPtracker or a similar portal and want to see where WellStanding fits next to it, see LCPtracker vs WellStanding.