LCPtracker vs DIR: why filing in the GC's portal does not make you compliant
The most expensive misunderstanding in California public works, settled by the state's own words. If a portal like LCPtracker, Elation, or PRISM is part of your project, this page is about your money.
The rule, in DIR's own words
California's Department of Industrial Relations answers this exact question in its eCPR FAQ. Asked whether a contractor who submits certified payroll to a union, a prime, an awarding body, or a labor compliance program still has to submit to DIR, the state answers:
"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. 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.
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.
The one real exception: the four legacy compliance programs
Projects run under a DIR-approved Labor Compliance Program are exempt from the direct eCPR duty, per DIR's exemptions page. The state stopped approving new programs in 2011, which froze the list of awarding bodies that hold one: Caltrans, the City of Los Angeles, LAUSD, and the County of Sacramento, plus narrow cases like certain bond-funded projects and qualifying project labor agreements.
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 guidance says certified payrolls are submitted on both the DIR system and LCPtracker. San Francisco runs LCPtracker citywide, 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. The state's records request under Labor Code 1776 and the $100 per worker per day penalty behind it run off the state's view, not the portal's.
- 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.
Related reading: the DIR eCPR system explained and certified payroll penalties in California.