CAC-2 & Training Fund Contributions: What Contractors Owe

Training fund contributions are one of the quieter prevailing-wage obligations — small per hour, easy to forget, and a clean line item for an auditor to catch. On California public works, every hour worked in an apprenticeable craft carries a training contribution, and you report it on the CAC-2. Most contractors who get dinged for it are not cheating; they just never set up the habit. Here is what the contribution is, who owes it, how to calculate it, where it goes, how to report it on the CAC-2, and how to keep proof so it never becomes a problem.

What the training fund contribution is

The training fund contribution is a per-hour amount you owe on public works for work performed in apprenticeable crafts. It exists to fund apprenticeship training in the trades — the pipeline that keeps skilled workers coming into the industry. It is set out in the apprenticeship requirements of the Labor Code and is separate from the wages and fringe you pay your individual workers. Think of it as a small contribution tied to hours, owed regardless of whether you actually employ apprentices on the job.

The amount per hour is set by the prevailing wage determination for the craft and locality — it is published right alongside the base rate and fringe. It is not a number you make up; you read it off the determination for each classification.

Who must pay (and the apprenticeship link)

If you perform work in an apprenticeable craft on a covered public works project, you generally owe the training contribution on those hours. This is true whether you are the prime or a subcontractor, and — importantly — whether or not you employ any apprentices. The contribution is owed on journeyman hours too, not just apprentice hours.

This ties directly into the apprenticeship obligations that start with the DAS-140 and DAS-142. The DAS-140 notifies the apprenticeship committee you were awarded the job; the DAS-142 requests apprentice dispatch when you need them. The training contribution is the funding side of that same system. You can think of the apprenticeship duties as three connected obligations on a public job:

• Notify and request apprentices (DAS-140 / DAS-142).
• Employ apprentices to meet the required ratio of apprentice hours to journeyman hours.
• Fund training via the per-hour contribution — even on the hours where no apprentice was on site.

Skipping the contribution because "we did not have apprentices on this job" is exactly the misunderstanding that leads to back-payment demands.

How to calculate it and where it goes

The math is straightforward once you have the right inputs:

• Find the training contribution rate for the craft and locality on the applicable wage determination (it is listed per hour).
• Multiply by the hours worked in that craft for the period — all covered hours, journeyman and apprentice.
• That product is what you owe for those hours.

Where it goes is the part that catches people. You have two acceptable destinations:

• To an approved apprenticeship program. If you already contribute to the applicable craft's apprenticeship trust (often through a union or a multi-employer program), your contributions there can satisfy the obligation.
• To the California Apprenticeship Council (CAC). If you do not contribute to an approved program for that craft, you send the training contribution to the CAC instead. The CAC-2 is the transmittal form for these payments.

The key decision per craft: are you already paying into an approved program for that trade? If yes, document it there. If no, it goes to the CAC on the CAC-2. Do not pay both, and do not assume your fringe contributions automatically cover it — training is its own line.

Reporting on the CAC-2

The CAC-2 (Training Fund Contributions form) is how you transmit and report training contributions to the California Apprenticeship Council. There is no special download trick — TradePRO generates it from your payroll hours. Here is the structure so you know what it captures:

• Contractor information — your company name, address, and contractor license / public works registration details.
• Project information — the public works project name, location, and awarding body / contract identifiers.
• Reporting period — the period the contribution covers.
• Craft / classification — each apprenticeable craft worked on the project.
• Hours worked — total covered hours per craft for the period.
• Contribution rate — the per-hour training rate from the determination.
• Amount due / remitted — hours times rate, the dollar figure you are sending.
• Signature / certification — an authorized person attesting the figures are correct.

The hours on the CAC-2 should reconcile with the hours on your certified payroll for the same project and period. An auditor will cross-check them, so they need to agree.

Deadlines and keeping proof

Training contributions to the CAC are generally remitted on a periodic basis — many contractors do it monthly, and the contribution for a period is typically due shortly after the period closes. Confirm the current cadence and any annual or end-of-project timing with the DIR, because the schedule is exactly the kind of detail that changes.

Whatever the schedule, the discipline is the same:

• Pay on time. Late or missed training contributions are a common audit finding and can roll into apprenticeship penalties.
• Keep proof of every payment. Copies of each CAC-2, the check or electronic payment confirmation, and — if you pay into an approved program instead — statements showing those contributions by project and period.
• File it with the project's prevailing-wage records. Keep training proof alongside certified payroll, the statement of compliance, and your DAS forms, for as long as the recordkeeping rules require.
• Reconcile to hours. Before you file, make sure CAC-2 hours match certified-payroll hours for the period.

None of this is hard. It just has to be a habit, because the amounts are small enough to forget and visible enough to get caught.

Common mistakes contractors make

The training contribution trips up otherwise careful contractors in a handful of predictable ways:

• "We had no apprentices, so we owe nothing." Wrong. The contribution is owed on covered hours regardless of whether an apprentice ever set foot on the job. This is the single most common misunderstanding.
• Paying both the program and the CAC. If you already contribute to an approved apprenticeship program for the craft, you do not also send the CAC-2 for those same hours. Pick the right destination per craft and document it.
• Assuming fringe covers it. Training is a separate line from the fringe benefits you pay your workers. Crediting fringe contributions against the training obligation creates a shortfall in both.
• Mismatched hours. CAC-2 hours that do not tie to certified payroll for the same project and period are an instant audit flag.
• Using last year's rate. The per-hour training rate lives on the determination and can change with predetermined increases — use the rate in effect for the work period.
• No remittance proof. Sending the contribution but keeping no confirmation. In an audit, an undocumented payment is treated like no payment.

How it fits the rest of your prevailing-wage paperwork

The CAC-2 does not stand alone. It is one piece of the apprenticeship-and-wage system that runs through every public works job: you notify and request apprentices with the DAS forms, you pay base plus fringe on every hour, you certify it weekly on certified payroll, and you fund the training pipeline through the contribution. The hours have to be consistent across all of them. If your certified payroll shows 320 hours in a craft for the month, your training contribution math starts from that same 320 — not a different number. Keeping these documents in one place, reconciled to the same hours, is what turns an audit from a fire drill into a five-minute pull.

Run it in TradePRO

TradePRO pulls covered hours straight from your payroll, applies the training rate per craft, and generates a reconciled CAC-2 with the proof filed against the project — so the training contribution is never the line item that fails your audit. Try it free on your next public works job →

This article is general information for contractors, not legal advice. Prevailing-wage rules and forms change — confirm current requirements with the U.S. Department of Labor and the California DIR before relying on this.