Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
Your clean energy tax credit is worth five times more with prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance, and the IRS wants proof. We build the file that protects it.
The Inflation Reduction Act ties the full value of clean energy tax credits, including the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, to prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements on the construction workforce. Meet the requirements and your credit multiplies by five. Miss them and your company faces correction payments, penalties, and a credit worth a fraction of what your project pro forma modeled.
For wind and solar, the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act shortened the credit timeline: projects that begin construction after July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by the end of 2027. The prevailing wage and apprenticeship records still decide whether the 5x bonus applies. IRA compliance is unusual for construction teams because there is no weekly agency submission. Everything rides on the payroll records you keep and can produce for the IRS years after the project reaches commercial operation. We implement prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance across your project and build the documentation your tax credit depends on.
What we cover
PWA Applicability Analysis
Which credits, which facilities, which construction workers, and which dates. We map exactly where prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements attach to your project.
Prevailing Wage Implementation
Davis-Bacon wage determinations applied to construction, alteration, and repair work, including the post completion repair work that many project owners miss.
Apprenticeship Requirements
The 15% apprentice labor hour requirement (for construction starting in 2024 or later), daily journeyworker ratios, and the rule that any contractor with four or more workers employs at least one apprentice, plus written good faith requests that count for up to 365 days when programs can't supply workers.
Correction and Penalty Avoidance
Back pay plus interest to underpaid workers, documented and made quickly enough to avoid the $5,000 per worker IRS penalty, and apprenticeship shortfalls caught before they turn into $50 per labor hour.
Contractor Flow Down
Prevailing wage and apprenticeship obligations written into every subcontract and enforced down every tier, because a subcontractor's failure is the owner's lost credit.
IRS Ready Recordkeeping
Payroll records, apprenticeship documentation, and correction evidence organized for substantiation and audit.
What IRA clean energy requires.
Enforced by IRS, records kept by the taxpayer.
What it costs to miss
A missed wage costs back pay plus interest and a $5,000 penalty per underpaid worker. An apprenticeship shortfall costs $50 per labor hour.
- Projects of 1 MW (AC) or more must meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship to earn the 5x bonus on credits like 45, 45Y, 48, and 48E.
- Wages follow Davis-Bacon determinations from SAM.gov, for construction and for later alteration and repair work during the credit period.
- Apprentices must perform 15% of total labor hours for projects starting construction in 2024 or later, while meeting each program's daily ratio.
- Any contractor or sub with four or more workers on the job must employ at least one qualified apprentice.
- Good faith exception: a written request to a registered program, with no answer within 5 business days, counts for up to 365 days.
- No agency collects these payrolls. The IRS audits them later, so the records have to be complete from day one.
Summary for general information, current as of 2026. Specific projects can add requirements through contracts, PLAs, or funding agreements.
Other industries
Bidding a public works job, or holding a notice?
Send us the contract, the wage determination, or the letter. We'll tell you what applies and what it takes to handle it.
Tell us about your project.
Tell us the job, who's funding it, and what you need help with. You'll hear back within one business day.
- Call the office
- (562) 418-4269
- Office
- 444 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 800
Long Beach, CA 90802 - Hours
- Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific