Massachusetts SMART Act Overview

Overview & Background

The Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program establishes incentives to encourage solar development in Massachusetts. The program is a 3,200 MW declining block program with a tariff-based incentive.  

To be eligible for the Program, projects must be interconnected by one of the following utility companies: Eversource, National Grid, and/or Unitil. Each individual utility has an established block. For a full breakdown of all blocks (separated by utility and geographic location, please see page 13 of the SMART Program Summary Guide linked below).

Solar facilities with a maximum generating capacity of less than 25 kW (AC) may receive compensation under the tariff for a 10-year term. Whereas solar facilities with a maximum generating capacity greater than 25 kW (AC) may receive compensation under the tariff for a 20-year term.  

The amount of the SMART Incentive varies based on the factors such as the utility, current block capacity (rates decline as capacity fills up), and system size. To calculate the current value of SMART Incentives for your project, please use the SMART Incentive Calculator linked below.

Prevailing Wage Requirements

All solar facilities that are exceed $1,000 in total project value and are receiving state funding (through the SMART program, or otherwise) are required to comply with the Prevailing Wage Act for all construction activities. In the event that maintainence after the initial construction results in significant changes or improvements, prevailing wage laws may also apply.

Compliance Guidelines

All contractors working on eligible projects are required to adhere to the following compliance guidelines:

(1) Pay, at the minimum, the appropriate prevailing wage to all construction workers and apprentices involved in the project. For guidance on proper wage determinations, please visit the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards website (linked below).

(2) Every contractor and subcontractor is required to submit an accurate copy of their certified payroll records to the awarding authority on a weekly basis. All certified payroll records must be kept on file for three years following payment. Additionally, each report  must contain at least the employee’s name, address, occupational classification, hours worked and wages paid.

(3) A poster with the proper wage determination must be displayed prominently where all workers have access.

(4) All apprentices must be registered with the official Massachusetts Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) if they are to be paid the lower apprentice rates. Similarly, all relevant apprentice programs must be officially registered with DAS. Otherwise, all unregistered apprentices must be paid the full prevailing wage rate for a journey worker.

Enforcement of Non-Compliance

The Office of the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division is responsible for enforcing all prevailing wage laws in the state. Failure to comply with prevailing wage guidance subjects the violating contractor to potential civil and even criminal liability.

Civil penalties may include backpay (including up to 3x the amount of unpaid wages) along with the reimbursement for any employee's attonrey's fee.

According to M.G.L. c. 149, § 27C(a)(1), criminal penalties for any employer, contractor, subcontractor, etc that is found guilty of intentionally disregarding the prevailing wage guidance will be punished by a fine up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year for first-time offenders. Repeat offenders will be punished with a find up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years.  

DSPTCH Reimagines Compliance.


DSPTCH takes a "TurboTax" approach to Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Compliance. Our software centric solution drastically reduces costs, provides predictable best-in-class pricing, and radically automates tedium vs industry standard and auditor-centric solutions. Check out the DSPTCH difference today!

Compare Compliance Tools!
Apprentice Tracking

· Track any apprentice program
· DOL Compliance Safeguards
· DOL Direct integrations
· Calculate and monitor wage progression schedules
· Visibility across sub-contractors, asset owners, and apprenticeship sponsors!



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Prevailing Wages

· Real-time pre-payroll calculations for prevailing wages, fringes, wage-progression schedules
· Ensure accuracy prior to payroll
· Turnkey overtime for every state, province, and federal standard
· Detailed paystub breakdowns for intentional disregard safeguards
· Database of similar projects and wage progression monitoring
· Automated WH347 generation

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Live Penalty Calcs

· Cross company reporting for all subcontractors
· Unified owner visibility
· Real time calculations for every worker, sub contractor and IRA Cure Provision
· Apprenticeship hours and ratio compliance checks
‍· Worker, Backpay, and Interest Calculations for all hours worked

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DSPTCH IRA Compliance Software dashboard showcasing job management and worker utilization for Inflation Reduction Act compliance. Features include a job list with readiness status, worker utilization graph by provider, and billable hours breakdown per customer and provider. The dashboard highlights PWA compliance tools and real-time tracking for technician efficiency and productivity.

DSPTCH is the most modern, comprehensive & cost-effective IRA compliance solution

Simplify prevailing wage, apprenticeship, and project tax credit documentation with a single pane of glass.

Solution

The most comprehensive and integrated solution

DSPTCH

Prevailing Wage Tracking software Providers

Audit firms for prevailing wage and apprenticeship

Prevailing wage payroll vendors

Pricing

$

Per active worker per month or
Project month

$
($$$$ after hiring auditors to fulfill additional IRA compliance requirements)

Based on total project value, including materials and logistics

$$$$

Based on monthly retainer + hourly fees + revision audit hours + sub contractors

$$$

Varies hours worked, number of employees, and add-on integrations

Examples
  • DSPTCH
  • LCP Tracker
  • Elation
  • eMars
  • KPMG
  • PWC
  • Alliant
  • Baker Tilly
  • EBacon
  • Points North
  • HCM Tradeseal
  • Payroll4Construction
Turn by Turn Navigation
Largest Industry Workforce Network
Supports Internal Employees

Portal to upload data

$100+/ hr

Migrate Payroll System

Supports External Vendors
Predictable Pricing

Very Predictable, Scales with workers on projects

Increases with total project value (including materials, engineering, and logistics spend), typically requires audit firm to review

Volatile and very unpredictable. Based on retainer fee + hourly rate for support of any sub contractor follow ups

Only supports your company in payroll for prevailing wages, weak integration with benefits providers

Built for the IRA
Allows Apprentice Sponsors and Employers to simultaneously track DOL Logs
Natively tracks Apprentice hours & Wage Progression
Integrates with 100+ Payroll & HRIS systems
Mobile App
Field Forms

Varies

Generates Certified payroll reports

After each sub contractor uploading hours and performs calculations

Each sub contractor submits completed certified payroll forms or specific files

Built for Davis Bacon, adds tedious unnecessary requirements
Turnkey state, federal, provincial overtime

Varies, typically yes

Adopted organically by workers, outside of IRA projects

Manage Apprentices, Wages, Contractors, Forms, and Reporting all in one!

A fully integrated suite that plays nicely with your existing systems.

See the difference DSPTCH provides today!

DSPTCH IRA Compliance Software project overview page for ABC Project, highlighting checklist completion for Inflation Reduction Act compliance. Displays onboarding progress, ongoing maintenance checks, and tax credit compliance status. Includes contractor compliance summaries with completed and failed checks for specific jobs, helping track IRA compliance and prevailing wage obligations in real time.DSPTCH IRA Compliance Software job page for ABC Project Gen Shop displaying apprenticeship labor hours for Inflation Reduction Act compliance. Shows required apprentice labor percentage, hours worked by apprentices versus non-apprentices, and daily labor hour tracking graph. Includes detailed apprentice profiles with verification status, expected wage, hours completed, and wage period, aiding PWA compliance and tracking of apprenticeship requirements.
DSPTCH IRA Compliance Software time card page for employee Brett Johnson, displaying total hours, per diem, wage rate, and hourly rates for Inflation Reduction Act compliance. Shows verified time entries, prevailing wage obligations, pay breakdown, overtime hours, and total outstanding obligations. Includes approval history and links to payroll actuals, ensuring accurate tracking for IRA compliance and prevailing wage calculations.

Real Time Obligation and Expectation Payroll Calculations

Understand prevailing wage, fringe, wage progression schedules, and per diem expectations before running payroll! Although this seems obvious, other tools simply validate payroll in the rear-view mirror. That create issues, restitution payroll, backpay, and interest obligations. DSPTCH allows you and your sub contractors avoid issues entirely.

Reconcile pay requirements to the penny

DSPTCH integrates directly with 100+ payroll systems to minimize headaches and ensure business continuity. From there, we provide rich, deeply detailed breakdowns of every single line item a worker is paid and the calculations for compliance. This ensures all sub contractors are providing the level of detail required to avoid intentional disregard and the type of precision that many payroll systems simply don't support today.

Ensure Fringe compliance and automate subcontractor calculations

Our robust calculations compute accrue fringe benefits alongside calculate exact Bona Fide Fringe for every worker on site. This avoids countless hours of reconciliation, manual auditor reviews, and mountains of documentation through direct payroll syncs.

It's 2025, it's time for a modern PWA solution.

DSPTCH IRA Compliance Software time card actuals page for employee Brett Johnson, providing a down-to-the-penny breakdown of wages, earnings, taxes, retirement contributions, insurance deductions, and health benefits. Includes detailed prevailing wage breakdowns, overtime calculations, per diem, and tax contributions to ensure accurate reporting for Inflation Reduction Act compliance and prevailing wage obligations.

Reconcile real time actuals and automatically generate certified payroll reports

DSPTCH real time payroll syncs (with 100+ payroll systems natively supported) automatically provide detailed reconciliations with wage, fringe, per-diem, and company policy accruals. With that in place, DSPTCH directly and automatically generates certified payroll reports for every single worker as soon as payroll is run. These direct integrations short-circuit countless audit requirements by ensuring accuracy from the onset.

IRA compliance has never been more streamlined and efficient.

DSPTCH aims to empower the future of work.

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