The 16 forms a California comp case actually runs on, organized by where they fit in the case — what each one does, who files it, and the trap the form itself doesn’t mention. Every link goes to DWC’s official PDF.
Two different openings that get confused: the DWC-1 opens the benefits claim with the employer; the Application opens a case at the WCAB.
Legally opens the benefits claim. Filing it starts the 90-day decision clock (§5402) and up to $10,000 of treatment while the administrator decides.
Who & when · The injured worker completes the employee section and returns it to the employer; the employer must provide it within one working day of notice (§5401).
This is not a lawsuit and does not open a WCAB case — that takes the Application below.
Opens a case at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board — the forum where disputes get decided — and generates the ADJ case number.
Who & when · Usually the worker or their attorney, when something needs deciding; subject to the one-year §5405 statute.
Filed with EAMS body-part codes and venued by ZIP. DWC’s EAMS filename for this PDF is confusingly "DWC1.pdf" — it is not the DWC-1 claim form.
Treatment requests flow through utilization review; this form is how a request officially enters that pipeline.
The treating physician’s formal request for a specific treatment. Submitting it starts the §4610 utilization-review clocks.
Who & when · The treating physician (with the report supporting the request attached); sent to the claims administrator.
If UR denies, the worker’s remedy is Independent Medical Review — on the IMR form the denial letter comes with, within the deadline printed on it.
When the medical picture is disputed, these forms request the QME panel the rating will ultimately ride on.
Asks the Medical Unit to issue a three-doctor QME panel for a worker without an attorney.
Who & when · The unrepresented worker (or the claims administrator in defined situations) after a dispute arises.
The represented-case panel request. Once the panel issues, each side may strike one name — the remaining doctor becomes the QME.
Who & when · Either attorney, no earlier than the first working day at least 10 days after the objection letter that triggers it.
The 10-day fuse and the specialty chosen on this form decide more cases than most trials do.
Asks for a replacement panel or replacement QME when a listed doctor is unavailable, the exam can’t be set timely, or another regulatory ground applies.
Who & when · Either party, citing the specific ground under CCR §31.5.
Requests a panel in an additional specialty when a new medical dispute needs a different kind of evaluator.
Who & when · Either party, on the grounds in CCR §31.7.
The form that asks for the hearing, the joint statement that frames the trial, and the judge’s record of what happened.
Tells the board a dispute is ready for a judge and asks for a hearing — usually a mandatory settlement conference, or an expedited hearing on the fast-track issues.
Who & when · Either party, once they’re genuinely ready to proceed on the issue listed.
Filing a DOR for an MSC starts the path to §5502 discovery closure — file it before the record is complete and the trap closes on you.
The joint statement completed when the MSC doesn’t settle the case: stipulations, disputed issues, witness lists, and exhibits. It frames the entire trial that follows.
Who & when · Both parties, together at the mandatory settlement conference, before the judge sets the case for trial.
Discovery closes at the MSC (§5502) and the trial generally runs on what the PTCS lists — an issue or exhibit left off is a fight to get back in. Treat the PTCS as the snapshot of the record you will try the case on.
The judge’s own record of a hearing — appearances, orders made, continuances, and, paired with the Summary of Evidence at trial, the testimony record.
Who & when · Nobody files this one: the judge generates it and the parties receive it after each hearing. Your job is to read it, immediately and carefully.
The minutes become the record. If they misstate a stipulation or an order, the moment to object is now — not when the misstatement surfaces in a decision months later.
The two settlement structures use two different form sets — and close different things.
The buyout: one lump sum closes PD, usually future medical, and the reopening right. Requires WCAB adequacy approval — often as a same-day walk-through.
Who & when · Both parties jointly, after the numbers are agreed.
The agreed award: parties stipulate the PD percentage, an award issues, payments run out over the §4658 weeks, future medical usually stays open, and §5410 reopening survives.
Who & when · Both parties jointly; the award still passes through a judge.
The two sheets every paper filing rides on — get them wrong and the filing bounces.
The routing sheet on top of every filed document set: case number, parties, and the body-part codes EAMS recognizes.
Who & when · Whoever files — attorney, adjuster, or lien claimant.
Divides a multi-document filing so EAMS’s OCR files each document under the right title.
Who & when · Same filer, between each document in the set.
The money forms outside the rating itself.
Claims reimbursement for travel to treatment and medical-legal exams, at the DWC’s per-mile rate for the year of travel.
Who & when · The injured worker, submitted to the claims administrator with dates and mileage.
Asks the UEBTF for payments when the employer was illegally uninsured and can’t pay the award.
Who & when · The injured worker (typically with counsel) after establishing the employer had no coverage.
Every PDF link verified against DWC on August 13, 2026. DWC revises forms in place — the current versions always live on DWC’s forms page. Procedural summaries for orientation, not legal advice; deadlines have exceptions this page doesn’t evaluate.