Boilermakers
Construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Quality Control Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Building and Construction
- Computers and Electronics
- Physics
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.
- Bolt or arc weld pressure vessel structures and parts together, using wrenches or welding equipment.
- Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.
- Repair or replace defective pressure vessel parts, such as safety valves or regulators, using torches, jacks, caulking hammers, power saws, threading dies, welding equipment, or metalworking machinery.
- Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.
- Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.
- Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
- Install manholes, handholes, taps, tubes, valves, gauges, or feedwater connections in drums of water tube boilers, using hand tools.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (52% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (40.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (38.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Boilermakers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 74% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 64% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 63% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 53% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 69% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 84% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 60% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 88% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 2.33%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.1%
- Contact with others most of the time: 23.6%
- Constant contact with others: 72.97%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 8.46%
- Fairly important: 17.51%
- Important: 17.48%
- Very important: 1.12%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 1.69%
- Important: 8.46%
- Very important: 34.87%
- Extremely important: 54.98%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 89.35%
- A lot of freedom: 10.65%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 72.93%
- Every day: 18.01%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.69%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 52.34%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0%
- Every day: 1.06%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 1.23%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.78%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 59.53%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 0%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 0.6%
- Fairly serious: 0.52%
- Serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely serious: 21.28%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2025
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O*NET-SOC 47-2011.00 · SOC 47-2011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8