Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators
Laminate layers of fiberglass on molds to form boat decks and hulls, bodies for golf carts, automobiles, or other products.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Administration and Management
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
- Chemistry
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Building and Construction
- Administrative
What the work involves
- Release air bubbles and smooth seams, using rollers.
- Spray chopped fiberglass, resins, and catalysts onto prepared molds or dies using pneumatic spray guns with chopper attachments.
- Select precut fiberglass mats, cloth, and wood-bracing materials as required by projects being assembled.
- Pat or press layers of saturated mat or cloth into place on molds, using brushes or hands, and smooth out wrinkles and air bubbles with hands or squeegees.
- Mix catalysts into resins, and saturate cloth and mats with mixtures, using brushes.
- Bond wood reinforcing strips to decks and cabin structures of watercraft, using resin-saturated fiberglass.
- Check completed products for conformance to specifications and for defects by measuring with rulers or micrometers, by checking them visually, or by tapping them to detect bubbles or dead spots.
- Trim excess materials from molds, using hand shears or trimming knives.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (45.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (55.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (38.9%)
- 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 Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators 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 | Low | Lower on contact with others than 65% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 84% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 57% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 97% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 94% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 87% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 54% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 60% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: low
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: 1.98%
- Occasional contact with others: 5.27%
- Contact with others about half the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others most of the time: 28.07%
- Constant contact with others: 49.97%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 39.13%
- Fairly important: 23.44%
- Important: 2.56%
- Very important: 28.23%
- Extremely important: 6.64%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 18.45%
- Very important: 27.05%
- Extremely important: 54.5%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 16.33%
- Very little freedom: 20.61%
- Limited freedom: 7.64%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: 1.57%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.43%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.01%
- Every day: 73.75%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 39.79%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 30.33%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 4.13%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.64%
- Every day: 6.12%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 18.6%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 34.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.7%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.43%
- Every day: 7.18%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: 4.09%
- Serious: 8.3%
- Very serious: 22.89%
- Extremely serious: 22.06%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 51-2051.00 · SOC 51-2051 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8