Pipelayers
Lay pipe for storm or sanitation sewers, drains, and water mains. Perform any combination of the following tasks: grade trenches or culverts, position pipe, or seal joints.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Operations Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- Building and Construction
- Public Safety and Security
- Engineering and Technology
- Mechanical
- Administration and Management
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Design
What the work involves
- Check slopes for conformance to requirements, using levels or lasers.
- Cover pipes with earth or other materials.
- Connect pipe pieces and seal joints, using welding equipment, cement, or glue.
- Cut pipes to required lengths.
- Install or repair sanitary or stormwater sewer structures or pipe systems.
- Install or use instruments such as lasers, grade rods, or transit levels.
- Grade or level trench bases, using tamping machines or hand tools.
- Lay out pipe routes, following written instructions or blueprints and coordinating layouts with supervisors.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (65.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (18.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (27.6%)
- 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 Pipelayers 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 60% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 61% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 79% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 82% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 67% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 53% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 92% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 63% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: 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: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Occasional contact with others: 4.3%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.2%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29.63%
- Constant contact with others: 62.87%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 28.54%
- Fairly important: 7.96%
- Important: 17.38%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very little freedom: 7.96%
- Limited freedom: 39.7%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: 22.41%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 3.2%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 40.8%
- Every day: 24.72%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 36.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.61%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.67%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.4%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.31%
- Every day: 3.67%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 10.98%
- Very serious: 49.95%
- Extremely serious: 13.74%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2025
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O*NET-SOC 47-2151.00 · SOC 47-2151 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8