Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
Build or repair equipment such as furnaces, kilns, cupolas, boilers, converters, ladles, soaking pits, and ovens, using refractory materials.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Repairing
- Active Listening
- Operation and Control
- Equipment Maintenance
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Production and Processing
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Design
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Reline or repair ladles and pouring spouts with refractory clay, using trowels.
- Chip slag from linings of ladles or remove linings when beyond repair, using hammers and chisels.
- Mix specified amounts of sand, clay, mortar powder, and water to form refractory clay or mortar, using shovels or mixing machines.
- Measure furnace walls to determine dimensions and cut required number of sheets from plastic block, using saws.
- Dry and bake new linings by placing inverted linings over burners, building fires in ladles, or by using blowtorches.
- Remove worn or damaged plastic block refractory linings of furnaces, using hand tools.
- Climb scaffolding, carrying hoses, and spray surfaces of cupolas with refractory mixtures, using spray equipment.
- Spread mortar on stopper heads and rods, using trowels, and slide brick sleeves over rods to form refractory jackets.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (74.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (23.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (30.4%)
- 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 Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons 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 63% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 59% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 76% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 96% of occupations compared | 78% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 72% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 81% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 55% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
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: 0.65%
- Occasional contact with others: 6.66%
- Contact with others about half the time: 5.47%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 06/2007
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 67.1%
- Fairly important: 7.97%
- Important: 19.17%
- Very important: 5.47%
- Extremely important: 0.29%
n = 24, Incumbent 06/2007
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.17%
- Important: 17.45%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 34.28%
n = 24, Incumbent 06/2007
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 9.09%
- Very little freedom: 9.29%
- Limited freedom: 1.27%
- Some freedom: 54.3%
- A lot of freedom: 26.04%
n = 24, Incumbent 06/2007
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.28%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.57%
- Every day: 78.15%
n = 23, Incumbent 06/2007
Conflict situations
- Never: 5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.95%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.08%
- Every day: 0%
n = 23, Incumbent 06/2007
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 4.39%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.72%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 34.79%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 14.62%
n = 23, Incumbent 06/2007
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: 10.19%
- Serious: 2.31%
- Very serious: 28.83%
- Extremely serious: 22.01%
n = 24, Incumbent 06/2007
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O*NET-SOC 49-9045.00 · SOC 49-9045 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8