Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers
Position and secure steel bars or mesh in concrete forms in order to reinforce concrete. Use a variety of fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, and hand tools. Includes rod busters.
Most important skills
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Complex Problem Solving
- Operations Monitoring
- Time Management
Key knowledge
- Building and Construction
- Mathematics
- Design
- Public Safety and Security
- Engineering and Technology
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Administration and Management
What the work involves
- Position and secure steel bars, rods, cables, or mesh in concrete forms, using fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, or hand tools.
- Space and fasten together rods in forms according to blueprints, using wire and pliers.
- Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions.
- Place blocks under rebar to hold the bars off the deck when reinforcing floors.
- Cut rods to required lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches.
- Cut and fit wire mesh or fabric, using hooked rods, and position fabric or mesh in concrete to reinforce concrete.
- Bend steel rods with hand tools or rod-bending machines and weld them with arc-welding equipment.
- Use forklifts or cranes to move construction material, such as rebar.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (45.1% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (22.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (33.8%)
- 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 Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers 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 | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 54% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 79% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 57% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared | 24% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 88% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 65% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 70% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 58% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: 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%
- Occasional contact with others: 2.44%
- Contact with others about half the time: 4.81%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2015
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 36.46%
- Fairly important: 12.78%
- Important: 13.47%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 10.17%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 4.81%
- Important: 17.11%
- Very important: 33.47%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2015
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 12.24%
- Very little freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Limited freedom: 23.73%
- Some freedom: 20.27%
- A lot of freedom: 20.64%
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2015
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.68%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 22, Incumbent 07/2015
Conflict situations
- Never: 28.74%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 22.74%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.87%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.29%
- Every day: 3.35%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2015
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 7.17%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 32.11%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 17.07%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 20.74%
- Fairly serious: 7.4%
- Serious: 30.24%
- Very serious: 20.52%
- Extremely serious: 21.09%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2015
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O*NET-SOC 47-2171.00 · SOC 47-2171 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8