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Construction & Extraction · Updated Aug 2026

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.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
AI Exposure
43/100
Moderate

How much of this occupation’s work can be materially affected by current AI systems.

Replacement Risk
37/100
Low

How likely exposure is to translate into reduced human demand.

Includes provisional estimates for AI adoption pressure and labour-market resilience. How this is measured

Evidence quality
Confidence83/100
Task coverage88%

Confidence reflects task coverage, mapping and capability-evidence quality, and how much of the score rests on provisional inputs.

Task-level evidence

What is driving the score?

Occupation scores are built from the task mix—not a single prediction about a job title.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
TaskImportanceAI impactExposure
Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.High
69
Position, align, and secure structural parts or related assemblies to boiler frames, tanks, or vats of pressure vessels, following blueprints.Medium
70
Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.Medium
66
Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.Medium
69
Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.Medium
70
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.Medium
42
Straighten or reshape bent pressure vessel plates or structure parts, using hammers, jacks, or torches.Medium
70
Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.Medium
35
Clean pressure vessel equipment, using scrapers, wire brushes, and cleaning solvents.Medium
38
Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.Medium
28
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.Medium
21
Shape seams, joints, or irregular edges of pressure vessel sections or structural parts to attain specified fit of parts, using cutting torches, hammers, files, or metalworking machines.Medium
21
Assemble large vessels in an on-site fabrication shop prior to installation to ensure proper fit.Medium
15
Bolt or arc weld pressure vessel structures and parts together, using wrenches or welding equipment.Medium
21
Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.Medium
15
Most exposed

Where AI can do more

Routine, digitized, and highly repeatable tasks face the greatest pressure.

  1. Position, align, and secure structural parts or related assemblies to boiler frames, tanks, or vats of pressure vessels, following blueprints.70
  2. Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.70
  3. Straighten or reshape bent pressure vessel plates or structure parts, using hammers, jacks, or torches.70
  4. Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.69
Hardest to automate

Where people still matter

These tasks score lowest on automation feasibility—physical presence, judgement, accountability and real-world variability all resist end-to-end automation.

  1. Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.01
  2. Assemble large vessels in an on-site fabrication shop prior to installation to ensure proper fit.02
  3. Shape seams, joints, or irregular edges of pressure vessel sections or structural parts to attain specified fit of parts, using cutting torches, hammers, files, or metalworking machines.03
  4. Bolt or arc weld pressure vessel structures and parts together, using wrenches or welding equipment.04
  5. 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.05
Where else this work leads

Related occupations

Occupations O*NET links to this one. Relatedness reflects shared work, not a claim that these roles are safer.

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Beyond AI capability

Adoption and labour-market outlook

Structural factors are kept separate from raw capability so you can see what actually resists automation. Adoption pressure and labour-market resilience are still provisional models—25% of this occupation’s replacement-risk weight rests on them.

Human dependency78
Physical dependency59
Adoption pressure39
Labour-market resilience73
Methodology & sources

O*NET 30.3 occupational data interpreted through the JobsVsAI capability, automation and structural-constraint models.

Confidence83/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →