Sheet Metal Installer Job Description

Sheet Metal Workers in the United States

Over the next decade, 13,100 openings for sheet metal workers are projected. Most of the openings are expected to be caused by the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or retire. Sheet metal workers use thin steel, aluminum, or other alloyed metal in both manufacturing and construction.

Sheet metal products include heating and air conditioning ducts. Maintenance workers repair and clean systems that use less energy. Dust and moist material are removed and the sheet metal that makes up the ductwork is fixed.

Testing and balancing sheet metal specialists ensure that the heating and cooling of the rooms is done correctly. The profile on heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers has information workers who install or repair the systems. Workers who install sheet metal at construction sites must bend, climb, and squat in a variety of awkward and high positions.

Sheet metal workers are exposed to all types of weather. The work environment can be noisy or dusty. A high school degree is required for sheet metal workers.

Those interested in becoming a sheet metal worker should take high school classes. Vocational- education courses such as mechanical drawing and welding are helpful. Most construction sheet metal workers learn their trade through apprenticeships, which include paid on-the-job training and related technical instruction.

Sheet Metal Worker Jobs in the Construction Industry

Sheet metal workers can create ornate finished pieces from different metals. They will work with a variety of metal types, but also have the chance to work with copper, zinc and other specialized metals. Being employed as a sheet metal worker gives you the chance to work on unique and ornate products.

The chance to showcase their skills and talents is given by the unique products such as copper scupper boxes and leader heads. Many older structures require skilled sheet metal workers to be able to make pieces that can match historical features. Residential projects usually include sheet metal trim pieces for capping.

Specialty sheet metal components may be required as well. Residential trim is usually fabricated on site with portable brakes. Time on site for fabrication is not usually included in projects that include ornate leader heads and scupper boxes.

The sheet metal shop is where the fabrication takes place. Duct work can be made in a sheet metal shop and then transported to the site for installation. There are no requirements for education for Sheet Metal Workers.

The training of sheet metal workers on operating specific types of equipment may increase their skills. People looking to develop a career working with sheet metal should focus on training for soldering and welding. Basic math is important to help you progress and safely perform your job.

The Work Experience of Sheet Metal Workers in the Construction Industry

The Holland Code framework states that sheet metal workers have an interest in the Building interest area. The focus of the Building interest area is on working with tools and machines. If you don't know if you have an interest in building or sheet metal work, you can take a career test to see if you fit in.

There are mechanical skills. Sheet metal workers use a lot of equipment. They should have good mechanical skills in order to help operate and maintain equipment.

There are spatial relationships. Structural metal pieces are placed to be precise. Workers must be able to compare the installed sheet metal to the design specifications using hand-held tablets.

The annual wage for sheet metal workers was $50,400 in May. Half of the workers in an occupation earn more than the median wage, and half earn less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $29,260, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $88,070.

Sheet Metal Workers at Construction Sites and Other Workplace Environment

Sheet metal workers are employed at construction sites, metal shops, and manufacturing plants. Most are skilled in all three areas, though they can specialize in fabrication, installation, or maintenance. Sheet metal workers are usually unskilled and only perform one repetitive task.

sheet metal workers use specialized equipment to cut, form, and weld sheets of metal to create useful products for both commercial and industrial applications. Workers install products in the factory or sheet metal shop at construction sites. Workers perform further assembly work if the product is in pieces.

The pieces are joined together and then lifted or dropped. The worker needs to secure the pieces with metal. They are often required to make changes at the site.

A small percentage of self-employed workers can work nights or weekends to complete time-sensitive projects on a construction site or inside a sheet metal shop, but they are usually not working more than 40 hours per week. People working at construction sites don't need to change their schedules due to weather, they work inside the structure, which is usually near the end of the project. People who apply metal products to roofs or outdoor structures work around unfavorable weather conditions.

Sheet metal work is labor-intensive. Workers must lift heavy materials and equipment, stand for long periods of time, bend over, and sometimes crawl into small spaces to install products. Sheet metal workers use rigid safety practices because of the risk of burns, cuts from sharp metal, and falls at construction sites.

Sheet Metal Workers in Construction and Manufacturing

Sheet metal is formed by an industrial process. It can be made of a number of metals, including steel, aluminum, iron, and copper, and is used to make pipes, tubes and ducts for heating and air conditioning systems, roofing and roof flashing, gutter and downspouts, the bodywork of cars and other motor vehicles, in sign. The bending and stamp operations are done using a mechanical or an automatic press.

Measuring instruments are used to check the accuracy and precision of the work. Assembly phase involves a range of operations, including welding, soldering, brazing, riveting and bolting. Sheet metal workers in construction work on roofing and other parts of the project, and they use hammers, drills, welding equipment and other tools to carry out repairs.

An inspection is conducted after a repair is done to make sure it has been waterproofed and sealed. Sheet metal workers are employed in plants to make sheet metal products. They work in fabrication shops, auto body shops and businesses that provide sheet metal installation and maintenance.

Shifts at continuous production plants are often shift based. The job of a sheet metal worker requires strength and endurance. Working conditions are not always easy.

Workers in production plants are exposed to high levels of safety risk, while workers on construction sites are exposed to high levels of safety risk. To reduce risk levels, applicable workplace safety and risk prevention regulations must be followed at all times. Another way for sheet metal workers to make money is to start their own business, which can be a roofing, gutter, and structural steel company.

Sheet Metal Workers in the Construction Industry

Sheet metal workers make, install, and maintain heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning duct systems, roofs, siding, rain gutter, skylights, restaurant equipment, outdoor signs, railroad cars, tailgates, and many other products made from metal sheets. They can work with fiberglass and plastic. Most workers do all three jobs.

Sheet metal workers do both construction work and mass production of sheet metal products. The kind and quantity of materials that sheet metal workers will need is determined by the plans and specifications they study. They make ductwork, countertops, and other custom products by cutting, bending, and fastening sheet metal.

Sheet metal workers operate equipment. They use computer-controlled saws, lasers, shears, and presses to cut, drill, and form parts. In shops without computerized equipment, sheet metal workers make the required calculations and use tapes, rulers, and other measuring devices for layout work.

They use machine tools to cut or stamp the parts. Sheet metal workers in manufacturing plants make metal parts. The work in large-scale manufacturing may be highly automated and repetitive, even though some of the fabrication techniques are similar to those used in smaller shops.

The sheet metal workers may be responsible for changing the computer control systems of the equipment they operate. The work environment is very nice. Sheet metal workers work 40-hour weeks.