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Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Fabricate, position, align, and fit parts of structural metal products.

Related: Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, & Systems Assemblers Layout Workers, Metal & Plastic Sheet Metal Workers Structural Iron & Steel Workers Welding, Soldering, & Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
Align and fit parts according to specifications, using jacks, turnbuckles, wedges, drift pins, pry bars, and hammers.
Smooth workpiece edges and fix taps, tubes, and valves.
Locate and mark workpiece bending and cutting lines, allowing for stock thickness, machine and welding shrinkage, and other component specifications.
Heat-treat parts, using acetylene torches.
Remove high spots and cut bevels, using hand files, portable grinders, and cutting torches.
Straighten warped or bent parts, using sledges, hand torches, straightening presses, or bulldozers.
Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
Lift or move materials and finished products, using large cranes.
Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
Remove high spots and cut bevels, using hand files, portable grinders, and cutting torches.
Mark reference points onto floors or face blocks and transpose them to workpieces, using measuring devices, squares, chalk, and soapstone.
Install boilers, containers, and other structures.
Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
Position or tighten braces, jacks, clamps, ropes, or bolt straps, or bolt parts in position for welding or riveting.
Set up face blocks, jigs, and fixtures.
Verify conformance of workpieces to specifications, using squares, rulers, and measuring tapes.
Tack-weld fitted parts together.
Hammer, chip, and grind workpieces to cut, bend, and straighten metal.
Study engineering drawings and blueprints to determine materials requirements and task sequences.
Position, align, fit, and weld parts to form complete units or subunits, following blueprints and layout specifications, and using jigs, welding torches, and hand tools.
Set up and operate fabricating machines, such as brakes, rolls, shears, flame cutters, grinders, and drill presses, to bend, cut, form, punch, drill, or otherwise form and assemble metal components.
Hammer, chip, and grind workpieces to cut, bend, and straighten metal.
Direct welders to build up low spots or short pieces with weld.
Lay out and examine metal stock or workpieces to be processed to ensure that specifications are met.
Set up and operate fabricating machines, such as brakes, rolls, shears, flame cutters, grinders, and drill presses, to bend, cut, form, punch, drill, or otherwise form and assemble metal components.
Preheat workpieces to make them malleable, using hand torches or furnaces.
Design and construct templates and fixtures, using hand tools.
Erect ladders and scaffolding to fit together large assemblies.
Design and construct templates and fixtures, using hand tools.

Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.

Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

63280/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

30.42/hr

Currently Employed

1,870

Yearly Projected Openings

200

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cooperation
Independence
Self Control
Integrity

Adjustable wrenches
Belt sander
Bench vises
Blow torch
Claw hammer
Compasses
Desktop computers
Dial indicator or dial gauge
Drill press or radial drill
Forklifts
Hacksaw
Hand clamps
Hand reamer
Height gauges
Hoists
Hydraulic press brake
Induction heaters
Jacks
Ladders
Level sensors or transmitters
Locking pliers
Machine end mill
Manual press brake
Metal inert gas welding machine
Micrometers
Milling machines
Paint sprayers
Personal computers
Plasma arc welding machine
Positioning jig
Power chippers
Power grinders
Power planes
Power riveter
Power saws
Precision file
Protractors
Pry bars
Punches or nail sets or drifts
Rulers
Scaffolding
Screwdrivers
Scribers
Shears
Sheet metal forming machine
Sine bar
Sledge hammer
Spot welding machine
Squares
Surface gauge
Tape measures
Taps
Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
Track bulldozers
Track cranes
Tungsten inert gas welding machine
Turnbuckles
Wedges
Welder torch

Computer aided design CAD software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

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