Boilermaker Job Description Templates for Industrial and Trades Employers
6 templates for contractors, fabrication shops, and plants that hire without an HR department: field, apprentice, code welder, shop, maintenance, and foreman. Download as DOCX.
Most boilermaker job descriptions online were written by a content site that has never been inside a boiler drum. They list duties in the abstract, skip the welding qualification entirely, and say nothing about travel, outage schedules, or the test coupon. A journeyman reads one of those and moves on, because it tells them nothing about the actual job.
The employers hiring this trade are mostly small: mechanical contractors, fabrication shops, and manufacturers who keep one or two boilermakers on staff. There is no recruiting department. The person writing the posting is usually the owner or the maintenance manager, working between an outage schedule and a customer call.
At FirstHR we build hiring templates for exactly that reader. The six below cover field and outage work, an apprentice, a code welder, a shop fabricator, an in-plant maintenance boilermaker, and a working foreman, each with the classification, certification, and confined space language the generic versions leave out.
TL;DR
A boilermaker assembles, installs, and repairs boilers, pressure vessels, and tanks, working from drawings and welding to qualified procedures, often inside permit-required confined spaces. The trade is non-exempt and hourly. The national median was $76,410 per year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
What a Boilermaker Actually Does
A boilermaker builds, installs, maintains, and repairs boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, and the large containers that hold liquids and gases under pressure. The day runs from blueprints and weld maps through layout, cutting, fitting, rigging, and welding, and ends with inspection and pressure testing.
What makes the posting hard to write is that the same title covers four very different jobs. The scope of work, the schedule, the travel, and the pay structure all change with the setting, and candidates sort themselves by setting long before they read your responsibilities list.
Field and outage work
Travel, long shifts, hard deadlines
Crews mobilize to a power plant, refinery, or mill for a scheduled shutdown and work compressed schedules until the unit goes back online. Pay includes per diem and heavy overtime, and the hiring cycle is driven by the outage calendar rather than by headcount planning.
In-plant maintenance
One site, on-call rotation
A manufacturer keeps its own boilermaker to inspect, patch, and plan around its pressure equipment. Steadier hours, no travel, and a deeper knowledge of one set of assets. The tradeoff is callouts and responsibility for the jurisdictional paperwork.
Shop fabrication
Fixed shift, indoor, repeatable
Plate work, rolling, fitting, and welding vessels and tanks in a fabrication shop. This is the setting most attractive to a candidate who is tired of the road, and the one where a clear shift pattern and differential do most of the recruiting for you.
Repair and alteration service
Code work under a stamp
Companies holding an ASME stamp or a National Board repair certificate need welders who can qualify to written procedures and hold the quality. Hiring here is gated by qualification records and the ability to pass a test coupon, not by resume length.
The trade is also small and getting smaller. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook counted about 10,400 boilermaker jobs in 2024 and projects a 2 percent decline through 2034, driven mainly by the shift away from coal-fired electricity generation. Roughly 800 openings are projected each year, essentially all from retirements and transfers rather than growth.
Write the Setting into the First Paragraph
A field boilermaker and a shop boilermaker are not competing for the same job, and they are not making the same decision. One is choosing an outage run with per diem and heavy overtime. The other is choosing to sleep at home on a fixed shift. If your posting does not say which one you are offering in the first paragraph, both candidates assume the worse case for them and keep scrolling. Name the setting, the travel percentage, and the shift pattern before you list a single duty.
What Belongs in the Posting
A boilermaker posting does four jobs at once: it describes the work concretely enough to be believable, it filters people who cannot qualify, it protects you legally, and it closes the candidate on rate and schedule. Most postings only attempt the first, and do it badly.
What a boilermaker reads first
Scope: boilers, vessels, tanks, or ductwork
Setting: field, shop, or in-plant
Shift pattern and expected overtime
Travel, per diem, and site locations
What filters the applicants
Welding processes, positions, and materials
Whether a test coupon is required, and whether it is paid
Rigging, scaffold, and crane qualifications
OSHA card and confined space training status
What protects you
Non-exempt classification stated plainly
Physical demands and essential functions
Drug screen and background check notice
Equal opportunity statement
What closes the hire
The hourly rate, not a vague band
Overtime structure and callout minimum
Tools, PPE, and who pays for certification
A named contact and a fast decision timeline
The omission that costs the most is the weld test. Qualified welders plan their week around test coupons, and a posting that hides the material, the thickness, the position, and whether test time is paid gets fewer responses than one that states all four. Our general guide to writing a job description covers the underlying structure, and the welder templates go deeper on process and position language.
6 Boilermaker Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, physical demands where relevant, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you change.
Download All 6 Boilermaker Job Description Templates
Field and outage, apprentice, code welder, shop fabricator, in-plant maintenance, and foreman. All in one download.
Boilermaker, field and outage
Travel and shutdown work
The core journeyman posting: layout, fitting, rigging, welding, and confined space entry on customer sites, with travel and per diem stated.
Boilermaker apprentice
Build your own pipeline
For an entry-level hire into a registered or company program, with the wage progression, hour logging, and child labor caution built in.
Boilermaker welder
Code qualification required
For pressure work under a written procedure, with the process and position fields, the test coupon process, and qualification continuity spelled out.
Shop boilermaker
Fixed shift fabrication
For plate work in a fabrication shop: rolling, forming, fitting, crane work, and the shift differential that makes an indoor job competitive.
Maintenance boilermaker
In-plant, on-call
For a manufacturer keeping its own pressure equipment alive, including outage planning, jurisdictional inspection, and the on-call rules.
Boilermaker foreman
Working crew lead
For a crew lead who is still on the tools, with the entry supervisor duties and a blunt warning about assuming the role is exempt.
Template 1: Boilermaker, Field and Outage Work
The core journeyman posting for contractors: layout, fitting, rigging, welding, and confined space entry at customer sites, with travel, per diem, and the outage schedule stated up front.
Boilermaker (Field and Outage Work) Job Description
BOILERMAKER JOB DESCRIPTION (FIELD AND OUTAGE WORK)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Boilermaker Foreman / Site Superintendent]
Employment type: Full-time, project and outage based
Pay: $_ per hour, plus [per diem / travel pay / shift premium]
ABOUT [COMPANY NAME]
[Company Name] is a [mechanical contractor / boiler and pressure vessel service
company] working in [power generation, refining, pulp and paper, chemical,
food processing]. We are hiring boilermakers for [scheduled outages / capital
projects] at customer sites in [region]. Travel is [percentage] and outage
schedules run [hours per shift, days per week].
POSITION SUMMARY
The Boilermaker lays out, fabricates, rigs, fits, and welds pressure parts and
structural steel on boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, and related equipment,
working from drawings and written procedures under a job safety analysis.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Read and work from blueprints, isometrics, weld maps, and shop drawings
•Lay out, cut, bevel, fit, and align tube, plate, headers, and structural steel
•Weld to a qualified written procedure and pass required test coupons
•Rig and move loads with [chain falls, come-alongs, hoists, mobile cranes],
including signaling and load calculations within your qualification
•Set and remove scaffold access as directed by qualified scaffold builders
•Enter permit-required confined spaces under the site entry permit, including
drum, furnace, and vessel interiors
•Perform tube replacement, pad welding, seal welding, and pressure part repair
•Inspect completed work for leaks, distortion, and defects, and support
hydrostatic testing and third-party inspection
•Complete daily time, production, and safety documentation
•Follow all lockout and tagout, hot work, fall protection, and respiratory
protection requirements without exception
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Completion of a registered boilermaker apprenticeship / [number] years of
documented field boilermaker experience: choose your bar]
•Current welding qualification in [process and position], or ability to pass
our test on [material, thickness, position] before dispatch
•OSHA [10 / 30] hour construction card [required / preferred]
•Confined space entrant training and current [respirator fit test / medical
clearance] or willingness to complete before the first entry
•Ability to work at height, in heat, and in restricted spaces for a full shift
•Valid driver license and ability to travel to [region] job sites
•Must pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check
PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING CONDITIONS
Lifting up to [pounds], climbing ladders and scaffold, working at heights above
[feet], working inside vessels and boiler drums with restricted entry, exposure
to heat, noise, dust, and weather. Personal protective equipment is required at
all times. Essential functions are listed so that reasonable accommodation can
be discussed where it is possible.
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
Boilermakers are non-exempt. The federal regulation at 29 CFR 541.3 states that
the white-collar exemptions do not apply to manual laborers and other blue
collar workers, and it names craftsmen, construction workers, iron workers, and
mechanics specifically. Pay overtime past forty hours in a workweek, track all
hours including travel time that counts as hours worked, and do not treat a
field boilermaker as an independent contractor when you set the schedule, the
site, and the method. Work on federally funded construction contracts in excess
of $2,000 is covered by Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, which set both
the hourly rate and the fringe benefit rate by classification. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
PAY AND HOW TO APPLY
Pay: $_ per hour, [overtime structure], [per diem], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume, your welding
qualifications, and your safety training records.
Template 2: Boilermaker Apprentice
For employers who have decided to build the pipeline instead of waiting for it. Includes the wage progression, the hour logging requirement, and the child labor caution that applies when you hire young.
Boilermaker Apprentice Job Description
BOILERMAKER APPRENTICE JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Journeyman Boilermaker / Foreman / Training Coordinator]
Employment type: Full-time, [registered apprenticeship / company training program]
For pressure work under a written welding procedure specification, with the process and position fields, the test coupon process, and welder qualification continuity handled explicitly.
Pay: $_ per hour, plus [test pay / certification premium]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] performs [pressure vessel fabrication / boiler repair and
alteration / piping] work under [ASME Section I / Section VIII / National Board
R stamp] scope. We need welders who can qualify to our written procedures and
hold that quality across a full shift, not just on a test coupon.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Boilermaker Welder welds pressure parts and structural components to
qualified written welding procedure specifications, maintains the required
qualification continuity, and produces work that passes visual, radiographic,
and pressure testing.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Weld to the assigned welding procedure specification using [SMAW, GTAW, FCAW,
GMAW] on [carbon steel, chrome moly, stainless, other]
•Weld in [1G through 6G] positions on plate, pipe, and tube as assigned
•Prepare joints: cut, bevel, grind, fit, and preheat to procedure
•Control interpass temperature, filler metal handling, and post-weld heat
treatment support per procedure
•Perform your own visual inspection before turning work over
•Support nondestructive examination and repair rejected welds
•Maintain welder qualification continuity and complete requalification when
required
•Keep filler metal, rod ovens, and consumable control per our quality manual
•Follow hot work permit, fire watch, ventilation, and fume control rules
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Current qualification to [ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IX /
AWS D1.1] in [process, position, material, thickness], or ability to pass our
test before start
•[Number] years welding [pressure parts / structural steel]
•Ability to read weld maps, symbols, and procedure specifications
•Confined space entrant training and current medical clearance for respirator
use where required
•Must pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check
TESTING PROCESS (state this so candidates plan for it)
•Weld test on [material, thickness, position] at our [shop / test facility]
•Test is [paid / unpaid: choose and state it plainly]
•Results in [number] business days, with [radiography / bend test] as the
acceptance method
•Documented qualification records are maintained by [Quality Manager]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Welders are non-exempt regardless of skill level or pay rate: the white-collar
exemptions do not reach manual trades. Time spent on required weld testing,
required training, and required equipment setup is generally hours worked and
must be paid. Welding carries specific OSHA obligations covering hot work and
fire prevention, ventilation and fume control, respiratory protection, and
exposure limits for hexavalent chromium when welding stainless. Qualification
records are a code requirement, not a nice-to-have, so store them with expiry
and continuity dates attached. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
PAY AND HOW TO APPLY
Pay: $_ per hour, [premium for additional qualifications]
To apply, email __ with your resume and copies of your
current welder qualification records.
Template 4: Shop Boilermaker and Plate Fabricator
For a fabrication shop: rolling, forming, fitting, crane and rigging work, and the shift differential that makes an indoor job competitive against road work. Pair it with the fabricator templates if you staff a mixed shop.
•Fit and tack shells, heads, nozzles, and internals to tolerance
•Weld assigned joints to procedure and support the weld inspection process
•Rig and turn assemblies with [overhead crane, manipulators, turning rolls]
•Grind, dress, and finish welds to the required surface condition
•Verify dimensions, roundness, and alignment against the drawing
•Support hydrostatic testing, stamping, and third-party inspection visits
•Keep the bay clean, tools controlled, and material traceability intact
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years of plate fabrication or shop boilermaking experience
•Ability to read fabrication drawings and use precision measuring tools
•[Overhead crane and rigging qualification / willingness to be qualified]
•Welding qualification in [process and position] preferred
•Comfortable with sustained standing, lifting to [pounds], and shop conditions
•Must pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Shop boilermakers are non-exempt hourly employees. If you run a second or third
shift, decide and publish your shift differential rather than negotiating it per
hire, and remember that a shift premium is included in the regular rate when you
calculate overtime. General industry OSHA rules apply in the shop: machine
guarding, lockout and tagout, overhead crane and rigging, hearing conservation
where noise exposure requires it, and permit-required confined space entry for
work inside completed vessels. Material traceability and welder qualification
records belong to the quality system and should survive employee turnover. This
is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
PAY AND HOW TO APPLY
Pay: $_ per hour, [shift differential], [overtime structure]
To apply, email __ with your resume and shift availability.
Template 5: Maintenance Boilermaker, In-Plant
For a manufacturer keeping its own pressure equipment alive between outages, including scope planning, jurisdictional inspection, and on-call rules. See also the maintenance technician templates.
tanks] at our [plant type] facility in [City, State]. This role keeps that
equipment running between outages and leads the boilermaker scope during
planned shutdowns.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Maintenance Boilermaker inspects, repairs, and maintains in-plant pressure
equipment and vessels, plans the boilermaker scope for planned outages, and
responds to breakdowns that stop production.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Inspect boilers, vessels, and tanks for wastage, cracking, and leaks
•Perform tube plugging, tube replacement, pad welding, and seal welding
•Repair or replace [refractory, casing, expansion joints, ductwork, internals]
•Plan and estimate the boilermaker scope for planned outages, including
material takeoff and contractor coordination
•Work the plant lockout and tagout and confined space entry procedures every
time, including issuing or receiving the entry permit as authorized
•Coordinate with the jurisdictional boiler inspector on repairs and alterations
•Log work in the maintenance management system with parts and labor detail
•Respond to callouts during your on-call rotation
•Support contractor crews on site during major work
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Completion of a boilermaker apprenticeship / [number] years of industrial
boiler and vessel maintenance experience]
•Welding qualification in [process and position] on [material]
•Familiarity with [ASME Section I / VIII] repair requirements and National
Board repair procedures
•Confined space entrant [and attendant] training, plus current medical
clearance for respirator use
•Ability to be on call and respond within [time] of a callout
•Must pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This is a non-exempt hourly role even when the person is the most senior
technical authority in the plant, because the white-collar exemptions do not
reach skilled manual trades. On-call arrangements need written rules: whether
waiting time is compensable turns on how restricted the employee is, and a
callout minimum should be stated in the offer, not improvised. Repairs and
alterations to pressure-retaining items are usually controlled by your state or
local boiler jurisdiction and by National Board requirements, and the paperwork
follows the vessel for its life. Keep entry permits, hot work permits, and
inspection reports in a system that survives staff turnover. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
PAY AND HOW TO APPLY
Pay: $_ per hour, [on-call pay], [callout minimum], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume and your welding and
safety training records.
Template 6: Boilermaker Foreman and Crew Lead
For a working crew lead: daily planning, job safety analysis, entry supervisor duties, and a blunt warning about assuming the role is exempt from overtime.
Boilermaker Foreman / Crew Lead Job Description
BOILERMAKER FOREMAN / CREW LEAD JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Site Superintendent / Project Manager]
Employment type: Full-time, project and outage based
FLSA status: Usually non-exempt (see classification note before you decide)
Pay: $_ per hour, plus [foreman premium / per diem]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] needs a working foreman who can run a boilermaker crew on
[outage / capital project] work: plan the day, hold the schedule, and keep the
crew safe without leaving the tools behind entirely.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Boilermaker Foreman directs a crew on assigned scope, plans daily work and
materials, enforces the site safety program, and reports progress and manpower
to the superintendent.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Plan and assign daily work for a crew of assigned boilermakers and apprentices
•Lead the job safety analysis and pre-task planning at the start of each shift
•Serve as [entry supervisor / attendant] on permit-required confined space
entries where qualified and authorized
•Sequence material, tools, rigging, scaffold, and welding equipment ahead of
the crew
•Track and report daily progress, manpower, and delays
•Coach apprentices and sign off on documented competencies
•Enforce quality: fit-up tolerance, procedure compliance, and rework control
•Coordinate with the customer, other crafts, and inspection
•Complete daily time sheets, permits, and incident documentation
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years as a journeyman boilermaker, with [number] years leading crews
•OSHA 30 hour construction card
•Confined space entry supervisor training [required / provided]
•Rigging and signaling qualification
•Ability to read schedules and communicate scope clearly in writing
•Valid driver license and willingness to travel to [region]
•Must pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read this carefully)
Do not assume a foreman is exempt. The federal regulation on blue collar workers
means a working foreman who spends most of the shift on the tools stays
non-exempt and overtime-eligible. The executive exemption requires that
management is the primary duty, that the person customarily directs two or more
full-time employees, and that hiring and firing recommendations carry particular
weight, plus payment on a salary basis at the applicable federal threshold. Most
craft foremen fail that test, and misclassifying one across a long outage
schedule creates a large overtime liability quickly. When in doubt, keep the
role hourly and pay the premium as an hourly adder. This is general information,
not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
PAY AND HOW TO APPLY
Pay: $_ per hour, [foreman premium], [per diem], [overtime structure]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a summary of the
crews and scopes you have led.
Apprenticeship and the Hiring Pipeline
The standard path into the trade is an apprenticeship that typically runs four years, combining paid on-the-job learning with related classroom instruction. Boilermakers usually enter this way rather than through a degree, and the entry-level education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent.
For a small employer, the practical question is whether to register a program or to train informally. The registered apprenticeship framework run by the U.S. Department of Labor and State Apprenticeship Agencies sets industry-vetted standards, a progressive wage as skills increase, and a portable, nationally recognized credential the apprentice keeps. Registration also puts record-keeping duties on the sponsor, which is the part most owners underestimate.
The recruiting case for registering is straightforward. When about 800 openings a year come almost entirely from retirements, buying experience from a shrinking pool is a losing strategy for a small shop. Growing it is slower but it is the only supply you control.
Decision
Registered program
Informal training
Written standards
Required, filed with the registration agency
Whatever you decide internally
Wage progression
Published schedule with documented steps
Ad hoc, negotiated per person
Hour tracking
Logged by work process and audited
Optional and usually missing
Credential at completion
Recognized journeyworker certificate
Internal only, does not travel
Recruiting pull
Strong: candidates search for registered programs
Weak: reads as unpaid learning
Administrative load
Real, and it lands on whoever runs HR
Light until a dispute happens
Whichever route you pick, apprentices are employees. They are non-exempt and overtime-eligible. Required training time is generally hours worked, though 29 CFR 785.32 allows related supplemental instruction under a bona fide apprenticeship program to sit outside hours worked when the written agreement says so and no productive work happens during it.
Settle that question in the apprenticeship agreement rather than leaving it to custom, because the answer drives both the wage schedule and the overtime math. Minors carry additional hazardous occupation restrictions on top, which bite hard in a trade built on welding, power tools, and heights.
Certification and Code Qualification
Boilermakers are rarely licensed, but the welding on pressure work is tightly controlled by code. Welders qualify to a written welding procedure specification under ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IX, or to AWS D1.1 for structural steel, and that qualification is specific rather than general.
Specific means it is tied to a process, a position, a base material group, a filler metal group, and a thickness range. A welder qualified for one combination is not automatically qualified for another, and qualification lapses under continuity rules if the welder stops using the process for long enough. That is why a posting has to name the combination it needs rather than asking for a certified welder.
Qualification Records Belong to the Company, Not the Folder
Welder qualification records, procedure qualification records, and continuity logs are code documents that follow your quality system and, on repair work, the vessel itself. Small shops routinely keep them in a binder that one person maintains, and lose track when that person leaves or when an auditor asks for a record from four years ago. Store them digitally against the employee profile with the qualified ranges and the continuity date attached, and set the renewal reminder when you file the record, not when the customer asks.
Repairs and alterations to pressure-retaining items are usually controlled by your state or local boiler jurisdiction and by National Board requirements, and a company performing that work generally holds an appropriate certificate of authorization. If you hold a stamp, say so in the posting. Candidates who do code work read it as a signal that the shop is serious, and it separates you from general fabrication postings immediately.
Confined Space and the Safety Language Your Posting Needs
Confined space entry is the defining exposure of this trade, and it belongs in the job description rather than being saved for orientation. A boiler drum, a furnace, a vessel, and a tank all meet the definition, and they are permit-required whenever they hold or could hold a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment potential, or an entrapping internal shape.
OSHA covers construction work under 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA, which took effect in 2015, and general industry work under 29 CFR 1910.146. The agency's confined spaces resources set out both. The construction rule requires a competent person to identify every confined space at the site before work begins, and requires the written permit space program to be available at the site during entry operations.
Permit-required confined space is the defining exposure
A boiler drum, a furnace, a vessel, and a storage tank all meet the definition of a confined space: large enough to enter and work in, with limited means of entry or exit, and not designed for continuous occupancy. They become permit-required when they contain or could contain a hazardous atmosphere, a material with engulfment potential, an internal shape that could trap or asphyxiate an entrant, or any other recognized serious hazard. Construction work is governed by 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA, which took effect in 2015, and general industry work by 29 CFR 1910.146. The construction rule requires a competent person to identify every confined space at the site before work begins, and it requires the employer to have a written permit space program available at the site during entry operations.
The entry program is a sequence, not a form
Under 29 CFR 1926.1204 the permit space program has to cover the whole entry: identifying and evaluating hazards, testing and monitoring the atmosphere with entrants allowed to observe, purging, inerting, flushing, or ventilating to control atmospheric hazards, controlling all other hazards, verifying acceptable entry conditions before anyone goes in, arranging rescue and emergency services, and closing out the entry when the work is done. Roles are named and separate: authorized entrant, attendant who stays outside, and entry supervisor who signs the permit. Multi-employer sites add a coordination duty, which matters when your crew works alongside a host plant and other contractors on the same shutdown.
Hot work, heights, fumes, and noise stack on top
Confined space is rarely the only exposure on a boilermaker job. Welding inside a vessel combines hot work and fire prevention duties, ventilation and fume control, respiratory protection with fit testing and medical evaluation, and hexavalent chromium exposure limits when the base metal is stainless. Work on boiler exteriors, stacks, and structural steel adds fall protection and ladder and scaffold rules. Grinding and needle gunning inside steel adds hearing conservation. Lockout and tagout controls the energy sources feeding the equipment. Write the training expectations into the posting so candidates arrive knowing what clearances they need, and so your own supervisors cannot quietly skip a step under outage pressure.
Medical clearance and fit testing gate the start date
A boilermaker who cannot wear a respirator cannot enter most vessels, and respirator use requires a medical evaluation before fit testing and before use. Build that into your hiring timeline instead of discovering it the morning the outage starts. The same applies to any site-specific requirement your customer imposes: plant orientation, background screening, badging, TWIC where the site is a regulated marine or port facility, and refresher training with expiry dates. Track every clearance with its expiry date attached to the employee record, because on an outage crew the certificate that quietly expired is the one that stops a crew of people at the gate.
State the training requirements in the posting so candidates arrive knowing what they need, and so your own supervisors cannot skip a step under schedule pressure. Our guides to OSHA requirements for employers and to employee safety training cover the wider program behind those lines.
If you are staffing the oversight side rather than the tools, the safety manager templates use the same structure and name the program ownership that a growing shop eventually has to assign to someone.
What to Pay a Boilermaker
Boilermakers sit at the top of the comparable metal trades on national pay data, and the gap is not small. Treat the national median as a floor reference for a straight-time shop rate, because field earnings include overtime and per diem that the median does not capture.
National Median Wages for Boilermakers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the national median wage for boilermakers was $76,410 per year, or $36.74 per hour. That is the highest median among comparable metal trades, ahead of millwrights at $65,700 and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers at $53,750 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS occupational profile).
Occupation
Median annual (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Median hourly
Note for employers
Boilermakers
$76,410
$36.74
Highest of the metal trades; field work adds overtime and per diem
Millwrights
$65,700
$31.59
Closest neighbor on skill overlap and rigging work
Industrial machinery mechanics
$64,520
$31.02
Common in-plant alternative when the scope is not pressure work
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters
$63,800
$30.67
Overlaps on piping scope during outages
Structural iron and steel workers
$62,780
$30.18
Overlaps on structural steel and rigging
Sheet metal workers
$61,800
$29.71
Overlaps on ductwork and casing
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers
$53,750
$25.84
A general welder rate will not attract a code-qualified boilermaker
Three pay decisions matter beyond the base rate. First, publish the hourly number rather than a band, because this pool compares rates directly and a vague band reads as a low one. Second, state the overtime structure and any callout minimum in writing. Third, on federally funded construction contracts in excess of $2,000, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements set both the hourly rate and the fringe benefit rate by classification, so check the wage determination before you publish a number.
Where pay transparency laws apply, a good-faith range is required anyway. In this trade that is an advantage rather than a burden, since the candidate you want is doing exactly that comparison.
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Small industrial employers lose boilermaker hires in three predictable places: the posting is too generic for a small pool, the competitive tradeoff is never stated, and the clearance paperwork lands all at once against an outage deadline. Each has a fix.
The pool is small, older, and shrinking, so a generic posting gets nothing
This is not a trade where volume applications save a weak posting. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 10,400 boilermaker jobs in 2024 and projects the occupation to decline 2 percent through 2034, with roughly 800 openings a year, essentially all of them from retirements and transfers rather than growth. A posting that says boilermaker wanted, competitive pay, and nothing else is invisible in that market. Name the scope, the material, the welding processes, the shift, the travel, and the hourly rate. A qualified journeyman reads three postings and applies to the one that answers the questions the other two dodged.
You are competing on more than money, and you are not saying so
Field boilermaking pays well and costs a lot in road time. A shop or in-plant employer wins candidates by trading some of the outage premium for a predictable schedule, a home bed, benefits that do not lapse between jobs, and a wage that does not depend on the next shutdown award. Field contractors win by naming the per diem, the overtime structure, and the length of the run. Neither advantage helps if it lives in your head instead of the posting. Write the tradeoff into the first paragraph, because that is the actual decision the candidate is making.
Certifications, clearances, and safety records live in a folder nobody owns
Every boilermaker hire arrives with a stack that has to be captured, verified, and re-verified: welder qualification records with continuity dates, OSHA cards, confined space training, respirator medical clearance and fit test dates, rigging and crane qualifications, site badging, and drug screen results. Then the outage schedule compresses all of it into one week. FirstHR was built for that burst. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every hire, e-signature covers policy acknowledgments and safety sign-offs, document management stores every certificate against the employee profile with a renewal date attached, and training modules deliver orientation before the first shift. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Sequencing matters more here than in most trades, because several clearances have real lead time. The respirator medical evaluation has to come before fit testing and before use, and it is usually what pushes a start date. Run it in parallel with the background check and the drug screen rather than in sequence.
Once the offer is accepted, the work becomes a repeatable onboarding checklist: signed offer and policy acknowledgments, certificates captured with expiry dates, site badging requested, orientation delivered, and workers compensation classification confirmed before the first shift.
If you also hire the wider crew, our guide on how to hire construction workers covers the same ground at crew scale, which matters when an outage pulls in laborers, operators, and other crafts alongside the boilermakers.
Key Takeaways
A boilermaker job description has to name the setting first: field and outage, in-plant maintenance, shop fabrication, or code repair work, because that drives schedule, travel, and pay more than the title does.
State the welding processes, positions, materials, and thickness range, and say whether a weld test is required and whether test time is paid, since qualified welders plan around test coupons.
Boilermakers and working foremen are non-exempt: 29 CFR 541.3 excludes manual laborers and blue-collar workers from the white-collar exemptions regardless of pay rate or skill.
The national median was $76,410 per year, or $36.74 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025), the highest of the comparable metal trades, and Davis-Bacon applies to federally funded construction contracts in excess of $2,000.
Boiler drums, furnaces, vessels, and tanks are permit-required confined spaces governed by 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA in construction and 29 CFR 1910.146 in general industry, which means a written program, a competent person, atmospheric testing, an attendant, and arranged rescue.
With about 10,400 jobs and roughly 800 openings a year, almost all from retirements, a registered apprenticeship is the only supply of boilermakers a small employer genuinely controls.
Trades hiring arrives in bursts, and the certificates arrive with it. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every hire, with e-signature for acknowledgments, document storage for welding qualifications, OSHA cards, and fit test records, and renewal dates tracked so nothing expires at the gate. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
If you also staff machining or rotating equipment work, the machinist templates and the millwright templates use the same structure, so a mixed maintenance crew ends up with one consistent set of postings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a boilermaker do?
A boilermaker assembles, installs, maintains, and repairs boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, and other large containers that hold liquids and gases under pressure. The work runs from reading blueprints and weld maps, through laying out and cutting plate, fitting and aligning tube and structural steel, rigging heavy assemblies, and welding to a qualified written procedure, to inspecting the finished work for leaks and supporting hydrostatic testing. Most of it happens in one of four settings: field and outage work at customer plants, in-plant maintenance for a single manufacturer, plate fabrication in a shop, or code repair and alteration work under an ASME stamp. The setting changes the schedule, the travel, and the pay structure far more than the job title does, which is why a posting that does not name the setting reads as generic to the people you want.
What should a boilermaker job description include?
A boilermaker job description should name eight things: the setting and scope of work, the welding processes, positions, and materials, whether a weld test is required and whether it is paid, the shift pattern and expected overtime, the travel and per diem arrangement, the rigging, scaffold, and confined space qualifications you require, the physical demands and working conditions, and the hourly rate. Add the non-exempt classification, the drug screen and background check notice, and an equal opportunity statement. The single most common omission is the test coupon process. A qualified welder plans around it, so telling them the material, the thickness, the position, and whether test time is paid removes the biggest reason a strong candidate does not respond. Name a real contact and give a real decision timeline.
Are boilermakers exempt or non-exempt under the FLSA?
Non-exempt. The federal regulation at 29 CFR 541.3 states that the white-collar exemptions do not apply to manual laborers or other blue-collar workers who perform work involving repetitive operations with their hands, physical skill, and energy, and it names craftsmen, construction workers, iron workers, mechanics, and laborers explicitly. That holds regardless of how high the hourly rate is or how skilled the trade is, so a boilermaker earning well above the salary threshold is still owed overtime past forty hours in a workweek. Working foremen are the trap: a crew lead who spends most of the shift on the tools remains non-exempt, because the executive exemption requires management to be the primary duty. Misclassifying a foreman across a long outage schedule builds overtime liability fast. This is general information, not legal advice.
How much does a boilermaker make?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the national median wage for boilermakers was $76,410 per year, or $36.74 per hour. That is the highest median among the comparable metal trades: millwrights sat at $65,700, industrial machinery mechanics at $64,520, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters at $63,800, structural iron and steel workers at $62,780, sheet metal workers at $61,800, and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers at $53,750. National medians understate field earnings, because outage work carries heavy overtime and per diem on top of the base rate. Work on federally funded construction contracts in excess of $2,000 is covered by Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, which set both the hourly rate and the fringe rate by classification, so check the applicable wage determination before you post a number.
What training or certification does a boilermaker need?
The standard route is a registered apprenticeship that typically runs four years, combining paid on-the-job learning with related classroom instruction. Programs registered with the U.S. Department of Labor or a State Apprenticeship Agency carry written standards, a published wage progression, and a recognized completion credential. Formal licensing of boilermakers is rare, but code qualification is not optional for pressure work: welders qualify to a written welding procedure specification under ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IX, or to AWS D1.1 for structural steel, and that qualification is tied to a specific process, position, material, and thickness range, with continuity requirements that lapse if the welder stops using the process. Repairs and alterations to pressure-retaining items are typically controlled by the state or local boiler jurisdiction and by National Board requirements.
What are the confined space requirements for boilermaker work?
Boiler drums, furnaces, vessels, and tanks are classic permit-required confined spaces: large enough to enter and work in, with limited means of entry or exit, not designed for continuous occupancy, and holding hazards such as a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment potential, or an internal shape that could trap an entrant. Construction work falls under 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA, which took effect in 2015, and general industry work under 29 CFR 1910.146. The employer must have a competent person identify every confined space before work starts, and must run a written permit space program covering hazard evaluation, atmospheric testing and monitoring, ventilation or purging, verification of acceptable entry conditions, the separate roles of authorized entrant, attendant, and entry supervisor, arranged rescue services, and entry close-out. Multi-employer sites add a coordination duty between the host and the contractors.
How do I hire a boilermaker for a small industrial company with no HR department?
Run a short, specific sequence and move faster than the larger contractors you compete with. Post a job description that names the setting, the scope, the welding processes and positions, the shift, the travel, and the hourly rate, because the pool is small and vague postings are ignored. Screen on documented welding qualifications and safety training rather than on years alone. Run the weld test early and pay for the test time. Check references with the foreman who actually watched the work, not the office. Then compress the clearances: drug screen, background check, respirator medical evaluation and fit test, confined space training, and site badging all have lead time, and the medical evaluation is the one that usually delays a start date. FirstHR runs that onboarding sequence with e-signature, document storage, and renewal tracking. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
