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Sheet Metal Workers Onet SOC Code 47-2211.00 Career Description: Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Related Clusters:	Video Overview (Closed Caption): Video Courtesy of the US Department of Labor.

Video Overview (en Espanol):

Career Summary:

• Determine project requirements, including scope, assembly sequences, and required methods and materials, according to blueprints, drawings, and written or verbal instructions.
• Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, according to drawings or templates, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, and rulers.
• Maneuver completed units into position for installation, and anchor the units.
• Convert blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction and assembly of sheet metal products.
• Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, and down spouts, in supportive frameworks.
• Select gauges and types of sheet metal or non-metallic material, according to product specifications.
• Drill and punch holes in metal, for screws, bolts, and rivets.
• Fasten seams and joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, and bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.
• Fabricate or alter parts at construction sites, using shears, hammers, punches, and drills.
• Trim, file, grind, deburr, buff, and smooth surfaces, seams, and joints of assembled parts, using hand tools and portable power tools.
• Finish parts, using hacksaws, and hand, rotary, or squaring shears.
• Maintain equipment, making repairs and modifications when necessary.
• Shape metal material over anvils, blocks, or other forms, using hand tools.
• Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.
• Develop and lay out patterns that use materials most efficiently, using computerized metalworking equipment to experiment with different layouts.
• Inspect individual parts, assemblies, and installations for conformance to specifications and building codes, using measuring instruments such as calipers, scales, and micrometers.
• Secure metal roof panels in place, and interlock and fasten grooved panel edges.
• Fasten roof panel edges and machine-made molding to structures, nailing or welding pieces into place.

• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• 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.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.

• Sheet metal contractors consider apprenticeship the best way to learn this trade. An apprenticeship program consists of 4 years of on-the-job training and a minimum of 144 hours per year of classroom instruction. Apprenticeship programs provide comprehensive instruction in both sheet metal fabrication and installation. They are administered by local joint committees composed of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, local chapters of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, or by local chapters of the Associated Builders and Contractors. Courses include sheet metal processes, blueprint reading, parallel line development, trade mathematics, bend allowances, piping practices, welding, soldering, computer-aided drafting, and rigging. For related information and recommended courses to prepare for this occupation, Tennessee high school students may visit the Trade and Industrial Education Standards, Competency Profiles, and Resource Links online. For additional information on education and training in this field, visit the Sheet Metal Workers International Association online.

  Military job training consists of 4 to 15 weeks of classroom instruction. Training length varies depending on specialty. Course content typically includes sheet metal layout and duct work; procedures for cutting, brazing, and heat treating; and operation and care of welding, soldering, and brazing equipment. Further training occurs on the job and through advanced courses. The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps offer certified apprenticeship programs for some specialties in this occupation.

• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.

• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

• Handling and Moving Objects - Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Performing General Physical Activities - Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
• Controlling Machines and Processes - Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
• Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
• Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
• Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
• Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

• Moral Values - Workers on this job are never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
• Company Policies and Practices - Workers on this job are treated fairly by the company.
• Supervision, Human Relations - Workers on this job have supervisors who back up their workers with management.
• Activity - Workers on this job are busy all the time.
• Independence - Workers on this job do their work alone.
• Support-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
• Compensation - Workers on this job are paid well in comparison with other workers.
• Advancement - Workers on this job have opportunities for advancement.
• Supervision, Technical - Workers on this job have supervisors who train their workers well.
• Working Conditions-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.

Wage and salary data provided by:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
• TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
• Bureau of Economic Analysis website

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