About This Career

Lays and binds building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with mortar and other substances, to construct or repair walls, partitions, arches, sewers, and other structures.

This career is part of the Architecture and Construction cluster Construction pathway.

A person in this career:

• Measures distance from reference points and marks guidelines to lay out work, using plumb bobs and levels.
• Construct corners by fastening in plumb position a corner pole or building a corner pyramid of bricks, and filling in between the corners using a line from corner to corner to guide each course, or layer, of brick.
• Applies and smooths mortar or other mixture over work surface.
• Calculates angles and courses and determines vertical and horizontal alignment of courses.
• Breaks or cuts bricks, tiles, or blocks to size, using trowel edge, hammer, or power saw.
• Interprets blueprints and drawings to determine specifications and to calculate the materials required.
• Removes excess mortar with trowels and hand tools, and finishes mortar joints with jointing tools, for a sealed, uniform appearance.
• Fastens or fuses brick or other building material to structure with wire clamps, anchor holes, torch, or cement.
• Cleans working surface to remove scale, dust, soot, or chips of brick and mortar, using broom, wire brush, or scraper.
• Examines brickwork or structure to determine need for repair.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires climbing things such as ladders, scaffold, and poles more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
• Work at heights above 8 feet more than once a month on structures such as ladders, poles, scaffolding, and catwalks

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
• Moving the arms, legs and torso together when the whole body is in motion
• Using muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Seeing clearly up close
• Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel