Brickmasons and Blockmasons
Lay and bind 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.
52,550 people do this job in the US. $62,120 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 12%
- 0%
- 88%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 12%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 20% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Apply and smooth mortar or other mixture over work surface.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 11% | 25 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Fasten or fuse brick or other building material to structure with wire clamps, anchor holes, torch, or cement.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove excess mortar with trowels and hand tools, and finish mortar joints with jointing tools, for a sealed, uniform appearance.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure distance from reference points and mark guidelines to lay out work, using plumb bobs and levels.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Lay and align bricks, blocks, or tiles to build or repair structures or high temperature equipment, such as cupola, kilns, ovens, or furnaces.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 9% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Interpret blueprints and drawings to determine specifications and to calculate the materials required.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Calculate angles and courses and determine vertical and horizontal alignment of courses.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Break or cut bricks, tiles, or blocks to size, using trowel edge, hammer, or power saw.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove burned or damaged brick or mortar, using sledgehammer, crowbar, chipping gun, or chisel.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean working surface to remove scale, dust, soot, or chips of brick and mortar, using broom, wire brush, or scraper.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine brickwork or structure to determine need for repair.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters6% now, 6% by 2028
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons0% now, 0% by 2028
- Stonemasons0% now, 0% by 2028
- Tile and Stone Setters4% now, 4% by 2028
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).