Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.
48,240 people do this job in the US. $74,340 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 1%
- 1%
- 98%
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 1%.
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 . 32 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repair electric meters and components, such as transformers and relays, and replace metering devices, dial glasses, and faulty or incorrect wiring, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 17% | 2.1 h38 min to 3.8 h | Stays with people | |
| Disassemble and repair mechanical control devices or valves, such as regulators, thermostats, or hydrants, using power tools, hand tools, and cutting torches.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Mount and install meters and other electric equipment such as time clocks, transformers, and circuit breakers, using electricians' hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Install, inspect and test electric meters, relays, and power sources to detect causes of malfunctions and inaccuracies, using hand tools and testing equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Dismantle meters, and replace or adjust defective parts such as cases, shafts, gears, disks, and recording mechanisms, using soldering irons and hand tools.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.1 h38 min to 3.8 h | Stays with people | |
| Disconnect or remove defective or unauthorized meters, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test valves and regulators for leaks and accurate temperature and pressure settings, using precision testing equipment.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 1.9 h | Stays with people | |
| Install regulators and related equipment such as gas meters, odorization units, and gas pressure telemetering equipment.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Calibrate instrumentation, such as meters, gauges, and regulators, for pressure, temperature, flow, and level.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Replace defective parts, such as bellows, range springs, and toggle switches, and reassemble units according to blueprints, using cam presses and hand tools.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Investigate instances of illegal tapping into service lines.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut seats to receive new orifices, tap inspection ports, and perform other repairs to salvage usable materials, using hand tools and machine tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.1 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.
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics15% now, 17% by 2028
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers8% now, 9% by 2028
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators13% now, 22% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay19% now, 19% by 2028
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers4% now, 4% 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).