Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
In short: today's best AI models could do about 0% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 100% of the time, stays with people.
Help plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters, or pipelayers by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
44,330 people do this job in the US. $42,360 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people40 h
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 40 hours stay with people.
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 15 tasks showed up.
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0033% | 611 of 672 | 2 of 15 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 80% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 80% in a purpose-built cell. 0.80 of 3, the 223rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 20%
- In a purpose-built cell 80%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure, cut, thread and assemble new pipe, placing the assembled pipe in hangers or other supports.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KRANENDONK Robotic Pipe Shop (Apollo Spool Milling Station + Aurora Spool Welding Station) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 22% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform rough-ins, repair and replace fixtures and water heaters, and locate, repair, or remove leaking or broken pipes.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Mount brackets and hangers on walls and ceilings to hold pipes, and set sleeves or inserts to provide support for pipes.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Hilti Jaibot (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Assist pipe fitters in the layout, assembly, and installation of piping for air, ammonia, gas, and water systems.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KRANENDONK Robotic Pipe Shop (Apollo bevel station + ZEROGAP + robotic welding) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.3 h33 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Fit or assist in fitting valves, couplings, or assemblies to tanks, pumps, or systems, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KRANENDONK Robotic Pipe Shop / flange assembly cell (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Requisition tools and equipment, select type and size of pipe, and collect and transport materials and equipment to work site.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KASTO UNICOMPACT 5.0 automated long-goods storage with KASTOlogic WMS (Steel and Pipe Supply, Kansas City) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Excavate and grade ditches, and lay and join pipe for water and sewer service.Done yearly or less by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Immerse pipe in chemical solution to remove dirt, oil, and scale.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Best Technology Automated Passivation System for High-Volume Production (gantry-rail hoist automation) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Disassemble and remove damaged or worn pipe.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Canrig Red Zone Robotics (RZR) Rig Floor Module (Nabors Industries / Canrig) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut or drill holes in walls or floors to accommodate the passage of pipes.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, WEINMANN WALLTEQ M-300/M-500 multifunction bridge (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut pipe and lift up to fitters.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, HGG TCL 400 Tube Cutting Line (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Fill pipes with sand or resin to prevent distortion, and hold pipes during bending and installation.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Valk Welding two-robot sprinkler pipe cell at Tyco Building Services Products AB (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 42 min17 min to 1.4 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.
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters23% now, 23% by 2028
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers2% now, 2% by 2028
- Helpers--Electricians1% now, 1% by 2028
- Helpers--Carpenters0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters6% now, 6% 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).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 0% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 0% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters come within reach first?
- No task has a meaningful share of its time within reach now or by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five: the work is mostly people work and body work, which the site does not count.
- Which tasks of Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Measure, cut, thread and assemble new pipe, placing the assembled pipe in hangers or other supports; Perform rough-ins, repair and replace fixtures and water heaters, and locate, repair, or remove leaking or broken pipes; and Mount brackets and hangers on walls and ceilings to hold pipes, and set sleeves or inserts to provide support for pipes. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 100% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 80% of the working time. Its index is 0.80 of 3. One example: KRANENDONK Robotic Pipe Shop (Apollo Spool Milling Station + Aurora Spool Welding Station) for "measure, cut, thread and assemble new pipe, placing the assembled pipe in hangers or other supports". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 15 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
This job in your state or metro area
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