AI exposure: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
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.
Reading this score
computedHelpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 2.6% of weighted task load, rank 899 of 923. 96.0% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 15 tasks it averages 2.91 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Requisition tools and equipment, select type and size of pipe, and collect and transport..., at 32.2%. The least is Install gas burners to convert furnaces from wood, coal, or oil, at 0.0%. A gap of 32.2% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within construction and extraction occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 5.1% across the group's 61 roles, with 42 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 15 tasks, 1 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 14 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 0.13 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.91 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.47 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.54 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.88 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.99 | 0-3 |
Task by task
15 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requisition tools and equipment, select type and size of pipe, and collect and transport materials and equipment to work site. | 32.2% | 17.8% | 50.0% | 4.14 | exposed |
| Fit or assist in fitting valves, couplings, or assemblies to tanks, pumps, or systems, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.44 | untouched |
| Mount brackets and hangers on walls and ceilings to hold pipes, and set sleeves or inserts to provide support for pipes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Perform rough-ins, repair and replace fixtures and water heaters, and locate, repair, or remove leaking or broken pipes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Cut pipe and lift up to fitters. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Measure, cut, thread and assemble new pipe, placing the assembled pipe in hangers or other supports. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.20 | untouched |
| Assist pipe fitters in the layout, assembly, and installation of piping for air, ammonia, gas, and water systems. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.18 | untouched |
| Disassemble and remove damaged or worn pipe. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.02 | untouched |
| Cut or drill holes in walls or floors to accommodate the passage of pipes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.01 | untouched |
| Clean shop, work area, and machines, using solvent and rags. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.77 | untouched |
| Excavate and grade ditches, and lay and join pipe for water and sewer service. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.57 | untouched |
| Immerse pipe in chemical solution to remove dirt, oil, and scale. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.02 | untouched |
| Clean and renew steam traps. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.24 | untouched |
| Fill pipes with sand or resin to prevent distortion, and hold pipes during bending and installation. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.19 | untouched |
| Install gas burners to convert furnaces from wood, coal, or oil. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.65 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.