Main duties

Plumbers perform some or all of the following duties:

• Read blueprints, drawings and specifications to determine layout of plumbing system, water supply network and waste and drainage systems
• Install, repair and maintain domestic, commercial or industrial plumbing fixtures and systems
• Locate and mark positions for pipe connections, passage holes and fixtures in walls and floors
• Cut opening in walls and floors to accommodate pipe and pipe fittings
• Measure, cut, bend and thread pipes using hand and power tools or machines
• Join pipes using couplings, clamps, screws, bolts, cement or soldering, brazing and welding equipment
• Test pipes for leaks using air and water pressure gauges
• May prepare cost estimates.

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.

• Completion of a four- to five-year apprenticeship program or A combination of over five years of work experience in the trade and some high school, college or industry courses in plumbing is usually required to be eligible for trade certification.

• Trade certification is compulsory in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

• Interprovincial trade certification (Red Seal) is available to qualified plumbers.