All careers

Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers

Position and secure steel bars or mesh in concrete forms in order to reinforce concrete. Use a variety of fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, and hand tools. Includes rod busters.

What you’d do

  • Position and secure steel bars, rods, cables, or mesh in concrete forms, using fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, or hand tools.
  • Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions.
  • Space and fasten together rods in forms according to blueprints, using wire and pliers.
  • Use forklifts or cranes to move construction material, such as rebar.
  • Cut rods to required lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches.
  • Unload rebar from trucks.
  • Place blocks under rebar to hold the bars off the deck when reinforcing floors.
  • Cut and fit wire mesh or fabric, using hooked rods, and position fabric or mesh in concrete to reinforce concrete.

Skills that matter

  • Coordination
  • Critical Thinking
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Complex Problem Solving

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Iron Installer
  • Iron Worker
  • Ironworker
  • Rodbuster
  • Field Ironworker
  • Ironworker Journeyman

Related careers

See all careers

  • Structural Iron and Steel Workers

    Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

    Fabricate, position, align, and fit parts of structural metal products.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers

    Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

    Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Brickmasons and Blockmasons

    Lay and bind building materials, such as brick, structural tile, concrete block, cinder block, glass block, and terra-cotta block, with…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Sheet Metal Workers

    Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one