Find Out More – Boilermaker

Course: Boilermaker

Trade Title: Boilermaker

OFO No: 651302

Accreditation Body: Quality Council for Trades and Occupations

What is a Boilermaker

A boilermaker performs physically demanding and dangerous work, and must be strong enough to move heavy components into a place. They must have high endurance because they spend many hours on their feet while lifting heavy boiler components. They often work outdoors in all types of weather, including extreme heat and cold. Dams, boilers, storage tanks, and pressure vessels are usually large. Therefore, boilermakers often work at great heights. When working on a dam, for example, they may be hundreds of feet above the ground. A boilermaker can also work in cramped quarters inside boilers, vats, or tanks that are often dark, damp, and poorly ventilated.

What does a Boilermaker do?

  • A boilermaker will typically do the following:

    • Use engineering drawings to determine locations, positions, or dimensions of parts.
    • Install small pre-made boilers into buildings and manufacturing facilities.
    • Lay out prefabricated parts of larger boilers before assembling them.
    • Assemble boiler tanks, often using robotic or automatic welders.
    • Develop and Fabricate chute, hoppers and cones
    • Assemble steel construction.
    • Manufacture conveyer systems and installation.
    • Clean vats using scrapers, wire brushes, and cleaning solvents.
    • Replace or repair broken valves, pipes, or joints.
    • Use hand and power tools, gas torches, and welding equipment

     However, boilermakers still use many tools in making or repairing boilers.

    For example, they use hand and power tools or flame cutting torches to cut pieces for a component. To bend the pieces into shape and accurately line them up, boilermakers use plumb bobs, levels, wedges, and turnbuckles. If the plate sections are very large,

Personal Qualities Required:

  • Boilermakers have distinct personalities. They tend to be realistic individuals, which means they’re independent, stable, persistent, genuine, practical, and thrifty. They like tasks that are tactile, physical, athletic, or mechanical. Some of them are also enterprising, meaning they’re adventurous, ambitious, assertive, extroverted, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, and optimistic.

    • Physically fit and agile
    • Observant
    • Responsible
    • A Person with an eye for detail
    • Good with your hands
    • A Person with excellent judgement
    • Safety conscious
    • Self-motivated
    • Good communication skills

Training Requirements:

  • You will need to obtain institutional learning at a training institution like Artisan Training Institute, in order for all your modules to be performed in the presence of and signed off by a registered Training Officer as competent. All modules passed will be signed off in your Logbook by the Training Officer.
  • Your Phase I would typically last around 12 weeks in Boilermaking, after which you would need to obtain experiential (on-the-job) training for a period of 9 months, working under supervision of a registered Artisan at an accredited workplace. The Artisan will sign off all the relevant workplace modules performed on the job. 
  • Your Phase II will commence thereafter for a period of 12 weeks in Boilermaking.  Once again you would need to continue your on-the-job training as mentioned above for another period of 9 months.
  • Once all the relevant modules in both your Off-the-Job Logbook (training institute) and On-the-Job Logbook have been successfully completed and signed off, you will be able to apply to write the Trade Test. 
  • Upon the successful demonstration to the QCTO that all the requirements for writing the Trade Test have been met, will your Trade Test date be issued.

Boilermaker Phase 1

This course counts towards a credited Boilermaker Qualification which consists of both Theory and Practical Workplace Training. This online part of the course covers the Theory only.

The courses are accredited by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) of South Africa.

Boilermaker Phase 2

This course counts towards a credited Boilermaker Qualification which consists of both Theory and Practical Workplace Training. This online part of the course covers the Theory only.

The courses are accredited by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) of South Africa.