Glossary
Pipelayer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential pipelayer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key pipelayer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in pipelayer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Apprenticeship
- Paid structured training.
- Backfill
- Refilling the trench.
- Bedding
- Material under pipe.
- Bell and spigot
- Pipe joint type.
- Blueprint
- Construction drawing.
- Compaction
- Pressing soil dense.
- Competent person
- Trained trench inspector.
- Grade
- Slope of pipe.
- Invert
- Inside bottom of pipe.
- Journeyman
- Fully trained worker.
- Manhole
- Access structure.
- OSHA
- Workplace safety agency.
- Pipe laser
- Sets grade.
- Punch list
- Final fix list.
- Trench box
- Protects workers in trenches.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Pipelayer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Pipelayer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.