Skills
Pipelayer Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in pipelayers, and how to build and show them.
What skills do pipelayers need?
Pipelayers need technical skills such as pipe laying, grade checking, and pipe joining, plus people skills like teamwork and safety awareness. They also use tools such as Pipe lasers and Trench boxes.
Technical (hard) skills
- Pipe laying
- Grade checking
- Pipe joining
- Trench safety
- Backfill
- Plan reading
People (soft) skills
- Teamwork
- Safety awareness
- Stamina
- Precision
Tools, equipment and technology
- Pipe lasers
- Trench boxes
- Shovels
- Compactors
- Pipe pullers
- Levels
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how pipelayers put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Pipe laying” and “Grade checking.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “teamwork,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Competent person trench training near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our pipelayer glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Pipelayer training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.