Apprenticeship Apprenticeship in the pipe trades is a highly selective
program, each candidate is carefully screened. No one
with drug or alcohol problems can qualify and acceptance for
training depends on the applicant's qualifications and the
manpower needs of the Local at the time of the selection
process.
Each member local of the New York State Pipe Trades has their
own selection process and Joint
Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC). This committee consists of persons
with considerable experience representing the Mechanical Contractors Association,
Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association and
the UA
Locals. The apprenticeship program is five years of
intensive technical training consisting of at least 8,500 to
10,000 hours of on-the-job training and approximately 1,080
hours of related training in the classroom.
The New York State Pipe Trades have Apprenticeship Programs
for steamfitting, sprinkler fitting, plumbing,
pipefitting and refrigeration. Apprentices
train in one of these categories depending upon the local
which accepts you into apprenticeship school. Each skill requires
learning a vast body of specific knowledge.
Apprentices receive detailed instruction in job safety,
health, industry regulations, and the fundamental skills
required for working with tools of the trade.
As apprentices advance through the program, job-site
experience is supplemented with classroom instruction in
OSHA safety and health training, pipe trades mathematics,
reading blueprints and isometric drawings, computer-aided
design (CAD), sanitation, codes, mechanical codes, process
pipe welding, control systems, elements of hydraulics and
heat, physics with an emphasis on liquids and gases, and
plumbing, steamfitting, or refrigeration and air
conditioning theory.
The pay structure for an apprentice to journeymen is going
to vary based upon the contract negotiated by each local and
is representative of the standard of living in each region.
All apprentices are paid by experience with annual raises as
they learn and progress to journeymen status.
For more information on the apprenticeship training programs, visit the
Local
Unions page to get contact information on the local in your area.
