Install building fixtures
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 9 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Handling and Moving Objects (4.A.3.a.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 9 occupations that perform it.
- Install structures or fixtures, such as windows, frames, floorings, trim, or hardware, using carpenters' hand or power tools.
- Install and anchor fixtures in designated positions, using hand tools.
- Install anchor bolts, steel plates, door sills and other fixtures in freshly poured concrete or pattern or stamp the surface to provide a decorative finish.
- Fit and fasten wallboard or drywall into position on wood or metal frameworks, using glue, nails, or screws.
- Secure mirrors in position, using mastic cement, putty, bolts, or screws.
- Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, or downspouts in supportive frameworks.
- Install handrails under the direction of a carpenter.
- Fit or assist in fitting valves, couplings, or assemblies to tanks, pumps, or systems, using hand tools.
- Make minor repairs using basic hand or power tools and materials, such as glass, lumber, and drywall.
- Install rough door and window frames, subflooring, fixtures, or temporary supports in structures undergoing construction or repair.
- Hang drywall panels on metal frameworks of walls and ceilings in offices, schools, or other large buildings, using lifts or hoists to adjust panel heights, when necessary.
- Cut, assemble, fit, or attach metal-framed glass enclosures for showers, bathtubs, display cases, skylights, solariums, or other structures.
- Suspend angle iron grids or channel irons from ceilings, using wire.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
9 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Build structures”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.