Install roofing materials
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 | 5 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 5 occupations that perform it.
- Spread roofing paper on surface of foundation, and spread concrete onto roofing paper with trowel to form terrazzo base.
- Cement or nail flashing strips of metal or shingle over joints to make them watertight.
- Fasten roof panel edges or machine-made moldings to structures by nailing or welding.
- Cover roofs with layers of roofing felt or asphalt strips before installing tile, slate, or composition materials.
- Install, repair, or replace single-ply roofing systems, using waterproof sheet materials such as modified plastics, elastomeric, or other asphaltic compositions.
- Place tiles, nail them to roof boards, and cover nailheads with roofing cement.
- Install partially overlapping layers of material over roof insulation surfaces, using chalk lines, gauges on shingling hatchets, or lines on shingles.
- Attach roofing paper and composition shingles, using nails.
- Cover roofs or exterior walls of structures with slate, asphalt, aluminum, wood, gravel, gypsum, or related materials, using brushes, knives, punches, hammers, or other tools.
- Perform emergency leak repairs and general maintenance for a variety of roof types.
- Apply alternate layers of hot asphalt or tar and roofing paper to roofs.
- Attach sheets of metal to roof boards or building frameworks when installing metal roofs.
- Apply plastic coatings, membranes, fiberglass, or felt over sloped roofs before applying shingles.
- Apply shingles, gravel, or asphalt over the top layer of tar to protect the roofing material.
- Apply gravel or pebbles over top layers of roofs, using rakes or stiff-bristled brooms.
- Apply reflective roof coatings, such as special paints or single-ply roofing sheets, to existing roofs to reduce solar heat absorption.
- Attach roofing paper to roofs in overlapping strips to form bases for other materials.
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
5 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.