Mark reference points on construction 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 | 23 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 23 occupations that perform it.
- Locate, measure, and mark site locations or placement of structures or equipment, using measuring and marking equipment.
- Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
- Measure distance from reference points and mark guidelines to lay out work, using plumb bobs and levels.
- Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.
- Measure and mark cutting lines on materials, using a ruler, pencil, chalk, and marking gauge.
- Roll out, measure, mark, and cut carpeting to size with a carpet knife, following floor sketches and allowing extra carpet for final fitting.
- Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
- Measure and mark surfaces to be tiled, following blueprints.
- Measure, mark, or record openings or distances to layout areas where construction work will be performed.
- Set up forms and lay out guidelines for curbs, according to written specifications, using string, spray paint, and concrete or water mixes.
- Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
- Measure and mark outlines or patterns on glass to indicate cutting lines.
- Mark vertical guidelines on walls to align strips, using plumb bobs and chalk lines.
- Lay out pipe routes, following written instructions or blueprints and coordinating layouts with supervisors.
- Locate and mark the position of pipe installations, connections, passage holes, or fixtures in structures, using measuring instruments such as rulers or levels.
- Install guide wires on exterior surfaces of buildings to indicate thickness of plaster or stucco and nail wire mesh, lath, or similar materials to the outside surface to hold stucco in place.
- Lay out, measure, and mark dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, or rulers.
- Hold plumb bobs, sighting rods, or other equipment to aid in establishing reference points and lines.
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
23 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Boilermakers
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons
- Carpenters
- Carpet Installers
- Construction Laborers
- Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
- Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters
- Fence Erectors
- First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers
- Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles
- Glaziers
- Helpers--Carpenters
- Highway Maintenance Workers
- Paperhangers
- Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
- Pipelayers
- Plasterers and Stucco Masons
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Rock Splitters, Quarry
- Segmental Pavers
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Stonemasons
- Tile and Stone Setters
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Position materials or components for assembly”. 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.