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Boilermaker

Skilled Trades

Construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.

You can enter this career straight after SPM. A degree is optional, not required.

Mechanical Engineering

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Conduct pressure tests on vessels, such as boilers.
  2. 2Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
  3. 3Assemble large vessels in an on-site fabrication shop prior to installation to ensure proper fit.
  4. 4Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.
  5. 5Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.
  6. 6Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
  7. 7Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.
  8. 8Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.
  9. 9Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.
  10. 10Position, align, and secure structural parts or related assemblies to boiler frames, tanks, or vats of pressure vessels, following blueprints.
  11. 11Clean pressure vessel equipment, using scrapers, wire brushes, and cleaning solvents.
  12. 12Repair or replace defective pressure vessel parts, such as safety valves or regulators, using torches, jacks, caulking hammers, power saws, threading dies, welding equipment, or metalworking machinery.
  13. 13Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.
  14. 14Straighten or reshape bent pressure vessel plates or structure parts, using hammers, jacks, or torches.
  15. 15Shape seams, joints, or irregular edges of pressure vessel sections or structural parts to attain specified fit of parts, using cutting torches, hammers, files, or metalworking machines.
  16. 16Bolt or arc weld pressure vessel structures and parts together, using wrenches or welding equipment.
  17. 17Install manholes, handholes, taps, tubes, valves, gauges, or feedwater connections in drums of water tube boilers, using hand tools.
  18. 18Install refractory bricks or other heat-resistant materials in fireboxes of pressure vessels.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • Fitter
  • Erector
  • Assembler
  • Boiler Tech
  • Boilermaker
  • Boiler Maker
  • Boilermakers
  • Boiler Fitter
  • Boiler Setter
  • Boiler Tester

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. Typical entry

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. 4

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. 5

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationHigh school diploma

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

Mechanical Engineering StudiesDraws directly on Mechanical — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
PhysicsDraws directly on Mechanical — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Design & Technology (RBT)Draws directly on Mechanical — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Mechanical83%

    Mechanical Engineering StudiesPhysicsDesign & Technology (RBT)

  • English Language66%

    English

  • Mathematics64%

    Additional MathematicsMathematics

  • Administration and Management58%

    BusinessEconomics

  • Building and Construction56%

    Civil Engineering StudiesEngineering DrawingDesign & Technology (RBT)

  • Computers and Electronics52%

    Computer Science / ICTElectrical & Electronic Eng. Studies

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleConstant contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicVery high
  • Leading or coordinating othersHigh
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherRarely
  • Noisy environmentEvery day
  • Time spent sittingA little

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points — not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

0%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023 — already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

On Malaysia's official shortage list

TalentCorp and ILMIA's Critical Occupations List — evidence of a real hiring shortage in Malaysia right now.

Matched to a related occupation on the list, not this exact job title.

Steam Engine and Boiler Operators · Shortage indicators met: 5/12

Pay in Malaysia

We don't have a sourced Malaysian salary range for this job yet, and we'd rather show nothing than a number we can't stand behind.

Where to check:

  • JobStreet and Hiredly job ads for this title
  • DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey
  • SSPA scheme tables, if you're aiming for a government post

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Matriculation

One or two years, heavily subsidised with allowance. Competitive, quota-based entry.

12–24 months

Related careers

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About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Boilermakers

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org