Lay out pipe routes, following written instructions or blueprints and coordinating layouts with supervisors.

“Lay out pipe routes, following written instructions or blueprints and coordinating layouts with supervisors.” is a core task performed by Pipelayers. Among the occupation's 14 rated tasks, workers place it 5th by importance (#10 most important). About 86% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Position materials or components for assembly. in Handling and Moving Objects
• Communicate with others about operational plans or activities. in Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Grade or level trench bases, using tamping machines or hand tools. · importance 4.4
• Dig trenches to desired or required depths, by hand or using trenching tools. · importance 4.3
• Cut pipes to required lengths. · importance 4.3
• Install or use instruments such as lasers, grade rods, or transit levels. · importance 4.2
• Cover pipes with earth or other materials. · importance 4.1
• Connect pipe pieces and seal joints, using welding equipment, cement, or glue. · importance 4.1
• Check slopes for conformance to requirements, using levels or lasers. · importance 4.1
• Install or repair sanitary or stormwater sewer structures or pipe systems. · importance 4.1
• Align and position pipes to prepare them for welding or sealing. · importance 4.1
• Tap and drill holes into pipes to introduce auxiliary lines or devices. · importance 4.0
• Operate mechanized equipment, such as pickup trucks, rollers, tandem dump trucks, front-end loaders, or backhoes. · importance 3.9
• Train or supervise others in laying pipe. · importance 3.9
• Locate existing pipes needing repair or replacement, using magnetic or radio indicators. · importance 3.9

See all tasks on the Pipelayers page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-11537,
  title  = {Lay out pipe routes, following written instructions or blueprints and coordinating layouts with supervisors.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-11537}
}