Metal Fabricator
Marks off and fabricates structural steel and other metal stock to make or repair metal products and structures such as boilers and pressure vessels.
ANZSCO 2013, the edition the department applies to the points tested visas (189, 190 and 491).
Specialisations within it
- Boilermaker-Welder
- Brass Finisher
- Metal Fabricator-Welder
- Metal Template Maker
- Structural Steel Trades Worker
Duties
Published for unit group 3223 Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers
- studying blueprints, drawings and specifications to determine job requirements
- selecting, cleaning and preparing metal stock
- cutting marked-out metal sections and shapes using hand tools, flame cutting torches and metal cutting machines
- shaping and bending metal sections and pipes using hand and machine tools, and by heating and hammering
- aligning parts to be joined using hand tools and measuring instruments
- joining metal sections using various welding techniques, bolting and riveting
- examining welds for width of bead, penetration and precision
- finishing products by cleaning, polishing, filing and bathing in acidic solutions
- cleaning and smoothing welds by filing, chiselling and grinding
This is what the occupation is, not what a skills assessment requires. The assessing body applies its own criteria on top of this, and those criteria are not published here. Check them with the body itself.
Who assesses this occupation
Last confirmed against the department's list on 30 July 2026.
This occupation reads differently for the 186 and 482
Two editions of ANZSCO are current at once, and the department applies ANZSCO 2022 to the employer sponsored visas while everything above follows ANZSCO 2013.
Under the 2022 edition this occupation is defined as:
Marks off and fabricates structural steel and other metal stock to make or repair metal products and structures such as boilers and pressure vessels. Sheetmetal Fabricators are excluded from this occupation. Sheetmetal Fabricators are included in Unit Group 3222 Sheetmetal Workers, in Occupation 322211 Sheetmetal Worker.
If you are going for a 186 or a 482, this is the wording that governs you. Everything above governs the points tested routes.
Where Metal Fabricator stands right now
Vizard tracks the live queue for this occupation: how many people are waiting at every points score for the 189, 190, 491, the recent invitation round cutoffs, and how far down the queue your own score puts you. 4 state nomination lists include this occupation.
Updated to 1 July 2026, from the department's own SkillSelect data.
See where you standWhere this comes from
Definition and duties: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZSCO
Assessing authorities and skilled lists: Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list
Vizard is not a registered migration agent and nothing here is migration advice. It is published government information, organised. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered migration agent.