Engineering design

You can get into this job through:

• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• applying directly

College

You can do a college course to get some of the skills you'll need to get a trainee job with a company.

Courses include:

• building services engineering
• fabrication and welding engineering
• T Level in Building Services Engineering for Construction

Apprenticeship

You can apply for a place on an apprenticeship to get started in this career, for example:

• Commercial Thermal Insulation Operative Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
• Industrial Thermal Insulation Technician Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship

These can take up to 2 years to complete and include a mix of training on the job with off-site study.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

For more information

• equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
• guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide

Direct application

You can apply directly for jobs if you've got experience and qualifications in a related area of work, like:

• pipe fitting
• heating and ventilation engineering
• building services engineering
• refrigeration or air conditioning installation

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

• You may need a driving licence for some jobs.

More information

Further information

You can find out more about careers in thermal insulation from the Thermal Insulation Contractors Association (TICA) and Go Construct.

View all vacancies in this region

You could take further training while you work to move into a technical, supervisory or managerial role, such as:foreperson; site safety officer; building services technician

You could also find work in related industries, like heating and ventilation engineering or air-conditioning and refrigeration.

You can find out more about careers in thermal insulation from the Building and Engineering Services Association and ECITB Careers.

Insulation and Building Treatment skills are important to retrofitting domestic and commercial buildings.

Retrofit careers

Retrofitting includes a wide variety of jobs and skills that help to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings. When a property has been retrofitted it can retain heat for longer. This increases the comfort of a home whilst also lowering energy usage which can result in lowered energy costs and carbon emissions.

There are a wide variety of retrofitting jobs requiring lots of different skills including working in the construction industry.

For example in the West of England area Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) indicate that over 250,000 homes in the West of England require retrofitting. That’s a huge amount of retrofitting work over the next few years to meet the region’s net zero targets.

These pathway maps show how you can get into insulation and building treatment in the West of England and are relevant for most regions within England.