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Pipefitters install and maintain the high-pressure pipe systems in industrial plants and buildings — a skilled trade learned through a paid apprenticeship. Here's the roadmap, with the Arizona apprenticeships, licensing, and where the jobs are.
Where to train in Arizona
You can apprentice through UA Local 469 (Plumbers & Pipefitters, based in Phoenix) or non-union programs with ABC and merit-shop contractors, with Maricopa and Pima community-college coursework as an on-ramp. The apprenticeship pays you while you learn.
Licensing in Arizona
Arizona has no separate statewide journeyman pipefitter license — you work under a licensed contractor. To run your own piping business you need a license from the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC), and AWS welding certifications open higher-paying work.
Where the jobs are in Arizona
Demand is strong — the TSMC and Intel semiconductor fabs and the data-center boom need extensive process piping, plus refineries, power and water plants, hospitals, and the metro-Phoenix construction surge.
Ready to start? Browse live Arizona opportunities — apprenticeships, training programs, and scholarships across the state.
The paid apprenticeship is the heart — you earn while you learn the trade
Like the other building trades, pipefitting pays you to learn. Land a paid apprenticeship, build your welding and pipe-systems skills over thousands of hours, and grow into a journeyman with an in-demand, well-paid trade and little or no student debt.
Keep going: see whether the trades are worth it, compare becoming a plumber, and check if it will pay off.