How to hire a concrete worker or steel fixer for structural concrete work
What concrete work includes
A steel fixer ties or welds the reinforcement cage of a foundation, slab, columns or floor to the drawings. A concrete worker receives the concrete, places it, spreads it and compacts it with a vibrator, and then looks after the surface while the concrete gains strength. In practice they are often hired together as a crew, but the skills are different: a mistake in the reinforcement cannot be fixed later.
Pay: what to pay for
On concrete work people are rarely paid simply “per day”. Common schemes are per shift, per cubic metre of concrete, per square metre of slab or per tonne of reinforcement fixed, and for work away from home per day with lodging. Choose the option that is easiest to check. State how often payment is made too: daily, weekly or monthly. Crews value clear settlement dates.
What to put in the request
- Types of work — tying reinforcement, pouring, vibrating, foundation, slab, structural concrete.
- Type of site — residential complex, private house, industrial site, bridge or road.
- Pay — the amount and unit (shift, cubic metre, tonne) and how often it is paid.
- Site address — city and area.
- Type of work — permanent job, one site, seasonal, away from home, for example 15 days on and 15 off.
- One person or a crew — how many people you need.
- Experience — especially on similar sites.
- Lodging and employment — whether you provide lodging, and whether it is formal employment.
Example request
“For a residential complex in Auckland we need a crew of 4 steel fixers. Tying reinforcement for a foundation slab, a site of 3 months. Pay $19 per shift per person, paid weekly. At least 1 year of experience on structural concrete, lodging provided, formal employment.”
How to search through BlaBlaPrice
You describe the site and the terms once, and candidates in your area reply in the chat: who is in the crew, what experience they have and when they can start. The request is checked for ads and contacts and you get hints on what is missing. BlaBlaPrice shows the strongest replies first, with reviews of the candidates next to them. Your phone stays hidden and you do not pay for the search. See how it works on the “How it works” page.
Before starting, check whether the crew has its own tying hooks, vibrator and protective equipment, and who is responsible for safety. For managing the site you will need a site foreman, and for support work on the site a general labourer. Fix separately who is responsible for the concrete grade and for accepting the delivery: steel fixers and concrete workers do the job to the design but do not always check the concrete itself. For a large pour, agree on continuous work on pouring day, because breaks weaken the joint.
For those looking for a job
Register as a service provider on BlaBlaPrice, choose the category and your area, and you will get vacancies for concrete workers and steel fixers. See the other construction vacancies in the “Construction / finishing works” section.
