Valve & Control Technician
Structural exposure score derived from 2 independent sources (OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" (human_rating_beta) + AIOE (Felten, Raj & Seamans)), each normalized against its own full reference population and combined by simple average, then converted to a percentile.
We have not ingested real-world usage data for this occupation yet. We show a band only where genuine data exists, rather than estimate one.
What a valve & control technician actually does
Valve and control technicians install, repair, and maintain the mechanical regulating devices that keep utility and industrial systems running safely, including electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, and safety and flow valves. Core tasks include testing valves and regulators for accuracy using precision equipment, calibrating instrumentation for pressure, temperature, flow, and level measurements, disassembling and repairing control devices with hand and power tools, and recording detailed maintenance and test results for regulatory and safety compliance.
When a valve fails a pressure test or a regulator drifts out of calibration, a technician has to physically diagnose the problem and make the repair on-site, often on live equipment in an active utility system.
Most valve and control technicians work for gas utilities, water utilities, or industrial facilities where a malfunctioning valve or regulator poses a genuine safety hazard, not just an operational inconvenience. The role typically requires a high school diploma and employer-provided technical training, with some states offering optional licensing and a registered apprenticeship pathway available through Apprenticeship.gov.
Why it reads this way
Valve & Control Technician scores 83/100 on this site's structural exposure measure, a comfortable reading that holds up well even against real, current AI and sensor technology already active in this exact field.
AI-driven predictive maintenance for valves and regulators is genuinely deployed today: modern valve systems increasingly integrate IoT-enabled sensors that continuously track flow, pressure, and temperature, and smart-sensor networks can detect seal failures and valve problems 45-75 days before a critical failure occurs, real capability that's already reducing unplanned equipment failures in facilities that have adopted it.
What that technology changes is what a technician is alerted to, not who performs the physical repair.
Industry coverage frames this explicitly as the technician role evolving, requiring new skills in interpreting predictive-analytics sensor data (most technicians pick this up within 3-4 weeks of training) rather than eliminating the underlying work: when a valve fails a pressure test or a regulator drifts out of calibration, someone still has to physically diagnose the exact mechanical fault and make the repair on-site, work that even the most optimistic industry sources describe as heading toward AI-assisted "self-optimizing" systems requiring "minimal human intervention," not zero.
BLS's own growth projection, slower than average but positive, is consistent with a stable, ongoing need for this hands-on maintenance work rather than a field in decline.
Skills this role draws on
We don't yet have task-by-task time-share data for this occupation, so we can't show which specific tasks carry the exposure score above. This is the real skill set instead.
Typical salary range (USD)
$45,910–$112,500
Average: $74,340/yr
Range source: BLS OEWS wage data via O*NET OnLine (2025 release), SOC 49-9012.00 'Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door'
Average source: BLS OEWS wage data for Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door (49-9012.00) via O*NET OnLine, 2025 wage data (Annual Median Wage)
Related careers
Head-to-head comparisons
Valve & Control Technician scores 83/100 (Medium structural confidence, both pillars cover this code). Real, current AI/IoT predictive-maintenance technology is genuinely deployed in this field: smart-sensor networks can detect valve and seal failures 45-75 days before they occur, and this site discloses that directly rather than minimizing it. But industry coverage frames this as the technician role evolving toward interpreting predictive-analytics data (a 3-4 week learning curve) rather than eliminating the physical diagnostic and repair work itself, which even optimistic industry sources describe as heading toward AI-assisted systems needing "minimal," not zero, human intervention. No individual license is universally required, though state options exist, and BLS's slower-than-average but positive growth projection is consistent with stable ongoing demand for hands-on maintenance rather than a declining field, as of 2026-09-21.
This is a researched judgment (checklist v1.2), not a statistical measurement — it sits alongside, not instead of, the structural exposure signal above. Next scheduled review: 2027-03-21.
Sources (5)
- https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/49-9012.00
- https://www.onetonline.org/link/localwages/49-9012.00
- https://assuredautomation.com/news-and-training/ai-driven-predictive-maintenance-for-actuated-valves/
- https://ifactoryapp.com/predictive-maintenance/ai-predictive-maintenance-valves-control-safety-relief
- https://oxmaint.com/blog/post/smart-sensors-predictive-maintenance-accuracy
Data sources & methodology
Salary data: BLS OEWS wage data via O*NET OnLine (2025 release), SOC 49-9012.00 'Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door'. Min/max figures represent the 10th–90th percentile annual wage range across the United States. Average figure sourced separately: BLS OEWS wage data for Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door (49-9012.00) via O*NET OnLine, 2025 wage data (Annual Median Wage).
Automation Risk Score: Based on O*NET occupational analysis (49-9012.00) evaluating task complexity, physical requirements, social intelligence, and environmental variability. Methodology based on research from Frey & Osborne (Oxford, 2017).
Growth projections: Slower than average (1-2%, 2024-2034), ~3,900 projected openings over the decade (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook / O*NET Job Outlook), based on BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.