An apprenticeship is not school. You don’t sit in a classroom for four years before you start earning. From your first day, you work alongside experienced journeymen on real job sites, getting paid at your apprentice wage rate while you build the skills and knowledge to advance.
The formal training component — classroom instruction and shop work at the JATC training center — runs alongside your field work. Theory and practice reinforce each other.
By the time you complete the program, you are a fully certified journeyman insulator with years of real-world experience behind you.
You begin on the job with a signatory contractor and start classroom instruction at the JATC. You learn basic insulation materials, hand tools, safety protocols, and the fundamentals of thermal insulation systems. Current wage starts at $31.88 per hour with a total package including benefits starting at $71.65 per hour.
Field work expands in complexity. You work on larger systems and begin to specialize in specific application types. Classroom training covers mechanical insulation, industrial applications, and firestopping basics.
You take on more independent work in the field. Training covers advanced systems — high-temperature industrial insulation, cold/cryogenic applications, and specialty commercial work.
Advanced field assignments and supervisor-level oversight of simpler tasks. Training covers project planning, abatement fundamentals, and specialized certification areas.
Your final apprenticeship year. You are functioning at near-journeyman level in the field while completing final certification requirements. Upon successful completion of all requirements, you advance to full journeyman status.
You’ve completed the program. You hold your journeyman card, your certifications are current, and you earn the full journeyman wage rate under the CBA
JATC graduates hold certifications that reflect the actual demands of modern insulation work:
Including lead and asbestos abatement protocols
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
To apply for the Local 14 apprenticeship program, you must:
Contact the union hall or JATC Administrator to confirm the current application period
Complete the application form.
Meet the basic eligibility requirements (At least 18 years of age, high school diploma or GED or high school equivalency, live in our jurisdiction, ability to perform the physical requirements of the work, drug-free (program requires drug testing)
Complete an interview and aptitude assessment
