How To Become A Piping Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a piping designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A piping designer is responsible for designing piping systems within an establishment. They draft plans and drawings to be used for the construction and layout of piping systems. These systems are used for moving water, sewage, natural gas, and petroleum within a structure. A piping designer's work is extremely helpful, especially for plumbing, industrial applications, and oil pipelines.

Piping designers have employment opportunities in an array of industries, including power generation, oil and gas, and marine and wastewater treatment. A successful piping designer should have thorough knowledge and experience in fluid dynamics and engineering. They should also have CAD skills, mechanical skills, analytical skills, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills.

Piping designers typically work 40 hours a week. They mostly shuffle between construction sites and the office for their activities. The role also involves a bit of traveling, and therefore they may go beyond the 40 hours.

ScorePiping DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.5

Avg. Salary $57,853

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 10.28%

Black or African American 3.43%

Hispanic or Latino 9.45%

Unknown 4.61%

White 72.12%

Gender

female 12.20%

male 87.80%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a piping designer

Explore piping designer education requirements

Most common piping designer degrees

Associate

54.9 %

Bachelor's

27.6 %

High School Diploma

5.9 %

Start to develop specific piping designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Autocad	19.82%
P Id	8.32%
Equipment Layout	7.97%
IDS	5.67%
Refinery	4.19%

Complete relevant piping designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New piping designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a piping designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real piping designer resumes.

Research piping designer duties and responsibilities

Communicate ownership responsibilities across department platforms to achieve 3D modeling of HVAC, steel & other equipment for project success.
Manage documentation of existing projects, perform ECN resolutions.
Develop detailed 2-D engineering drawings using AutoCad, PDMS,77494 and NavisWorks.
Create piping and instrumentation diagrams using AutoCAD.

Prepare your piping designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your piping designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a piping designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable piping designer resume templates

Build a professional piping designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your piping designer resume.

Apply for piping designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a piping designer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do piping designers rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Piping designer reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019

Pros

I liked working in oil and gas at Chevron in Pascagoula, MS. I worked there right after finishing college. I drew flow sheets in isometric inserting valves. I'm wanting another pipe draftsman/designer job.