The Cleveland Job Corps Center’s International Masonry Institute can be your steppingstone into a career as a Union Bricklayer! The program focuses on skills every tradesman is expected to know and takes a minimum of 750 hours to complete.

The bricklaying program is sponsored by Bricklayers and Allied Contractors (BAC) and accredited through the International Masonry Institute. Instructor Tom Tagliarini is a union bricklayer with 20 years’ experience.

Instruction and training include: safety hazards prior to work, ladder and scolding safety, firefighting technique prevention, layout brick wall, estimate materials requirement, calculate area, set up corner hole, mark and measure masonry units to be cut on masonry saw, layout a composite wall with control joints, flashing and sweep holes, general laborer/ material mover/mason tender, equipment used for masonry work, mix mortar with mortar mixer/wheelbarrow/hoe, and preparing the ground surface to erect scaffold.

Certifications include: Occupational Safety Health Administration 10 certification, Chop saw/Chainsaw certification, Scaffold User certification, Masonry Tool User, GREEN/LEED certification, HILTI certification, Pre-Apprentice program certification. For those 18 and up, we also offer a Forklift certification.

A wide variety of careers are available within the masonry industry. Several examples of possible careers within the industry are Bricklayer, Stone Mason, Cement/Concrete Mason, Tile Setter, Marble Mason, Hard Scape Pavers, Terrazzo Installer, and Plasters. The pay rates are 60% of a Journeyman’s rate, which is a tremendous incentive. There is also a generous fringe package.

The trade entails hard, physical work mostly performed outside, in all types of weather. If you enjoy the outdoors, a career in the masonry trade could be in your future! For more information contact the Cleveland Job Corps Center!