Can 16-Year-Olds Work in Construction: Allowed Tasks, Hours, and Pay

Yes, a 16-year-old can work in construction, but federal law keeps anyone under 18 out of the tasks that make up most of the trade. Demolition, roofing, excavation past a shallow depth, operating power saws, and driving on the job are all prohibited. What’s left is ground-level labor, landscaping, painting, shallow digging, and office work for a construction company. A registered apprenticeship or a school-run student-learner program can unlock some of the banned tasks under supervision. Outside of that, the limits are firm.

What a 16-Year-Old Can Do on a Construction Site

OSHA confirms that 16- and 17-year-olds may work in the construction industry and on construction sites in limited capacities.¹ The rule of thumb is that any non-hazardous task is allowed. In practice, that means:

Ground-level manual labor: carrying materials, stacking lumber, organizing tools and supplies, and cleaning up non-hazardous debris on sites that do not involve demolition.
Landscaping: grading, planting, and finish work, as long as it doesn’t require prohibited machinery or put you near a roof.
Shallow digging: manual excavation in trenches or building sites that stay under four feet deep, or work in deeper excavations whose walls are properly shored or sloped.
Painting and finishing at ground level or on low scaffolding that keeps you well away from a roofline.
Office and administrative work for a construction company, including filing, phones, and data entry. For workers under 16, this office work is the only construction-industry job allowed, and it cannot happen on the actual site.¹

The lines can blur. A task that sounds harmless may cross into prohibited territory depending on what’s happening around it. If any part of the site involves demolition, for example, cleanup work in that area may be off-limits too. When in doubt, check with the Department of Labor before starting.

Construction Tasks Banned Until Age 18

The Secretary of Labor has designated categories of work too dangerous for anyone under 18, known as Hazardous Occupations Orders. Several land directly on construction sites.

Demolition and Wrecking

All work at a demolition or wrecking site is prohibited, including cleanup and salvage. The ban covers the total or partial dismantling of any building, bridge, tower, chimney, or similar structure.² That reach is wider than it sounds. If a renovation requires gutting a section of a building, the whole site can fall under the demolition rule, and a 16-year-old cannot even sweep debris there.

Roofing and Anything Near a Roof

Workers under 18 cannot perform any roofing task or any task that requires being on or near a roof. That includes gutters and downspouts, roof trusses and sheathing, servicing rooftop HVAC equipment, and standing on a ladder or scaffold near the roofline.³ Ground-level support for a roofing crew, like tending a tar heater or hauling roofing materials, is also off-limits.

Excavation

Excavation work is generally prohibited, with narrow exceptions. A 16-year-old may dig manually in a trench that stays under four feet deep at every point, and may work in a building excavation that either stays under four feet below the surrounding ground or has its walls properly shored or sloped. Anything deeper or unsupported is banned, and tunnel or shaft work is prohibited outright.⁴

Power Saws and Other Dangerous Machinery

Operating or assisting with circular saws, band saws, chain saws, reciprocating saws, guillotine shears, wood chippers, and abrasive cutting discs is prohibited. The ban covers operating, setting up, adjusting, repairing, and cleaning these tools.⁵ Separate orders prohibit power-driven woodworking machines (including nailing machines and sanders) and certain power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machines.⁶

Driving on the Job

A 16-year-old cannot drive a motor vehicle on public roads for work at all, even with a valid state license.⁷ At 17, limited on-the-job driving becomes possible during daylight hours, in a vehicle under 6,000 pounds, with a clean driving record and completed driver education, and even then it can take no more than one-third of any workday or 20 percent of the workweek.⁸ On a site where hauling materials between locations is routine, this keeps most 16-year-olds out of the driver’s seat.

Apprenticeships and Student-Learner Programs

The biggest opening for a 16-year-old who wants real trade experience is a registered apprenticeship or a student-learner program. Federal regulations carve out a limited exemption from several of the hazardous occupation orders, including those covering woodworking machines, metal-forming machines, saws, roofing, demolition, and excavation.⁶

An apprentice still cannot do everything a full worker can. The hazardous work must be incidental to the training, intermittent and brief, and performed under the direct supervision of an experienced journeyman. A registered apprenticeship must be approved by the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship or a recognized state agency. A student-learner program must be run through a state or local educational authority under a written agreement among the school, the employer, and the student that lays out safety training and a schedule of progressive tasks.⁹ Without one of these programs, the hazardous occupation bans apply in full.

Hours, Permits, and Pay

Hours

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 16 is the minimum age for most non-agricultural jobs, and once you’re 16 federal law places no cap on how many hours you can work, provided the job isn’t hazardous.⁶ States often add their own limits, and where federal and state rules differ the stricter one wins. Some states cap 16-year-olds at around 48 hours per week in summer and 24 hours per week when school is in session, and many set a 10 p.m. cutoff on school nights along with a required block of consecutive non-work hours in every 24-hour period.¹⁰ Check your state labor department for the exact numbers.

Work Permits

Federal law does not require a work permit, but many states do.⁶ Depending on the state, the permit (sometimes called an employment certificate or age certificate) is issued by school officials or the state labor department, and getting one usually involves parental consent and documentation of the job and hours.¹¹ Sort this out before your first day.

Pay

Federal law lets employers pay workers under 20 a youth minimum wage of $4.25 per hour during the first 90 calendar days of employment. The clock runs continuously from the first day of work, including days you don’t work. After 90 days, or on your 20th birthday if that comes first, the employer must pay at least the standard federal minimum wage.¹² Many states set higher minimums, and some don’t allow a youth subminimum at all. Construction pay usually runs well above the floor, but the floor is worth knowing.

What the Employer Owes You

An employer hiring minors has to keep age certifications, work permits, and parental authorizations on file, and has to follow every applicable federal and state restriction on hours and tasks. Personal protective equipment is the employer’s responsibility, provided at no cost to the worker.¹³ On a construction site that means hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, and whatever else the job calls for. If your employer tells you to buy your own gear, that’s a violation.

Ignoring child labor rules is expensive. The Department of Labor can assess civil penalties of up to $16,035 per violation for employing a minor in prohibited work, up to $72,876 when the violation causes serious injury or death, and up to $145,752 for willful or repeated violations causing serious injury or death.¹⁴ Willful violations can also draw a criminal fine of up to $10,000, and a second conviction can carry up to six months in prison.¹⁵ Many states also boost workers’ compensation benefits, sometimes doubling the payout, when a minor is hurt while working in violation of child labor law, and the employer, not its insurer, typically pays the extra amount. If someone hands a 16-year-old a chainsaw or puts them on a roof, they are betting a lot on not getting caught.

1
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Young Workers – Construction: Build a Safe Work Foundation – Appropriate Jobs
2
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
3
U.S. Department of Labor. The Employment of Youth in Roofing Occupations and On Roofs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
4
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.68 – Occupations in Excavation Operations (Order 17)
5
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.65 – Occupations Involving the Operation of Circular Saws, Band Saws, Guillotine Shears, Chain Saws, Reciprocating Saws, Wood Chippers, and Abrasive Cutting Discs (Order 14)
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Teen Driving on the Job
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet 34 – Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2
9
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.50 – General
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
13
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Young Workers – Employer Responsibilities for Keeping Young Workers Safe
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
15
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA – Child Labor Rules Advisor