How Old Do You Have to Be to Work in Construction?

To work hands-on in construction, you generally have to be at least 18, because most physical tasks on a job site fall under federal hazardous occupation rules that bar anyone younger. If you’re 16 or 17, you can work on a construction site in a narrow set of non-hazardous roles. If you’re 14 or 15, you can’t be on the site at all, though a construction employer can hire you for office or sales work off-site. That’s the federal floor, and some states set the bar higher.¹

The Three Age Tiers Under Federal Law

The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the general minimum age for non-agricultural work at 16, not 14 as people sometimes assume. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds are allowed to work only in a short list of permitted occupations like office work, cashiering, and errands. Construction-site labor isn’t on that list.² The Department of Labor has said this directly: 14- and 15-year-olds may do office or sales work for a construction employer, but they cannot be employed on the construction site itself.³

For any occupation the Secretary of Labor has declared particularly hazardous, the minimum age jumps to 18. So many construction tasks carry that hazardous designation that the practical minimum for most physical work is 18, with a narrow 16-to-17 window for tasks that don’t appear on the hazardous list.² Where a state sets a higher age or adds restrictions, the stricter rule wins.

What 16- and 17-Year-Olds Can Do on a Job Site

At 16 or 17, you can legally be on a construction site, but only in tasks that don’t fall under any of the federal hazardous occupation orders. That covers general labor like cleaning and organizing the site, carrying materials by hand, painting at ground level, installing insulation that doesn’t involve hazardous substances, flagging traffic, and basic landscaping around a project. The work has to stay away from heavy equipment, heights, trenches, and demolition.

This is where young workers get tripped up. The hazardous occupation rules don’t just ban the main task; they ban “all work” in that category, including setup and cleanup. A 17-year-old can’t be sent to help out near an active roofing crew or stand around an excavation deeper than four feet, even if they aren’t personally operating equipment.⁴ Parental consent doesn’t change this, and neither does how experienced you are.

Construction Work That’s Off-Limits Until 18

The Department of Labor publishes Hazardous Occupations Orders listing categories no one under 18 can perform.⁵ Several land squarely on construction:

Operating power-driven hoisting equipment: forklifts, cranes, backhoes, skid-steers, scissor lifts, cherry pickers, and boom trucks.⁴
All roofing work, including ground-level tasks tied to a roofing operation and removal of old roofing material.
Working in a trench deeper than four feet, and most other excavation tasks.
Any demolition or wrecking work, regardless of the structure’s size.
Manufacturing, transporting, or storing explosives.
Operating power-driven woodworking machines such as chain saws, nailing machines, and sanders.
Operating power-driven metal-forming and cutting equipment, including band saws, circular saws, guillotine shears, and abrasive cutting discs.

A few of these orders allow narrow exemptions for registered apprentices and student-learners. The rest have no exceptions.

Apprentice and Student-Learner Exemptions Before 18

Certain hazardous occupation orders let 16- and 17-year-olds do otherwise prohibited work if they’re enrolled in a registered apprenticeship or a vocational student-learner program. The construction-relevant orders that carry this exemption include power-driven woodworking machines, power-driven saws, roofing operations, and excavation work.⁵

Registered Apprentices

A 16- or 17-year-old registered apprentice can perform otherwise prohibited hazardous work only when all four of these conditions are met: the apprentice works in a recognized apprenticeable trade, the hazardous work is incidental to training, the work is intermittent and brief under the direct and close supervision of a journeyman, and the apprentice is registered with the Department of Labor or a recognized state apprenticeship agency.⁶ “Incidental” and “intermittent” mean what they say. A registered apprentice can’t spend full shifts on hazardous tasks.

Student-Learners

The student-learner exemption covers 16- and 17-year-olds enrolled in a cooperative vocational training program through a recognized educational authority. The hazardous work must be incidental and intermittent, performed under the direct supervision of a qualified person, and the school must provide safety instruction that the employer coordinates with on-the-job training. A written agreement signed by the employer and the school must be on file describing the work to be performed.⁶ A student-learner who graduates high school can keep working in the occupation they trained in, even before turning 18.

Neither exemption is automatic. If you’re on a roof at 17 without the registration, paperwork, and supervision structure in place, the employer is breaking federal law.

Working for a Parent’s Construction Business

People often assume a parent can bring a teenage child onto a family construction project without worrying about age rules. The FLSA does let a parent employ their own child under 16 in their business, but the exemption does not override the hazardous occupation orders.⁷ Even in a family-owned company, a child under 18 still cannot operate heavy equipment, work on a roof, dig trenches, handle demolition, or do any other task on the hazardous list.

The exemption also only applies when the child works exclusively for the parent. If the parent is subcontracting on someone else’s job site, the child is considered employed by both the parent and the general contractor, and the exemption disappears.⁷

Permits, Paperwork, and Safety Training

Many states require minors to get a work permit or employment certificate before starting any job. The specifics vary. Some states require them for anyone under 18, others only for workers under 16, and the certificates come from either the state labor department or the minor’s school depending on where you live.⁸ The process usually involves parental consent and proof of age, with minimal fees.

An OSHA 10-Hour Construction training card is worth getting early. The course covers basic safety and health hazards common on construction sites.⁹ It isn’t federally required for every worker, but some states and many employers require it, and for a young worker trying to land a first construction job, the card shows you take safety seriously.

Hours and Pay for Young Construction Workers

Federal hour restrictions under the FLSA apply only to 14- and 15-year-olds, who cap out at 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours per school week, and 8 hours a day or 40 a week during summer, with evening cutoffs of 7 p.m. most of the year and 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day.¹⁰ Since those workers can’t be on a construction site anyway, this only matters for permitted office work at a construction company.

For 16- and 17-year-olds, federal law imposes no hour limits, but many states do.¹¹ Common state rules cap nightwork, prohibiting employment after 10 or 11 p.m. on school nights, and some limit daily or weekly hours during the school year.¹² Check your state’s labor department for what applies to you.

On pay, federal law allows employers to pay workers under 20 a reduced wage of $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment.¹³ The clock counts calendar days, not workdays, and starts on your first day. After the 90 days end, or the day before you turn 20, whichever comes first, the regular minimum wage applies. Many states set higher minimum wages, and some don’t allow the youth sub-minimum at all, so the effective starting wage in construction is often higher.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Age Requirements for Employment
2
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.2 – Minimum Age Standards
3
U.S. Department of Labor. What Construction Contractors Should Know About Child Labor
4
U.S. Department of Labor. What Jobs Are Off-Limits for Kids
5
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA – Child Labor Rules
6
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.50 – Apprentices and Student-Learners
7
eCFR. 29 CFR 570.126 – Parental Exemption
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment/Age Certificate
9
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Outreach Training Program
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Hours Restrictions
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Workers Under 18
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wages