How to Hire a Concrete Worker in Virginia

$24/hr

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About this Guide

Hire for the concrete duties your project requires, from screeding and edging to curing and surface protection. Virginia's contractor rules govern construction businesses. Employee hiring also brings payroll, insurance and safety duties. These recruitment routes connect employers with craft training and specialist concrete knowledge for crew responsibilities.

Who's available right now

Virginia · this week
Live on American Recruits

Verified concrete workers are on the market in Virginia this week

Candidate availability moves week to week. What does not move is the screening: the certifications below are what decide whether someone can be badged onto your site at all.

Search candidates
Available candidates
Steady
Profiles in Virginia
With current OSHA cards
Most
Verified against the document
Typical time to fill
2–4 weeks
Verified and ready to badge

Understanding different hiring levels

The levels are separated by what the state allows a person to do unsupervised, not by how good they are. Hiring the wrong level is the most common and most expensive mistake on a trade requisition.

ACheapest to hireApprentice / helper

Productive under supervision and cheap, but they cannot be left on a task the state licenses, and they need someone qualified with them.

What they'll actually be doing
  • ✓Material handling and site preparation
  • ✓Assist a qualified hand on installation
  • ✓Housekeeping and tool staging
What they can't do yet — legally
  • ✕Cannot work unsupervised on licensed work
  • ✕Cannot sign off their own work at inspection
What they need to hold
OSHA 10Apprentice registration where the state requires it
Worth doing
Paying for their certifications is the cheapest retention mechanism you have — the card raises their rate with you rather than with the next employer.
Where recruiters stall
Hiring at this level to save money and then needing licensed work signed off is what blows the schedule.
Only hire when
Use them where a qualified hand is already on site and the work is supervised.
JWhat most requisitions needJourneyman / qualified

Works unsupervised and can carry a helper. This is the level almost every requisition is actually describing.

What they'll actually be doing
  • ✓Runs work without supervision
  • ✓Builds from drawings
  • ✓Carries one to three helpers
  • ✓Handles inspection on their own work
What they can't do yet — legally
  • ✕Usually cannot pull permits in their own name
  • ✕Cannot act as the licence-holder of record
What they need to hold
Journeyman card where the state issues oneOSHA 30Current trade-specific safety training
Worth doing
Ask what they ran on their own and who supervised it. The answer separates a journeyman from a long-serving helper faster than any certificate.
Where recruiters stall
Employers accept "in progress" as though it were held. It is not — and on a licensed scope it stops the job.
Only hire when
Hire here for anything that has to proceed without a supervisor standing over it.
MFor scope and sign-offMaster / lead

Runs crews across sites, owns compliance outcomes, and where the trade allows, pulls permits and qualifies the work.

What they'll actually be doing
  • ✓Runs crews across more than one site
  • ✓Owns compliance and inspection outcomes
  • ✓Estimates and scopes packages
What they can't do yet — legally
  • ✕Cannot trade as a business without a contractor licence, insurance and usually a bond
What they need to hold
Master or supervisor card where the state issues oneContinuing education current
Worth doing
Local permit experience is worth more than generic years. Ask which jurisdictions they have pulled in.
Where recruiters stall
Paying master rates for work a journeyman could run is the other half of the level mistake.
Only hire when
Hire here when the scope needs sign-off, sequencing or several crews.

What a concrete worker costs in Virginia

Budget $24.49 an hour for a qualified concrete worker in Virginia, from $17.99 at entry level to $34.95 at the top. Add a quarter to a third on top for payroll taxes, insurance and equipment, and price overtime at time and a half.

Hourly range
$17.99–$34.95
Virginia · before burden
See the full concrete worker salary guide →

Legal & compliance checklist

Virginia generally licenses contracting above $1,000, subject to exemptions. Separate hiring from subcontracting. Apply VOSH requirements on covered sites, and count relevant subcontractor employees for insurance obligations.

Licence & verificationMust haveVerify against the issuing board, not the résumé.0 / 3
0 / 3
Safety & site accessMust haveWithout these they cannot be badged onto most sites.0 / 3
0 / 3
Employment & insuranceMust haveGetting the status wrong is the expensive mistake here.0 / 3
0 / 3
Practical & schedulingSite-drivenDriven by the site rather than by law, but they still stop a start date.0 / 3
0 / 3

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Where to find them in Virginia

Contact the Laborers training office, CCWA business services and National Capital ACI about concrete-skilled candidates.

Craft apprenticeship

Laborers' Training Trust Fund

Contact its office about Virginia apprentices learning placement. Training serves members in good standing.
Typical length4,400 total hours
What it costs$0 tuition
College workforce

Community College Workforce Alliance

Discuss Concrete Plant trainees with CCWA. Richmond instruction teaches production. Catalog pricing cites eligible-resident FastForward terms.
Typical length2 days
What it costs$250
Testing credential

National Capital ACI

Ask about testing-qualified recruits through chapter contacts. Packages include review, exams and certification fees.
Typical length6 hours
What it costs$575 nonmember

Screen them properly

Certificates get a candidate past the first filter. These are the questions that separate the ones who can do the work from the ones who have the paperwork, and they change by level.

Interview questions that actually filter

01What did you do on your last site, task by task?
Why it matters: A specific answer tells you what they have actually held in their hands. A vague one usually means they watched.
02Who signed your hours, and can we call them?
Why it matters: Undocumented hours are the single most common problem at this level, and it is the employer who discovers it later.
03Which tools do you own?
Why it matters: It is a proxy for commitment to the trade, and it tells you what you will be supplying on day one.

Red flags on the résumé

!

Certifications listed with no issuing body or date

!

A license described as 'in progress'

!

No supervisor anyone can call

!

Three or four employers inside a year

!

Long gaps with no explanation offered

!

Cards that lapsed and were never renewed

How long the hire takes

A realistic schedule for a certified concrete worker, from writing the requisition to a badged start. The screening steps are where time is actually lost.

Day 0

Scope and post the role

Day 2–7

Shortlist and verify cards

Day 7–10

Interview and reference

Day 10–14

Offer and drug screen

Day 14–21

Site orientation and badging

Rates by sector

Budget concrete finishing wages by assignment, using national medians alongside Virginia offers.

01 / 03$29.41/hr

Nonresidential Building Construction

Data-center floor requirements discussed by National Capital ACI call for clear finish standards. Assess joint layout, curing and surface-protection experience.

+ Specialist skills
+ Planned handovers
– Exacting tolerances
– Coordination demands
02 / 03$27.96/hr

Residential Building Construction

Residential builders need defined slab responsibilities under Virginia's building classification. Specify the placing crew, finishing tools and protection after handover.

+ Varied buildings
+ Repeatable tasks
– Weather interruptions
– Site changes
03 / 03$26.67/hr

Highway, Street, Bridge Construction

Highway pours bring VDOT materials requirements into crew planning. Separate finishing positions from acceptance testing, and schedule access around traffic controls.

+ Defined specifications
+ Infrastructure experience
– Traffic exposure
– Travel scheduling

Questions employers ask

Does VDOT highway or bridge concrete work need a DPOR license?▾
No. Virginia Code § 54.1-1101 exempts highway and bridge work for the Virginia Department of Transportation from DPOR Board for Contractors licensing. Other concrete projects follow the usual rules.
Can small concrete subcontracts skip a contractor license?▾
Yes, at $25,000 or less per project. Virginia Code § 54.1-1101 exempts that work when performed for a contractor holding a DPOR residential, commercial or home improvement building license.
When must a concrete contractor carry workers' compensation?▾
When it regularly employs more than two full- or part-time workers. The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission counts subcontractors' employees toward that total, so keep their coverage evidence on file.

Hire a Concrete Worker in Virginia

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Current BLS Virginia employee wages for Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers, SOC 47-2051; wages exclude premium pay and benefits, and other concrete occupations differ.

Last updated October 29, 2026. Rates are market estimates, not guarantees.