Heat and Frost Insulator
A Heat and Frost Insulator works with insulating material to prevent or reduce the passage of heat, cold, vapour, moisture, sound or fire. A Heat and Frost Insulator installs, repairs and maintains insulating materials used on systems and equipment as well as walls, floors and ceilings of buildings and may also lay out and fabricate parts on-site, remove or seal-off old insulation. Specifically, a Heat and Frost Insulator:
- reads and interprets drawings and specifications to determine insulation requirements
- selects the amount and type of insulation to be installed
- measures and cuts insulating material to the required dimensions
- applies, installs, repairs and maintains insulating material
- installs fire-stopping insulation
- applies metal and plastic finishes
Red Seal trade
APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
An apprenticeship training program consists of on-the-job and in-school training. Generally, the time-frame to become competent in the trade of Heat and Frost Insulator is 6,400 hours (approximately three and a half years) consisting of 5,770 hours of on-the-job work experience and 630 hours of in-school training.
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
An apprenticeship involves practical training provided on-the-job by a skilled worker, or trainer. The skills or competencies to be developed are set out by the trade’s Apprenticeship Training Standard and are recognized by the industry as being essential to the practice of the trade.
As these essential skills are developed, the apprentice’s sponsor or trainer signs the relevant sections of the training standard to indicate that the apprentice has met the individual training objectives by demonstrating the skills required of a skilled worker, or journeyperson, in the trade.
IN-SCHOOL TRAINING
A Heat and Frost Insulator apprenticeship includes three levels of theoretical training, which includes but is not limited to instruction in:
- use and maintenance of hand tools, power tools and shop equipment
- health, safety and asbestos regulations
- heat transmition – conduction, convection, radiation
- laws of thermodynamics – cryogenics
- thermal efficiency calculations
- blueprinting and drafting
- specialty insulation
- insulation on mechanical systems
- underground and spray-on insulation
Depending on the training delivery agency, in-school training may be available in one of the following ways:
- block release (full-time, for a set number of weeks)
- day release (one day per week from September to June)
- part-time (night-school programs)
- alternative delivery (online, correspondence, etc.)
Heat and Frost Insulator is a trade named under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021.
This trade has an apprenticeship program that is administered by Skilled Trades Ontario. Upon completion of an apprenticeship program, Skilled Trades Ontario issues a Certificate of Apprenticeship.
This trade has a certifying exam. When the certifying exam is passed, Skilled Trades Ontario will issue a Certificate of Qualification in this trade. Because this trade is non-compulsory, this certificate does not have to be renewed, and the information of individuals practicing this trade will not appear on the Skilled Trades Ontario Public Register.
In Ontario, the trade is part of the Interprovincial Red Seal Program—the national standard for the trade across Canada— under the title Insulator (Heat and Frost): www.red-seal.ca.