Cooling is what a data centre is built around, so pipework and pipe welding are among the trades that stay on site from first fix to commissioning. The pay question here has one extra step compared with electrical work: which collective agreement applies at all.
Pipe welders and pipefitters — which agreement, which group
The agreement follows the employer and the work
We build our scenarios for pipe welding and pipe installation on building-services systems — heating, cooling, water, drainage — for an employer in the building-services sector. For other welding, such as structural steel, pressure equipment or shipyard work, a different agreement may apply, and the pay table is then a different one. The job title on your CV does not settle this; the employer and the scope of work do.
This is why the calculator asks what kind of welding you do, and sends anything but building-services pipework to a manual check instead of showing you a number that might belong to the wrong agreement.
EN ISO 9606 opens the work; it does not set the group
A valid EN ISO 9606 qualification for the process, material, position and pipe range of the order is what lets you make the first production weld. It is an access requirement, not a pay group, and it does not by itself move you up the table. Pressure equipment adds its own rules about who may qualify the work.
The group still comes from the classification of the work: which piping you install or weld independently, how many areas of competence you cover, and whether you handle complete installations on demanding projects.
Section 11.8 — a floor for a temporary stay
If you are posted to Finland, or come here temporarily while your permanent home stays abroad, section 11.8 of the building-services agreement sets a floor for the first three months: at least group 2. A higher group can be set from the start if the work calls for it. Lowering it afterwards requires a written list of what is missing and a period to learn it.
A floor is not a range and not a promise of group 3. If your work already compares with a higher group, the floor changes nothing for you.
Building-services table rates, column B, from 1 June 2026
| Pay group | € per hour |
|---|---|
| S | 13.00 |
| 1 | 15.66 |
| 2 | 18.52 |
| 3 | 19.48 |
| 4 | 20.55 |
These are basic hourly rates. Under this agreement an hourly-paid employee is also paid a personal pay component on top of the table, so the table alone is not the whole hourly pay.
Because that personal component is agreed for each person, our monthly estimate built on the table alone is a floor, not a forecast. We say so on the result screen too.
Check which pair of groups your work description compares with.
Pipe welder calculatorSources
| What | Where | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Pay table, group criteria, section 11.8, personal pay component | Collective agreement for the building services sector (LVI) 2025–2028 (Rakennusliitto) | 26 September 2026 |
| Welder qualification scope and pressure-equipment rules | EN ISO 9606-1; Tukes guidance on pressure equipment | 26 September 2026 |