Wall and Floor Tiler
A wall and floor tiler installs ceramic, porcelain, stone, and glass tiles on interior and exterior surfaces in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. They prepare substrates, apply adhesives and grouts, and finish tiled surfaces to specification, working from architectural plans and building codes.
What this job is
A wall and floor tiler installs ceramic, porcelain, stone, and glass tiles on interior and exterior surfaces in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. They prepare substrates, apply adhesives and grouts, and finish tiled surfaces to specification, working from architectural plans and building codes.
Are employers advertising this role?
Steady, down 1.1% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Prepare surfaces by removing existing tiles, levelling substrates, and applying waterproofing membranes to walls and floors. Cut tiles to size and shape using tile saws, angle grinders, and hand-cutting tools to fit around fixtures and edges. Mix and apply tile adhesive (thin-set mortar or epoxy) to substrates using notched trowels at correct thickness. Set tiles in adhesive bed, spacing them evenly and checking alignment with spirit levels and straight edges. Fill grout joints between tiles using grout mixtures (cement-based, epoxy, or urethane) and finish with grout tools and sponges. Apply sealers to grout lines and porous tiles to prevent moisture penetration and staining. Interpret architectural drawings and specifications to determine tile layout patterns, colours, and finishes. Measure and mark substrate surfaces using tape measures, chalk lines, and laser levels to establish tile positioning.
Who does this now
About 18,000 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3)
Registration or licensing may be required.
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation had trouble finding suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Jobs and Skills Australia defines an occupation-ready qualification as:
Completing this qualification will provide the skills and knowledge to undertake this occupation. Further training and experience may be required to meet specific industry requirements including licensing and registration.
Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.
The honest hard part
Your knees, back and shoulders will take a beating from kneeling, bending and reaching all day. Tiling is physical work that gets harder as you age. You'll also be heavily dependent on construction project cycles, so work can dry up for months. Pay tends to plateau unless you run your own business, and you're competing against low-cost tilers and DIY renovators.
Where the jobs are
Work concentrates in metro areas where renovations and new construction happen. Regional centres have work during building booms but less consistent employment. Most jobs are residential renovations and new builds rather than commercial. Very little remote work in this trade. Practically speaking you need to be where construction is active.
Skills
- Attention to Detailcore
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
- Customer Needs Assessmentcore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Workload Self-Managementcore
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Advise on construction materials
- Calculate needs for construction supplies
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Goal Setting and Planning
- Incident Reporting
- Invoicing and Billing Administration
- Supplier Communication
- Team Collaboration
- Written Communication
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
What Wall and Floor Tiler workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
Want a hand with what comes next? The 12-week Sprint covers your resume, LinkedIn and interview practice, with up to three coach reviews of a targeted resume or an application from an Australian career coach, for A$299 paid once. Before you decide anything, you can read who we are or send us a question.