Two different rules are at work here and new starters routinely pay for things covered by the first one. Safety gear the job requires is your employer's responsibility to provide and pay for, at no cost to you, with a couple of narrow exceptions. Tools are a matter of trade custom, not law: you are generally expected to arrive with your own basic hand tools, and power tools, access equipment and anything specialist belong to the employer. Here is the line, and what to buy first with your own money.
The PPE rule: they assess, they provide, they pay
Under OSHA, your employer has to carry out a hazard assessment for the work, and any personal protective equipment that assessment calls for has to be provided to you at no cost. Hard hats, eye and face protection, hi-vis, gloves, hearing protection and respirators all fall under that. The full rule, including the written hazard assessment requirement, is in PPE on site: what's required and who pays for it.
Two things follow that are worth being clear about:
"Everyone wears a hard hat" is not a hazard assessment. The assessment is a written evaluation of what each task actually requires, and it drives what gets provided, who is trained on it, and what the employer has to pay for.
Telling a crew to buy their own required hard hats or respirators is not allowed. A hard hat that the hazard assessment requires is protective equipment the employer must provide and pay for.
Respirators come with a program attached. If the assessment says one is needed, the employer provides it, pays for it, and runs a respirator program that includes a medical evaluation, fit-testing and training before you use it. A respirator that does not seal to your face is not protecting you, which is why fit-testing is not a formality.
The narrow exceptions
There are a small number of items an employer can make you pay for, and they exist because you keep them and use them away from work:
- Ordinary, non-specialty safety-toe boots, as long as you are allowed to wear them off the job site.
- Prescription safety glasses on the same basis.
Specialty footwear is a different matter, and so is anything the assessment requires that you do not take home. If you are being asked to pay for something and you are not sure which side of the line it falls on, the guide above is the place to check before you hand over money.
Fit is part of the requirement, not a preference
PPE that does not fit does not protect you, and that includes gloves too big to work in, a harness that does not adjust, and a respirator that will not seal. It matters most where the standard-issue kit was designed around one body shape, which is a real and long-running problem in this industry: PPE that fits and bathrooms on site: what you're owed.
Asking for gear that fits is not being difficult. Wearing gear that does not is the actual problem.
Tools: what you are expected to own
This is custom rather than law, and it varies by trade and by employer, but the shape is consistent across US sites.
You are usually expected to bring: your own basic hand tools for your trade, a tool bag or box, a tape, a knife, and your boots. Most trades have a recognized starter list, and if you are on an apprenticeship you will normally be told what it is.
The employer usually provides: power tools, cordless platforms and batteries, ladders and access equipment, lifts, specialist and expensive tools, consumables, and anything requiring training or authorization to operate.
The gray area: cordless drills and impact drivers, some measuring equipment, and trade-specific items sitting between basic and specialist. Ask rather than assume, and ask before you spend.
The two questions worth asking in an interview or on day one, because both are entirely normal to ask: which tools am I expected to bring, and do you provide the consumables.
What to buy first with your own money
The mistake is buying a full kit before you know the work. Buy what the job in front of you needs, and let the rest wait until you have a reason.
- Boots first. You wear them every day and they carry your body. Cheap boots are expensive.
- Then the basic hand tools of your trade, bought once and properly, because you will use them for years.
- Then a way to carry and secure them.
- Then upgrade the things you use daily, in the order you notice them annoying you.
Good used tools are a legitimate way to build a kit on an apprentice wage, with one hard rule attached: know how to avoid buying stolen ones, both because it is somebody else's livelihood and because a stolen tool can be taken off you. Buying second-hand tools without buying somebody's stolen ones is the checklist.
When you eventually go out on your own, the buying order changes completely and there is a guide for that stage: Tools of the trade: what to buy first and what can wait.
Protect what you own, from day one
Tools go missing on construction sites. Some of it is genuine confusion and some of it is theft, and either way it is your money.
- Mark everything, visibly and in a second place that is not obvious.
- Record serial numbers and keep photographs. Without them, recovering a stolen tool is nearly impossible even when it turns up. The Equipment Register does this, and After a Tool Theft: Action Pack is what to do afterwards.
- Do not leave tools out, in an unlocked van overnight, or in the same place every night.
- Do not lend without a record, and do not use somebody else's without asking.
Stop your tools getting stolen (and what to do if they are) is the full version. Insurance for tools is a real thing once you own enough of them, and it has a specific trap about unattended vehicles worth knowing before you rely on it: Tools and equipment insurance (inland marine).
If the gear is not being provided
If your employer is not supplying required PPE, or is telling you to buy it, that is a safety issue rather than an awkward conversation about money.
Raise it internally first, and put it in writing if you can, because a record matters later. If it is not resolved, you can raise it with OSHA, and it is illegal for an employer to fire you, cut your hours, demote you or otherwise punish you for raising a safety concern or contacting OSHA under Section 11(c) of the OSH Act. Complaints can be made without your name being given to the employer. The whole route, including the narrow right to refuse genuinely dangerous work, is in Your rights on an unsafe site.
If money is being taken out of your pay for equipment, that is worth checking as a pay question as well as a safety one. Is My Pay Legal? Minimum Wage Checker and Your rights in the first months on the job.
Where to go next in this section
- Your first day on site: what to expect and what to ask, including what to turn up with.
- Site orientation and safety training: what you must be told, where the hazard assessment should reach you.
- What nobody tells you before you start in construction, for the cost of a first year.
- Your rights in the first months on the job, for the pay side.
- PPE on site: what's required and who pays for it, the full legal rule.
- PPE Budget Estimator, if you are the one kitting a crew out.
Common questions
Does my employer have to pay for my PPE?
Yes, for any personal protective equipment the job's hazard assessment requires, and it has to be at no cost to you. That covers hard hats, eye and face protection, hi-vis, gloves, hearing protection and respirators. The employer also has to carry out the hazard assessment in the first place, which is a written evaluation of what each task needs rather than a blanket rule like "everyone wears a hard hat". The main exceptions are ordinary non-specialty safety-toe boots and prescription safety glasses, and only where you are allowed to wear them off the job site.
Do I have to buy my own steel-toe boots?
Sometimes, yes. Non-specialty safety-toe boots are one of the few items of protective equipment an employer can require you to pay for, on the basis that you keep them and can wear them away from work. Specialty footwear required by the hazard assessment is treated differently. It is worth buying good ones anyway, because they are the piece of equipment you wear every single day and they carry your whole body, and cheap boots wear out and hurt in ways that end up costing more than the difference.
What tools am I expected to bring to a construction job?
Usually your own basic hand tools for your trade, a bag or box to carry them, and your boots. Power tools, cordless platforms and batteries, ladders and access equipment, lifts, specialist tools and consumables are normally the employer's, along with anything you need training or authorization to operate. Cordless drills and some measuring equipment sit in a gray area that varies by employer. It is a matter of trade custom rather than law, so ask before you spend: which tools am I expected to bring, and do you provide consumables, are both entirely normal questions.
What should I buy first as a new apprentice?
Boots, then the basic hand tools of your trade, then something to carry and secure them, and then upgrades in the order you notice things annoying you. The common mistake is buying a complete kit before you know what the work actually needs, which spends money you do not have on tools you may not use. Buy for the job in front of you and let the rest wait until there is a reason. Good used tools are a legitimate way to build a kit on an apprentice wage, provided you know how to check you are not buying somebody's stolen ones.
What can I do if my employer will not provide safety gear?
Treat it as a safety issue rather than a money argument, because that is what it is. Raise it internally first and put it in writing if you can, since a record matters if it goes further. If it is not resolved you can raise it with OSHA, and a complaint can be made without your name being given to your employer. It is illegal under Section 11(c) of the OSH Act for an employer to fire, demote, cut the hours of or otherwise punish a worker for raising a safety concern or contacting OSHA, and if that happens anyway there is a retaliation complaint route with its own deadline.
The honest bit
- The PPE payment rule and its narrow exceptions are federal OSHA as recorded in this site's own PPE guide. State-plan states can be stricter, and your state is the authority for what applies where you work.
- The tools split is trade custom rather than law. It varies by trade, by employer and by region, and nothing here overrides what your employer actually told you. Ask.
- Whether a deduction from pay for equipment is lawful is a wage-and-hour question that depends on federal and state law and on what it does to your effective rate of pay. Check it rather than assuming either way.
- Retaliation complaint windows are short and are set by law. If you think you have been punished for raising a safety concern, do not leave it.
- This is general guidance, not legal advice.
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Templates you might need
Need help pricing your work? Read Section 14: Pricing Your Work - day rates, job prices and how to stop underselling yourself.
Finished your apprenticeship? Read our guide: After Your Apprenticeship - the stuff nobody teaches you in college.
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