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Building maintenance engineer vs service engineer

The differences between building maintenance engineers and service engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a building maintenance engineer, becoming a service engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a service engineer has an average salary of $87,151, which is higher than the $47,450 average annual salary of a building maintenance engineer.

The top three skills for a building maintenance engineer include HVAC, plumbing and preventive maintenance. The most important skills for a service engineer are customer service, infrastructure, and cloud.

Building maintenance engineer vs service engineer overview

Building Maintenance EngineerService Engineer
Yearly salary$47,450$87,151
Hourly rate$22.81$41.90
Growth rate5%2%
Number of jobs95,005143,806
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 28%Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age4741
Years of experience46

What does a building maintenance engineer do?

A building maintenance engineer is primarily in charge of maintaining building facilities in good condition. Their job entails conducting regular maintenance checks on an establishment's electrical, plumbing, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, performing repairs and replacements when necessary. They may also install or upgrade systems, execute adjustments, provide technical support to staff, and maintain extensive records. Moreover, as a building maintenance engineer, it is essential to lead maintenance teams to reach goals, all while implementing safety standards and regulations for a smooth and efficient workflow.

What does a service engineer do?

A service engineer is responsible for assisting the customers' concerns regarding the products and services offered by the company through technical support solutions. Service engineers conduct preventive maintenance, upgrade systems to boost optimal performance, create product manuals, record the occurring issues, perform adjustments on the systems infrastructure, identify business opportunities to generate more revenues, and analyze current market trends to meet client demands. A service engineer must have excellent communication skills, including extensive knowledge of the technology industry and network systems.

Building maintenance engineer vs service engineer salary

Building maintenance engineers and service engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Building Maintenance EngineerService Engineer
Average salary$47,450$87,151
Salary rangeBetween $35,000 And $64,000Between $62,000 And $122,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateAlaskaCalifornia
Best paying companyProvidence Health & ServicesThe Citadel
Best paying industryHospitalityTechnology

Differences between building maintenance engineer and service engineer education

There are a few differences between a building maintenance engineer and a service engineer in terms of educational background:

Building Maintenance EngineerService Engineer
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 28%Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common majorHeating And Air ConditioningElectrical Engineering
Most common college-Michigan Technological University

Building maintenance engineer vs service engineer demographics

Here are the differences between building maintenance engineers' and service engineers' demographics:

Building Maintenance EngineerService Engineer
Average age4741
Gender ratioMale, 96.5% Female, 3.5%Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 22.7% Asian, 4.3% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.2% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage2%5%

Differences between building maintenance engineer and service engineer duties and responsibilities

Building maintenance engineer example responsibilities.

  • Create python script to automate the deployment process which deploys the application and restarts the servers.
  • Perform preventive maintenance and repair electrical equipment, plumbing, air-condition and refrigeration.
  • Create a plan maintenance system to stay on top of HVAC, energy management and mechanical systems and component repairs.
  • Complete engineering & life-safety systems and procedures training and certifications to ensure adherence to OSHA and other compliance and quality standards.
  • Attend numerous OSHA classes and receive numerous certifications.
  • Restart steam boilers and equipment after unplan emergency shutdowns.
  • Show more

Service engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead FDA remediation upgrade of medical infusion pumps used in hospitals and clinics nationwide.
  • Expand responsibilities include testing applications on newly update managed desktop image.
  • Manage RF servers and performing network troubleshooting and preventative maintenance on network elements.
  • Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
  • Develop Perl scripts to automate object model and functional mapping into the application metadata and database.
  • Perform installations of operating systems such as VMWARE, Linux and windows.
  • Show more

Building maintenance engineer vs service engineer skills

Common building maintenance engineer skills
  • HVAC, 12%
  • Plumbing, 12%
  • Preventive Maintenance, 10%
  • Ladders, 9%
  • Snow Removal, 8%
  • Emergency Situations, 5%
Common service engineer skills
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Infrastructure, 7%
  • Cloud, 7%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Java, 4%
  • Database, 4%

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