How To Become A Maintenance Plumber: What It Is and Career Path

What is a maintenance plumber and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

The main duty of a maintenance plumber is to ensure that pipe systems are all in good working order. To do that, their job involves monitoring, repairing, and maintaining gas, water, air, and sewer pipes. Moreover, they are also responsible for installing various parts, preparing necessary equipment, and handling maintenance repairs and records.

The job of a maintenance plumber usually entails lifting heavy objects and using tools and equipment that require physical strength. That said, a maintenance plumber should have adequate strength, hand-eye coordination, and manual dexterity to perform said tasks. They may also crawl along narrow beams or climb into enclosed spaces to access plumbing or machinery, which requires a good amount of balance and flexibility.

Aside from the physical attributes mentioned above, a maintenance plumber should have technical training and experience in commercial or industrial plumbing maintenance. Some maintenance plumbers start by completing apprenticeships in plumbing and then gaining the necessary experience to secure the position of a maintenance plumber.

Maintenance plumbers are mostly men due to the physical demands of the job, but women are also entering the industry, albeit slowly.

As a maintenance plumber, one can earn between $39,000 to $78,000 in a year.

ScoreMaintenance PlumberUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,733

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.03%

Asian 1.85%

Black or African American 9.01%

Hispanic or Latino 19.29%

Unknown 4.21%

White 64.60%

Gender

female 3.37%

male 96.63%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a maintenance plumber

Explore maintenance plumber education requirements

Most common maintenance plumber degrees

High School Diploma

47.3 %

Associate

19.1 %

Diploma

13.6 %

Start to develop specific maintenance plumber skills

Skills	Percentages
Plumbing	25.79%
General Maintenance	14.68%
Hand Tools	8.22%
Preventative Maintenance	7.11%
Water Heaters	6.02%

Complete relevant maintenance plumber training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New maintenance plumbers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a maintenance plumber based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real maintenance plumber resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed maintenance plumber usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed maintenance plumber in most of states. 33 states require maintenance plumbers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Certified Master Plumber
Maryland	Specific course required	State exam required	PLUMBER
Arkansas	-	State exam required	Journeyman Plumber
Colorado	-	State exam required	Journeyman Plumber
Connecticut	-	State exam required	Plumbing & Piping Unlimited Journeyperson

Research maintenance plumber duties and responsibilities

Train and manage less experience plumbers and achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
Invoice customers and provide customer service assistance with questions regarding residential plumbing preventative maintenance.
Repair and/or replacement of cast iron and PVC pipe.
Perform light to medium HVAC systems' maintenance and repairs.

Prepare your maintenance plumber resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your maintenance plumber resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a maintenance plumber resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable maintenance plumber resume templates

Build a professional maintenance plumber resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your maintenance plumber resume.