What does a maintenance technician do?
Maintenance technicians are technicians who specialize in the preservation of office facilities. They have in-depth knowledge of how various office equipment or fixtures work so that they can immediately identify how to repair them in case of breakdowns. Maintenance technicians perform diagnostics and routine maintenance activities to ensure that everything in the office is running well. They immediately repair problems in fixtures or equipment to avoid any further damages or safety concerns. They should be familiar with occupational safety and health standards to ensure that the office is a safe place to work.
Maintenance technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real maintenance technician resumes:
- Install, repair and troubleshoot electrical wiring, including switches, outlets, lights, ballast.
- Monitor and document all temperature readings on boilers, chillers, and dry vac systems beginning and mid shift.
- Perform preventative maintenance checks and services on exhaust fans, boilers, chiller units, automatic transfer switches, and generators.
- Repair electrical equipment; replace faulty electrical switches; repair refrigeration equipment.
- Handle trouble-shooting and repair of mechanical systems refrigerant recovery and charging of HVAC systems.
- Facilitate commercial plumbing, electrical, light HVAC, and carpentry repairs in a laboratory facility environment
- Perform preventative and unschedule equipment maintenance and document completion in associate work order in CMMS database.
- Repair or replace shock absorbers.
- Service and operate some heavy equipment end-loaders skip loaders.
- Replace fuses and bridge rectifiers in DC battery chargers.
- Rebuild and maintain pneumatic valves, solenoids, and controls.
- Perform ball bar checks using multiple platforms of FANUC controls.
- Set up, arrange and remove decorations, tables, chairs, ladders and scaffolding to prepare facilities for large events.
- Maintain, troubleshoot, clean and keep in compliance with state regulations of all swimming pools and hot tubs.
- Install anti vibration absorbers, build scaffolding as needed and perform general carpentry.
Maintenance technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Maintenance Technicians are proficient in Plumbing, HVAC, and Hand Tools. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Dexterity, and Troubleshooting skills.
We break down the percentage of Maintenance Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Plumbing, 10%
Facilitated commercial plumbing, electrical, light HVAC, and carpentry repairs in a laboratory facility environment
- HVAC, 8%
Performed routine and emergency maintenance calls, painted, repaired drywall safely repaired minor electrical problems including HVAC.
- Hand Tools, 7%
Diagnosed mechanical problems performed troubleshooting and repair utilizing power/hand tools.
- Customer Service, 6%
Maintained excellent customer service by providing professional, prompt and courteous correspondence with renters when scheduling to fulfill maintenance services requests.
- Ladders, 4%
Painted all three buildings using ladders and lifts, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, masonry and small engine repair knowledge.
- Electrical Systems, 4%
Trained and experience with hydraulic and electrical systems, including all controls, hydraulic actuators, navigational system and stabilization systems.
Most maintenance technicians use their skills in "plumbing," "hvac," and "hand tools" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential maintenance technician responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. The most essential soft skill for a maintenance technician to carry out their responsibilities is customer-service skills. This skill is important for the role because "these workers interact with customers on a regular basis." Additionally, a maintenance technician resume shows how their duties depend on customer-service skills: "communicated with residents and completed various maintenance customer's request"
Dexterity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling maintenance technician duties is dexterity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "many repair and maintenance tasks, such as repairing small devices, connecting or attaching components, and using hand tools, require a steady hand and good hand–eye coordination." According to a maintenance technician resume, here's how maintenance technicians can utilize dexterity in their job responsibilities: "work on copper, pvc and steel water pipes, work on water pumps, lift stations and air compressors. "
Troubleshooting skills. This is an important skill for maintenance technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how maintenance technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "workers find, diagnose, and repair problems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a maintenance technician: "plant maintenance - chillers, air compressors, conveyor belts, electrical - 480 and 120 v, troubleshooting. ".
The three companies that hire the most maintenance technicians are:
- Bridgestone1,312 maintenance technicians jobs
- Old Dominion Freight Line1,009 maintenance technicians jobs
- PULS849 maintenance technicians jobs
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Compare different maintenance technicians
Maintenance technician vs. Service and repair technician
Service and repair technicians install, maintains, or repair equipment and often travel to customer's location to provide service and maintenance. They are also known as field service technicians who have technical knowledge and skills to be able to install and conduct product testing or demo to properly instruct customers on the proper usage of the product. Also, they provide preventive maintenance procedures to prevent damage to the equipment, diagnose problems and make repairs. The job involves various services depending on the area of experience and expertise.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between maintenance technicians and service and repair technician. For instance, maintenance technician responsibilities require skills such as "hand tools," "ladders," "industrial maintenance," and "maintenance tasks." Whereas a service and repair technician is skilled in "working independently," "windows," "ac," and "service repair." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Service and repair technicians tend to make the most money working in the transportation industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,616. In contrast, maintenance technicians make the biggest average salary, $50,146, in the manufacturing industry.The education levels that service and repair technicians earn slightly differ from maintenance technicians. In particular, service and repair technicians are 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a maintenance technician. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance technician vs. Airport maintenance labour
An airport maintenance labour worker is primarily responsible for performing various maintenance and repair tasks. Their responsibilities usually include inspecting malfunctioning equipment, troubleshooting issues, fixing electrical and plumbing systems, replacing fixtures such as light bulbs, monitoring and restocking supplies, and submitting reports to managers as necessary. Moreover, as an airport maintenance labour agent, it is essential to be proactive at dealing with issues and have an active communication line with co-workers for a smooth and efficient workflow.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, maintenance technician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "industrial maintenance," "plc," "osha," and "safety standards." Meanwhile, an airport maintenance labour has duties that require skills in areas such as "grass," "hand trucks," "scaffolding," and "manual labor." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Airport maintenance labours earn a lower average salary than maintenance technicians. But airport maintenance labours earn the highest pay in the transportation industry, with an average salary of $42,380. Additionally, maintenance technicians earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $50,146 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Airport maintenance labours tend to reach similar levels of education than maintenance technicians. In fact, they're 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance technician vs. Maintenance engineer
A maintenance engineer is responsible for the maintenance of industrial machinery and inspects equipment defects for immediate troubleshooting or replacement as needed. Maintenance engineers install and upgrade system components to improve system optimization and perform diagnostic systems to locate any adjustments. They also conduct routine checks, assist clients with technical faults, and ensure that the equipment works safely for certain operations. A maintenance engineer must have excellent knowledge of the mechanical industry to address technical malfunctions immediately.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from maintenance technician resumes include skills like "maintenance tech," "work ethic," "facility maintenance," and "conveyor systems," whereas a maintenance engineer is more likely to list skills in "guest rooms," "boilers," "kitchen equipment," and "patients. "
Most maintenance engineers achieve a similar degree level compared to maintenance technicians. For example, they're 4.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance technician vs. Repair technician
A repair technician's role focuses on assessing the problem or damage of a device and implementing solutions for it to function again. Although the extent of a technician's tasks will depend on the device or industry of employment, most of it revolves around troubleshooting, providing technical support, installing and writing programs, detaching and re-attaching wirings, welding, and even thoroughly discussing problems and solutions to clients. Furthermore, there are instances when a repair technician must work in a team setting that requires coordination and communication.
Types of maintenance technician
Updated January 8, 2025
