Building Maintenance

Building Maintenance Career Overview

Building Maintenance professionals are in charge of the upkeep of buildings, residences and commercial structures. As buildings age, they are exposed to many elements including weather, pests, and time, all of which take their toll on buildings. Roofs need to be repaired, drains unclogged, walls painted and flooring redone.

The professionals who do all of this work go by many names, but are usually called building maintenance or facility maintenance technicians. These professionals work in a myriad of settings including factories, schools, stores, offices and apartment buildings in good repair.

Building Maintenance technicians usually do not specialize in one particular area - rather, they are true Jacks and Jills of all trades, meaning they know a little bit about everything. "Everything" includes carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and masonry. Some of the many jobs these professionals work on include oiling equipment, clearing drains, painting walls, building partitions, fixing leaky faucets, repairing machines, and doing other tasks to keep the facility safe and running. Preventative maintenance is also a large part of the job.

Building Maintenance Education & Training

Most employers tend to hire building maintenance workers who have a high school diploma or GRE as well as CTE or postsecondary training in a trade, particularly in carpentry, electricity, HVAC, or plumbing.

Those who are certified, licensed or apprenticed in a trade usually have an advantage, particularly when applying for higher-level maintenance jobs. It is also possible to do an apprenticeship specifically in building maintenance. Many employers also require building maintenance technicians to have a driver's license, since they need to pick up and deliver materials.

Much of the training in this career takes place on the job in the form of apprenticeships or by simply learning while on a job site. Many building maintenance professionals shadow someone who has been in the business for some time, and they work with them until they establish their own skills and business.

Building Maintenance Career & Salary

Building Maintenance Technicians usually do not specialize in any one particular trade. Often, they are skilled and knowledgeable in a number of areas including carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and masonry.

Building Maintenance professionals fix big and small problems with buildings and homes, as well as perform preventative maintenance on them. Some of the many examples of the day-to-day duties of these professionals include oiling equipment, clearing drains, painting walls, building partitions, fixing leaky faucets, repairing machines, and doing other tasks to keep the facility safe and running.

Building Maintenance technicians also install machines, systems, and equipment, such as vents and radiators. In newer buildings, they even maintain the computer systems that control temperature and lights. Administrative duties also play an important part in this career, including scheduling new work and keeping appointments.

Salaries for this professional are determined by many factors including what type of company the employee works for, what part of the country they work in and whether or not they work for themselves. Average salaries can range anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 more.

Career Fields/Specializations

Building Maintenance Technician Career

The role of a Building Maintenance Technician includes a variety of different aspects. They are responsible for a wide range of different tasks in building maintenance, and their knowledge must be both broad and specific. A Building Maintenance Technician might be required to have knowledge of the:

• operation and maintenance of boilers
• heating and refrigeration systems
• plumbing and water treatment
• electrical and lighting systems

In addition, they will also generally need a wide variety of general repair and maintenance skills, such as painting, lock installation, glass repair and replacement, and operation of a comprehensive range of hand tools. They may also be responsible for maintaining inventory of maintenance tools and supplies, and completing and reviewing reports, manuals, and operation guides.

Because their work is often highly physical in nature, a Building Maintenance Technician should be physically fit, and have excellent vision (including color vision) and hearing. They do not necessarily have to have excellent people skills, but technicians will often work with contracted building repair and maintenance specialists as well as employees and supervisors, and therefore should be able to work well with others.

Building Facility Coordinator Career

A Facility Coordinator has an equally varied assortment of tasks; however they tend to focus less on technical aspects of building maintenance, and do not usually need as much practical knowledge. Where the Building Maintenance Technician focuses on carrying out repair and maintenance tasks, the role of the Facility Coordinator is to organize long-term and day-to-day maintenance.

The Facility Coordinator is also often responsible for organization the duties of support and maintenance staff, coordinating security and safety procedures, monitoring the efficacy of current plumbing, lighting and other systems, and determining how the needs of the building will change over time. They will also often serve as a point of contact between building staff and contracted workers.

Facility coordinators should have good time management and organizational skills, be able to work well independently and be comfortable with using their professional judgment without supervision. They should have good written and verbal communication skills, and also have good interpersonal skills. Because they are involved with both long-term and every-day maintenance, they should also have a good eye for detail, and also possess the ability to see the big picture.

Building Facilities Manager Career

The role of a Facilities Manager is to make sure that all services, equipment and systems in a building work properly, and enable the staff of the building to do their jobs. They typically play a very important role in influencing the quality of the building environment.

The Facilities Manager is responsible for overseeing a wide range of building services, which are divided into two main categories. Hard services are systems such as air conditioning and heating, while soft services include cleaning and maintenance work. The Facilities Manager may be required to oversee a variety of operations relating to

• both hard and soft services
• ncluding hiring contractual workers and service providers
• preparing and reviewing facility operating budgets
• managing the building maintenance team
• coordinating space management and accommodation for new hires
• overseeing janitorial services
• health and safety procedures
• general building maintenance

With such a varied job description, a Facilities Manager needs an equally wide variety of skills. They should be able to work with a strong focus on customer service, have good problem-solving skills, be adept at written and verbal communication, and have excellent organization skills.

Building Chief Engineer Career

A Chief Engineer has a range of responsibilities relating to the management of building operation systems and to the staff who maintain the building and grounds. Their job description resembles that of the Facilities Manager, but the Chief Engineer also has an important administrative role in addition to other duties such as overseeing the operation of building systems and maintaining safety protocols within the building.

The Chief Engineer must also ensure that all building systems conform to regulatory and safety guidelines, develop plans for building modifications and upgrades, and keep records of all systems and maintenance operations within the building. They are also responsible for hiring, training and supervising the work of the technicians and engineers who are part of their team.

A Chief Engineer should have a variety of skills, including good written and verbal communication skills, good customer service skills, and familiarity with a wide variety of building systems and equipment. They may also need some important qualifications, such as an Operating Engineer's license (or equivalent) and certification as a Universal Technician for CFCs.