Buildings, vehicles, and equipment all need regular maintenance and repairs. To handle this need, there are many people who work in various types of maintenance technician jobs. Maintenance technician jobs can range from residential and commercial maintenance careers to jobs for people who work with the military and in public services.
The types of maintenance technician jobs available depend on the structures, vehicles, equipment, and areas in which technicians work. Maintenance technicians may specialize in one particular area of maintenance and repair, such as the upkeep of homes, apartments, and office buildings. Others may work specifically on equipment in a manufacturing setting, on public utility systems, with military equipment, or on consumer and commercial vehicles.
Maintenance technicians usually have strong mathematical ability, reading comprehension, and manual dexterity skills to perform this work. Technicians that perform maintenance work generally have a broad range of skills that make them able to fix a variety of things as needed. In addition, having the ability to troubleshoot and problem solve are important for people in maintenance technician jobs.
In the the field of residential maintenance, home maintenance technicians perform the routine upkeep of homes, apartments, and condos so that tenants and home owners can live in safe environments. These technicians specialize in areas of home maintenance such as electrical work, heating and air conditioning systems, plumbing and septic, carpentry, roofing and other sub-specialties. Maintenance technician jobs of this nature may be provided through private companies or by working as independent contractors.
Building maintenance careers involve performing higher levels of structural maintenance found in commercial office buildings, high rise apartment buildings, schools, shopping centers and warehouses. Maintenance technician jobs most often involve working as part of a team or on call to manage any repair requests, routine maintenance duties or structural emergencies on behalf of the building owner. Maintenance technicians may specialize in certain areas of building repair, but they must have knowledge of how the building's systems work together.
There are also specialized maintenance technician jobs in which workers perform repair, maintenance, and assembly work in industrial settings such as manufacturing, automotive, trucking and aerospace industries. Technicians are asked to troubleshoot problems and then make the recommended repairs to vehicles and heavy machinery to keep it operating. Maintenance technicians may work on one area of the equipment to assemble or fix it, or may work on the design and modification of components.
In many communities, maintenance technicians repair and maintain public utilities such as electrical lines, telephone and Internet systems, water and septic systems, and a wide range of other services. Maintenance technicians may work full time or on a contract basis. They also may be on call to handle emergencies.