Renewable Energy Jobs
General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings.
General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings.
Those with general maintenance jobs fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings. They typically perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to repair machines, mechanical equipment, or the building structure. General maintenance and repair workers often carry out many different tasks in a single day. Their tasks may involve pipe fitting, boiler making, insulating, welding, machining, carpentry, repairing electrical or mechanical equipment, installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment, and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs.
Those with general maintenance jobs, main duty is to keep machines, buildings, or mechanical equipment in good working condition. They usually work on plumbing, electrical, air-conditioning and heating systems. They use tools ranging from common hand and power tools, such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, and wrenches, to precision measuring instruments and electrical and electronic testing devices. General maintenance and repair workers perform routine preventive maintenance to ensure that machines continue to run smoothly, building systems operate efficiently, or the physical condition of buildings does not deteriorate.
When at the job site, general maintenance and repair workers inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions. They diagnose mechanical problems and determine how to correct them, checking blueprints, repair manuals, or parts catalogs, as necessary. Those with general maintenance jobs and repair workers also assemble, install, or repair wiring, electrical or electronic components, pipe systems, plumbing, machinery, or equipment.
While working with machinery, general maintenance and repair workers follow checklists to inspect drives, motors, and belts, check fluid levels, replace filters, or perform other maintenance actions. They also clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery. General maintenance and repair workers adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges. They also repair or replace defective equipment parts, using hand tools and power tools, and reassemble equipment.
As part of their job, general maintenance and repair workers need to record type and cost of maintenance or repair work. They also order parts, supplies, and equipment from catalogs and suppliers, or obtain them from storerooms. They plan and lay out repair work, using diagrams, drawings, blueprints, maintenance manuals, or schematic diagrams. General maintenance and repair workers typically maintain and repair specialized equipment and machinery found in cafeterias, laundries, hospitals, stores, offices, or factories. They dismantle devices to access and remove defective parts, using hoists, cranes, hand tools, and power tools. They operate cutting torches or welding equipment to cut or join metal parts. They also paint or repair roofs, windows, doors, floors, woodwork, plaster, drywall, or other parts of building structures.
As part of their green job functionality, general maintenance and repair workers install equipment to improve the energy efficiency or operational efficiency of residential or commercial buildings. They position, attach, or blow insulating materials to prevent energy losses from buildings, pipes, or other structures or objects. General maintenance and repair workers assemble boilers at installation sites, using tools such as levels, plumb bobs, hammers, torches, or other hand tools. They also perform routine maintenance on boilers, such as replacing burners or hoses, installing replacement parts, or reinforcing structural weaknesses to ensure optimal boiler efficiency.
General maintenance and repair workers often perform many different tasks in a single day, at any number of locations. They may work inside a single building, such as a hotel or hospital, or be responsible for the maintenance of many buildings, such as those in an apartment complex or college campus. General maintenance and repair workers may have to stand for long periods or lift heavy objects. They may work in uncomfortably hot or cold environments; work in uncomfortable or cramped positions, or on ladders. Their work involves a lot of walking, climbing, and reaching. Most general maintenance and repair workers work full time, including evenings or weekends. Some are on call for emergency repairs.
To enter a green job as a general maintenance and repair worker, a high school diploma, vocational training, or related experience is needed. Many maintenance and repair workers may learn some basic skills in high school shop or technical education classes, post-secondary trade or vocational schools, or community colleges. Courses in mechanical drawing, electricity, woodworking, blueprint reading, mathematics, and computers are useful. Maintenance and repair workers often do work that involves electrical, plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning systems or painting and roofing tasks. They need a good working knowledge of many repair and maintenance tasks. Practical training, available at many adult education centers and community colleges, is another option for workers to learn tasks such as drywall repair and basic plumbing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates a bright outlook for general maintenance and repair workers and expects the employment in this field to grow between 8% and 14% from 2012 to 2022, as fast as the average for all green jobs. The BLS projected 125,200 general maintenance and repair workers new openings between 2012 and 2022, and noted 1,325,100 jobs are currently filled. Titles include Maintenance Technician, Maintenance Mechanic, Maintenance Electrician, Maintenance Supervisor, Maintenance Engineer, Process Technician, Equipment Engineering Technician, Building Maintenance Mechanic, Building Mechanic, and Facilities Technician. The BLS further reports that the median annual wage for salaried General maintenance and repair workers was $35,210 in 2012 with median hourly wage of $16.93. Across the US job market, he lowest 10 percent earned less than $20,920, and the top 10 percent earned more than $57,260. General maintenance and repair workers can receive the best compensation in Alaska, where they earn compensation, on average, of about $45,560. People in this job function are compensated at the highest average salary in Transportation and Warehousing, where they get average pay levels of $49,560.
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