General Maintenance and Repair Workers: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more

General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings. They paint, repair flooring, and work on plumbing, electrical, and air-conditioning and heating systems.

What do General Maintenance and Repair Workers do?

General maintenance and repair workers typically do the following:

• Maintain and repair machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings
• Fix or replace faulty electrical switches, outlets, and circuit breakers
• Inspect and diagnose problems and figure out the best way to correct them
• Perform routine preventive maintenance to ensure that machines continue to run smoothly
• Assemble and set up machinery or equipment
• Plan repair work using blueprints or diagrams
• Do general cleaning and upkeep of buildings and properties
• Order supplies from catalogs and storerooms
• Meet with clients to estimate repairs and costs
• Keep detailed records of their work

General maintenance and repair workers are hired for maintenance and repair tasks that are not complex enough to need the specialized training of a licensed tradesperson, such as a plumber or electrician.

These workers are also responsible for recognizing when a job is above their skill level and requires the expertise of an electrician; a carpenter; a heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic or installer; or a plumber, pipefitter, or steamfitter.

General maintenance and repair workers may fix or paint roofs, windows, doors, floors, woodwork, walls, and other parts of buildings.

They also maintain and repair specialized equipment and machinery in cafeterias, laundries, hospitals, stores, offices, and factories.

General maintenance and repair workers get supplies and parts from distributors or storerooms to fix problems. They use common hand and power tools, such as screwdrivers, saws, drills, wrenches, and hammers to fix, replace, or repair equipment and parts of buildings.