Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers

Also called: Accessibility and Private Residence Lift Technician, Accessibility Lift Technician, Building Serviceman, Contract Serviceman, Elevator Adjuster

Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers

Varies

estimated salary

Elevator and escalator Installers and repairers assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters.

  • Assemble, install, repair, and maintain elevators, escalators, moving sidewalks, and dumbwaiters, using hand and power tools, and testing devices such as test lamps, ammeters, and voltmeters.
  • Test newly installed equipment to ensure that it meets specifications, such as stopping at floors for set amounts of time.
  • Locate malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and signal and control systems, using test equipment.
  • Check that safety regulations and building codes are met, and complete service reports verifying conformance to standards.
  • Connect electrical wiring to control panels and electric motors.
  • Adjust safety controls, counterweights, door mechanisms, and components such as valves, ratchets, seals, and brake linings.
  • Read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components, frameworks, and foundations, and to select installation equipment.
  • Inspect wiring connections, control panel hookups, door installations, and alignments and clearances of cars and hoistways to ensure that equipment will operate properly.
  • Disassemble defective units, and repair or replace parts such as locks, gears, cables, and electric wiring.
  • Maintain log books that detail all repairs and checks performed.
  • Participate in additional training to keep skills up to date.
  • Attach guide shoes and rollers to minimize the lateral motion of cars as they travel through shafts.
  • Connect car frames to counterweights, using steel cables.
  • Bolt or weld steel rails to the walls of shafts to guide elevators, working from scaffolding or platforms.
  • Assemble elevator cars, installing each car's platform, walls, and doors.
  • Install outer doors and door frames at elevator entrances on each floor of a structure.
  • Install electrical wires and controls by attaching conduit along shaft walls from floor to floor and pulling plastic-covered wires through the conduit.
  • Cut prefabricated sections of framework, rails, and other components to specified dimensions.
  • Operate elevators to determine power demands, and test power consumption to detect overload factors.
  • Assemble electrically powered stairs, steel frameworks, and tracks, and install associated motors and electrical wiring.
Work Context

Work Context information for this career will be available soon.

Work Activities
  • Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment — Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
  • Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment — Servicing, repairing, calibrating, regulating, fine-tuning, or testing machines, devices, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of electrical or electronic (not mechanical) principles.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Assemble products or production equipment.
  • Maintain mechanical equipment.
  • Inspect industrial or commercial equipment to ensure proper operation.
  • Locate equipment or materials in need of repair or replacement.
  • Inspect industrial or commercial equipment to ensure proper operation.
  • Evaluate construction projects to determine compliance with external standards or regulations.
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Knowledge

Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
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Skills

Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Troubleshooting
  • Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Operation Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Equipment Selection
  • Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
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Abilities

Problem Sensitivity
  • The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Deductive Reasoning
  • The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel Hot Technology
Electronic mail software
  • Microsoft Outlook Hot Technology
Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word Hot Technology
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