What Do Elevator Installers and Repairers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Elevator Installers and Repairers assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters. They also 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.

Other tasks include:

• 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.

We asked Elevator Installers and Repairers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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63% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 56% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Elevator Installers and Repairers 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. They read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components, frameworks, and foundations, and to select installation equipment.

A typical day for an Elevator Installer and Repairer will also include:

• Locate malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and signal and control systems, using test equipment.
• Inspect wiring connections, control panel hookups, door installations, and alignments and clearances of cars and hoistways to ensure that equipment will operate properly.
• 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.
• Maintain log books that detail all repairs and checks performed.

We asked some Elevator Installers and Repairers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	59% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	30% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	88% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	34% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	7% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	71% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Elevator Installers and Repairers also install outer doors and door frames at elevator entrances on each floor of a structure. They may also attach guide shoes and rollers to minimize the lateral motion of cars as they travel through shafts.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Elevator Installers and Repairers Adjust safety controls, counterweights, door mechanisms, and components such as valves, ratchets, seals, and brake linings. They might also Bolt or weld steel rails to the walls of shafts to guide elevators, working from scaffolding or platforms.

In addition, they Assemble elevator cars, installing each car’s platform, walls, and doors.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Connect electrical wiring to control panels and electric motors.

To some Elevator Installers and Repairers, it is also their responsibility to Operate elevators to determine power demands, and test power consumption to detect overload factors.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as an Elevator Installer and Repairer, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/construction-and-extraction/elevator-installers-and-repairers.htm

https://www.iuec.org/

http://www.naec.org/

http://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/