6 ms·

Once you get a license, it will pay about $125/hour. Four year apprenticeship first, though. There is a general shortage of elevator mechanics, so go for it.

baroffoos 8y ago
And how many hours of the day can I actually do that. $125/hour sounds real nice until you factor in the fact that most of these jobs have very inconsistent workloads so you could spend 5 hours working one day and then have no work next week or have to spend a day fixing a mistake for free.
- dbcurtis 8y ago
  Currently in Northern California there is more overtime available for elevator mechanics than people available to work that many hours legally.
pessimizer 8y ago
> Once you get a license, it will pay about $125/hour. Billed $125/hr while actively working on a particular job, or a sure $125/hr for 2000 hours a year? The amount you bill pays for your downtime, too.
- dbcurtis 8y ago
  So $125/hr is what the tech takes home from the elevator service company. The company is paying for insurance and general overhead, and billing the tech out at around $500/hour. The real money is in starting an independent elevator service company after getting some experience with somebody like KONE or Otis or Schindler.
  - pessimizer 8y ago
    $125/hr billed or $125/hr employed?
asaph 8y ago
I'll admit I don't know the first thing about escalator repair but I'm confident that a 4 year apprenticeship is absurd. Perhaps that's the real problem. The rules should be amended such that you can get an escalator repair license in 60 days. Problem solved.
- dbcurtis 8y ago
  > I don't know the first thing about escalator repair I agree with at least that much of what you said. It is near or at the top of OSHA's list of most dangerous construction trades. Elevators and escalators have extreme safety requirements for carrying passengers. I have been in enough elevator control rooms with qualified mechanics to be able to assure you that a 60-day wonder would be a very dangerous actor to let loose. After four years, I would not send a guy out on a job alone unless it was pretty simple. Sending an elevator mechanic with 60 days of training out to work by himself is a death sentence for him, if you are lucky. For the passengers, if you are less lucky.
  - itronitron 8y ago
    Are there any building management firms that have full time mechanics? Given that escalators and elevators are transporting people it seems like it would be easy to justify having someone directly responsible with its operation (like a tram driver).
    - dbcurtis 8y ago
      Well, the way it works in practice is that most buildings have a multi-year service agreement with either the service arm of a major manufacturer, or a third-party maintenance firm. A really large property complex would probably have a mechanic who essentially is full time at that complex. But as a practical matter, you need access to spare parts, drawings, etc, so it is hard to be a one-man show. Because of parts access and licensing, I think it would be impractical for most commercial landlords to keep a mechanic on staff. Usually for any building there is a primary mechanic who is assigned to that site, so that he has familiarity with the quirks of the system, relationships with the landlord's staff, etc. Of course mechanics in the same office cover for and assist each other.
itronitron 8y ago
maybe they should call the apprenticeship 'graduate school' in order to attract more people to it
- lotsofpulp 8y ago
  Or maybe they should pay more to compensate for working odd hours and the increases chance of injury from increased driving and workload. Guarantee there exists a number such that people want to do the job. Society just doesn’t want to pay that number yet, so it’s complaining about it and dragging their feet.

baroffoos 8y ago

And how many hours of the day can I actually do that. $125/hour sounds real nice until you factor in the fact that most of these jobs have very inconsistent workloads so you could spend 5 hours working one day and then have no work next week or have to spend a day fixing a mistake for free.

dbcurtis 8y ago
Currently in Northern California there is more overtime available for elevator mechanics than people available to work that many hours legally.

pessimizer 8y ago

> Once you get a license, it will pay about $125/hour. Billed $125/hr while actively working on a particular job, or a sure $125/hr for 2000 hours a year? The amount you bill pays for your downtime, too.

dbcurtis 8y ago
So $125/hr is what the tech takes home from the elevator service company. The company is paying for insurance and general overhead, and billing the tech out at around $500/hour. The real money is in starting an independent elevator service company after getting some experience with somebody like KONE or Otis or Schindler.
- pessimizer 8y ago
  $125/hr billed or $125/hr employed?

asaph 8y ago

I'll admit I don't know the first thing about escalator repair but I'm confident that a 4 year apprenticeship is absurd. Perhaps that's the real problem. The rules should be amended such that you can get an escalator repair license in 60 days. Problem solved.

dbcurtis 8y ago
> I don't know the first thing about escalator repair I agree with at least that much of what you said. It is near or at the top of OSHA's list of most dangerous construction trades. Elevators and escalators have extreme safety requirements for carrying passengers. I have been in enough elevator control rooms with qualified mechanics to be able to assure you that a 60-day wonder would be a very dangerous actor to let loose. After four years, I would not send a guy out on a job alone unless it was pretty simple. Sending an elevator mechanic with 60 days of training out to work by himself is a death sentence for him, if you are lucky. For the passengers, if you are less lucky.
- itronitron 8y ago
  Are there any building management firms that have full time mechanics? Given that escalators and elevators are transporting people it seems like it would be easy to justify having someone directly responsible with its operation (like a tram driver).
  - dbcurtis 8y ago
    Well, the way it works in practice is that most buildings have a multi-year service agreement with either the service arm of a major manufacturer, or a third-party maintenance firm. A really large property complex would probably have a mechanic who essentially is full time at that complex. But as a practical matter, you need access to spare parts, drawings, etc, so it is hard to be a one-man show. Because of parts access and licensing, I think it would be impractical for most commercial landlords to keep a mechanic on staff. Usually for any building there is a primary mechanic who is assigned to that site, so that he has familiarity with the quirks of the system, relationships with the landlord's staff, etc. Of course mechanics in the same office cover for and assist each other.

itronitron 8y ago

maybe they should call the apprenticeship 'graduate school' in order to attract more people to it

lotsofpulp 8y ago
Or maybe they should pay more to compensate for working odd hours and the increases chance of injury from increased driving and workload. Guarantee there exists a number such that people want to do the job. Society just doesn’t want to pay that number yet, so it’s complaining about it and dragging their feet.