Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
Assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters.
Most important skills
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
- Installation
- Quality Control Analysis
- Active Listening
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Customer and Personal Service
- Building and Construction
- Public Safety and Security
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Engineering and Technology
- English Language
What the work involves
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (47.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (29.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 4 years, up to and including 10 years (31.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 50% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 87% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 80% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 64% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 68% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 70% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 91% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 95% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.12%
- Contact with others about half the time: 12.31%
- Contact with others most of the time: 35.77%
- Constant contact with others: 51.81%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.16%
- Fairly important: 0.12%
- Important: 4.91%
- Very important: 48.92%
- Extremely important: 45.89%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 25.17%
- Important: 20.56%
- Very important: 2.46%
- Extremely important: 51.81%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 32.59%
- Some freedom: 36.16%
- A lot of freedom: 31.25%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 30.76%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 30.73%
- Every day: 38.51%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 25.76%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5.23%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.9%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 38.5%
- Every day: 15.61%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.12%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.76%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 43.18%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.51%
- Every day: 33.43%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 2.46%
- Fairly serious: 17.95%
- Serious: 0.16%
- Very serious: 2.57%
- Extremely serious: 76.86%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 47-4021.00 · SOC 47-4021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8