Elevator & Escalator Technician

Field & Trades

Installs, maintains, and repairs the elevators and escalators that move people and freight through a building, one of the highest-paid trades most newcomers have never heard of.

What is a Elevator & Escalator Technician?

An Elevator & Escalator Technician, also called an elevator constructor or mechanic, installs new elevator and escalator systems as a building goes up and maintains, inspects, and repairs existing ones for the rest of a building's life. The work is safety-critical and specialized enough that it runs its own apprenticeship track separate from electricians or millwrights, and most states require a state elevator mechanic license on top of it before someone can work unsupervised.

What they do

• Install elevator cars, rails, motors, and control systems per manufacturer specifications
• Wire and test elevator control panels and safety systems before an elevator goes into service
• Perform scheduled maintenance and required safety testing on existing elevators and escalators
• Diagnose and repair mechanical and electrical elevator malfunctions
• Respond to entrapments and emergency service calls
• Coordinate with electricians and structural crews during new-building elevator shaft installation

A typical day

• 7:00 AMReview the day's service and installation schedule, and check parts/tools needed for each stop
• 8:00 AMRespond to a maintenance contract's scheduled inspection on an existing building's elevators
• 10:30 AMTest safety systems (governor, brakes, door interlocks) and log the results per code
• 12:30 PMMove to a new-construction site to continue wiring an elevator control panel mid-installation
• 3:00 PMTroubleshoot an entrapment call and get the car back in service

Skills

Software

Pay expectations

Reviewed May 2025. Pay reflects the national wage distribution for this occupation, not a promise for any one job: entry level is the lower part of that range, 5 years in sits around the national median, and 10 years in is the upper part, since pay isn't actually tracked by years on the job. Real pay varies a lot by state, metro area, union status, and employer — scale these up or down for your market. These figures are base pay only: overtime, shift differentials, and per-project bonuses are standard across most construction trades and routinely push real earnings above what's shown here.

Education

Required:

High school diploma or equivalent, then a union apprenticeship through the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC), delivered by NEIEP, typically four to five years combining roughly 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training per year with 100-200 hours of annual classroom instruction (about 8,000 OJT hours total). Completion leads to a mechanic exam, and most states then require a separate state elevator mechanic license; a number of states, including Idaho, Iowa, and Wyoming, don't mandate one at the state level, and licensing rules in this trade change often enough that it's worth confirming current requirements for any specific state.

Helpful:

The National Association of Elevator Contractors' Certified Elevator Technician (CET) credential, which some states accept in place of a state licensing exam

Not necessary:

A four-year college degree; this is an apprenticeship-and-license trade, not a degree-based one

Career progression

1. 1.Apprentice Elevator Constructor
2. 2.Journeyman Mechanic
3. 3.Lead Mechanic or Adjuster (fine-tunes elevator ride quality and performance)
4. 4.Superintendent or Elevator Contractor

Who hires for this role