Okay, I’m not going to sugar coat this when I say that the maintenance side of the apartment industry is sucking. I keep seeing the grim posts online about positions not being filled for 6 to 9 months. I’m actually witnessing it in my hometown. And, it seems like when the position finally does get filled, it’s a mediocre trainee who shows very little interest in learning the trade.
Now, I will say that every once in a while an awesome person comes along with years of experience and actually has their own tools! There are tons of great maintenance techs out there. The problem is that great technicians are pretty loyal and once they find a place that takes care them, they stay put and don’t move around a lot. So, while some properties have a fantastic maintenance team who’s compensated well, the majority of properties out there are suffering horribly.
Where are the young 20 to 25 year old’s who are genuinely interested in learning the apartment maintenance trade? And I mean genuinely interested and in it for the long-haul. Not the 20 year old you just hired who knows he’s going to be there temporarily and rolls his eyes when you ask him to blow a breezeway. My friend Mark Cukro, who teaches and does service team seminars around the country, says that very rarely are there any maintenance techs in the room who are under the age of 30. I hear every year that all the trades from plumbing to HVAC are hurting. However, I’m not seeing the severe shortage of quality techs in those trades like what I see is happening in the maintenance tech trade.
So, my question is, what’s going to save the maintenance tech industry? Higher pay? Better benefits? Doing away with going on-call? Providing classes for proper training and certifications? Or, an idea I see posted every once in a while, start a union? Maybe all of the above?
Starting a union is very romantic in the beginning. I’m a voracious reader and I’ve read a lot of books that revolved around unions. They always start out doing the right thing. But, when the fees to join the union start filling up the bank vaults with worker’s hard earned cash, things start to get crooked. I’ve read many books about Jimmy Hoffa and what he had to go through to get his worker’s union going. They always start out very noble. But then greed sets in and the union fees account turns into a slush fund for the shady side of society. So, I’m just not into unions or having to worry about where my money is going.
Higher pay is where I believe we should start. It shouldn’t take a union demanding this or else a strike will be imminent. It should only take common sense. It depends on where you live but from my research, the average pay for a good maintenance tech (give or take a few dollars) is $16.00 an hour. That’s for a tech position not a supervisor. We don’t need supervisors we need good techs. And the average pay (give or take a few dollars) for a good HVAC technician or plumber is $23.00 an hour.
What we need is for some of those HVAC techs and plumbers to crossover into the apartment maintenance industry. I know there are many young HVAC techs who are tired of crawling around in hot attics all day and coming home itchy with insulation all over them. I’m sure they would love to work someplace where they can still do HVAC without the tight space creeping. But, they can’t take a pay cut! We can’t expect them to go from $23.00 an hour to maybe $17.50 an hour.
The same goes for plumbers. I know for a fact there are guys out there who are sick and tired of slithering around under houses, who’d love to still do plumbing without all the filthy crawl spaces they have to get into. But again, they can’t take a pay cut.
The opposite is happening. Instead of HVAC techs, plumbers, and electricians crossing over into the apartment industry, maintenance techs are actually leaving the apartment maintenance industry and going into those trades. But who can blame them!
Lets take a look at what is expected of a maintenance tech who’s making $18.00 an hour. He’s expected to be a knowledgeable appliance tech, HVAC tech, certified swimming pool operator, carpenter, plumber, electrician, groundskeeper, teacher/trainer, scheduler, golf cart mechanic, work inspector, fair housing expert, renovator, garage repairman, locksmith, garbage man, parts manager, window repairman, cleaner, and last but not least, a 24 hour on-call emergency responder.
Why deal with all of that when you can earn $23.00 or more an hour and not have to put up with garbage piled up in front of dumpsters everyday and whining needy residents who are too good to plunge their own toilet. And also, the on-call isn’t as bad because you know what you’re going to get. If you’re in the HVAC trade, you’re going to get HVAC calls. Not floods, sewage backups, fires, kicked in doors and lockouts. I actually spoke to a friend that works in HVAC and he says that because their after hour fees are so expensive, people don’t call and wait until normal business hours. He happily told me that he hasn’t had an after hours call in years. Some HVAC companies don’t even have an after hours on-call service. Sweet!
So, that’s my two cents on where I think we should start. Higher pay. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comment section on this site or on Facebook. What can be done to reverse what’s happening? Great technicians are training at apartment complexes and finding which trade they like doing the most and then leaving the apartment industry for their chosen field and for higher pay.
I understand that it’s a business with a budget. However, you’ll still be saving money if you pay a great tech $23.00 an hour, the same as the trade technicians. $23.00 for 8 hours is only $184. And for $184 a day that tech will be fixing multiple issues. An HVAC or plumbing company will charge you $184 for repairing just ONE thing. Not to mention everything else the maintenance tech is expected to do. It’s funny how properties say they don’t have the money to pay a tech $23.00 an hour yet they’ve got thousands of dollars to spend on t-shirts, pens, tote bags, water bottles, and other resident swag that ends up in their trash can. Yes that’s right. In their trash can. I’m in resident’s apartments everyday and I see their swag bag in their trash can.
What’s going to wake property owners up before it’s too late? Maybe when they realize their multi-million dollar investment is being held together with duct tape and superglue there will finally be a higher pay revolution in the apartment maintenance trade. Then and only then will quality techs want to come into the apartment industry who will be paid accordingly for the knowledge and value they provide.
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Easy Ways Maint. Techs Can Pile Thousands Of Dollars – Link
Good Tools For The Apartment Maintenance Trade – Link
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Good HVAC Tools For Apartment Maintenance Technicians – Link
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Going On Call As An Apartment Maintenance Technician – Link
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Everything you said is there and falling on deaf ears. If they offered better pay for experience we could go to schools on career day and offe a career not a job!!!
I agree Steve well said! Something needs to be done. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just do something. We can smooth out the wrinkles as we go. Thank you so much for reading man!
I agree Steve well said! Something needs to be done. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just do something. We can smooth out the wrinkles as we go. Thank you so much for reading man!
It is also worth noting that most maintenance men are introverts, or just plain do not like most things, including residents. I’ve been in the industry for almost 20 years and that’s all I’ve ever seen.
Also the quality of apartment construction nowadays is total total COMPLETE shit. I’ve worked for brand new complexes that were built so quickly that major issues arose conveniently after the builders warranty expired.
I once had a building of 50 units and every single bathroom and kitchen in that building had had wrong length p-traps that did not connect to the pop up kit assemblies. I don’t need to tell you the absolute chaos that ensued when dozens of residents moved in on opening day. Which of course was a Friday and the beginning of my on call responsibilities..
Attention must also be brought to the aging complexes. I’m talking about complexes built in the 80’s. While the quality was far far above what we see today, inevitably the buildings literally start to crumble. The problem is that those properties will make owners a shit ton of money and no money is ever really invested into the infrastructure of the complex. Updating The buildings up to code and some REAL renovation is needed and that costs more than it’s worth to the owners/investors.
Anyhow just my two cents.
Wow very well said! I agree with new construction now days. I worked at a brand new place that had pex supply lines installed wrong. So, 2 times a month at 2:30 in the morning one would randomly blow off a faucet inside a 3rd floor unit and flood the 2 apartments below as well. And, most of the AC coils leaked refrigerant & needed to be replaced. The place was only a year and half old. Unbelievable! Anyway, thank you so much for reading!