An elevator apprentice works beside an experienced mechanic on maintenance and repair calls. They clean pits and machine rooms, check hoistway doors and hand up tools and parts. Each skill they show they can do safely adds to their share of the work, on the way to becoming a mechanic.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other building equipment contractors · BLS, May 2025
Assist experienced elevator technicians with maintenance tasks while learning the technical trade fundamentals. Support safe and efficient elevator operations, contributing directly to customer satisfaction and company success. Develop skills through on-the-job training and structured mentoring programs.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Assist experienced technicians with routine maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair tasks.
Learn and apply foundational safety protocols and technical procedures specific to elevator systems.
Prepare and organize tools, materials, and work areas for daily tasks.
Follow detailed instructions and document work progress for supervisory review.
Support a positive work environment by maintaining clear communication with team members.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Aid in the inspection and basic servicing of elevator systems under the guidance of senior technicians.
Perform routine cleaning, lubrication, and calibration of equipment.
Maintain accurate logs of maintenance activities and customer interactions.
Ensure work areas are set up according to safety standards.
Assist in the organization and restocking of repair parts and tools.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Safety Compliance: Achieve 100% adherence to all safety protocols.
On-Time Task Completion: Complete ≥95% of assigned tasks within scheduled time frames.
Skills Improvement: Successfully complete 90% of required training modules each quarter.
Customer Satisfaction: Maintain an average service rating of ≥4.7 stars on feedback surveys.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or GED equivalent.
Basic mechanical aptitude and familiarity with hand tools.
Strong communication skills and a commitment to teamwork.
Ability to follow detailed instructions and adhere to safety procedures.
Willingness to learn and adapt in a dynamic work environment.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience as an apprentice or helper in elevator maintenance or related technical fields.
Familiarity with basic electrical and mechanical systems.
Experience working in a customer-focused service environment.
Exposure to industry-specific safety and maintenance protocols.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 25-35 lbs.
Capability to perform tasks that require bending, kneeling, and climbing.
Comfort working in variable environments, including confined spaces.
Adequate visual acuity and physical stamina to support manual labor.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours consist of 8-hour shifts with occasional overtime as required.
May require working weekends or on-call shifts during peak service periods.
Work primarily takes place indoors with routine visits to various service locations.
Minimal travel between job sites may be necessary.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate range: $15 - $20 per hour, based on experience.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses tied to task completion and safety compliance.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance packages.
401k retirement plan with company match.
Paid time off and holiday benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We foster a collaborative, inclusive work environment dedicated to professional growth and excellence.
Our culture values innovation, continuous learning, and a commitment to high-quality service.
Employees are encouraged to take initiative, share ideas, and advance their skills.
We invest heavily in employee training to ensure everyone can achieve their career aspirations.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Most of an apprentice's first year is spent in pits, machine rooms and on car tops, one step behind a mechanic. A union contract, OSHA's rules and state licensing law each shape what the apprentice may touch and how the job pays.
Union pay is a share of the mechanic's rate
Under the IUEC's contract with KONE, Otis, Schindler and TK Elevator, a newcomer without mechanical experience starts as a probationary apprentice. Pay starts at half the mechanic's rate. After six months of steady work it moves up a step, then rises each year to four fifths of the mechanic's rate in year four. During probation, twelve worked months, the company can let the apprentice go without cause. If you're union, budget from your own agreement's ladder, not the template's range. Source: IUEC and NEBA: National agreement, July 9, 2022 to July 8, 2027.
Qualified only for what they've shown
OSHA lets only qualified people work on circuit parts that are still live, such as a controller or door operator that hasn't been locked out. A trainee counts as qualified only for tasks they have shown they can do safely at their stage. Even then, a qualified person must directly supervise. So write down which live checks each apprentice has shown, and keep the mechanic right beside them for those. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 1910.399, definitions for OSHA's electrical rules (qualified person).
The pit counts as a confined space
In a 1995 letter to an elevator trade group, OSHA said it views elevator pits generally as confined spaces. It added that most pits hold at least mechanical and electrical hazards. It also noted that the pit stop switch isn't a main disconnect, so flipping it doesn't lock out the car. Pit cleaning often falls to the apprentice. Walk them through your written pit entry steps before they clean their first one. Source: OSHA letter of interpretation (1995): Elevator pits as confined spaces.
A state may want the apprentice on file
Montana's elevator law, for one, allows apprentices to work with a mechanic the state licenses, under rules the state labor department writes. The apprentice's name and home address go on file with the department, along with the employer's. The department keeps a record of them. Rules elsewhere differ. Before an apprentice starts, ask the elevator office in every state where they'll work what it needs. Source: Example state: Montana Code Annotated 37-73-202 (apprentices).
How much elevator apprentices make
The closest BLS group for elevator apprentices is helpers, construction trades. Helpers, construction trades who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $24.16 an hour ($50,250 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $42,670 median for helpers, construction trades in all industries. About 1,730 of the 24,770 helpers, construction trades in that survey work for other building equipment contractors.
Hourly, plus the template's bonuses for finished tasks and safety. BLS counts an elevator apprentice as an elevator mechanic and has no code for elevator helpers, so the chart shows its catch-all for other construction helpers at building equipment contractors. That median beats the template's top rate, and union apprentices are paid a share of the mechanic's rate.
Other building equipment contractors
$50,250$50,250 median Middle half $38,930–$80,540 10th–90th $35,830–$103,000
All industries
$42,670$42,670 median Middle half $37,030–$48,880 10th–90th $32,900–$60,080
$0k$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other building equipment contractors
$35,830
$38,930
$50,250
$80,540
$103,000
All industries
$32,900
$37,030
$42,670
$48,880
$60,080
BLS doesn’t publish pay for elevator contractors on their own. These figures cover other building equipment contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Won't skip a lockout or pit entry step to save the mechanic time
Has repaired or built something mechanical and can walk you through it
Ready for car tops, pits and tight machine rooms
Stops and asks before any task the mechanic hasn't shown them
Keeps neat, readable notes for each unit's log
Polite with tenants and building staff while a car is out of service
Teach these on the job
Your pit, car top and machine room entry procedures
Reading door and controller wiring diagrams
Hydraulic power units, door operators and roller guides on the brands you service
Meter checks, starting on circuits that are shut off
Escalator and wheelchair lift basics, if your contracts include them
NEIEP or registered program coursework
A new apprentice brings hand tools, a flashlight, gloves and safety glasses, and learns the mechanic's multimeter and grease guns on the job. Issue each apprentice a personal lock and tag in the first week, and keep the hoistway door key with the mechanic until your written procedure lets the apprentice carry one.
Elevator apprentice interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Speaking up about safety
You're on a car top with a mechanic who is about to move the car without testing the stop switch the way you were taught. What do you do?
A strong answer: Speaks up right away and asks to test it before the car moves, even though the mechanic has more experience.
Behavioral · Following safety rules
Tell me about a time at work, school, or volunteering when following a safety rule slowed you down. What did you do?
A strong answer: Followed the rule, understood why it existed, and can explain the risk it prevented.
The mechanic paired with the apprentice keeps these counts, for work handed to the apprentice only. Review them at six months, when a union apprentice's first raise comes due, and set your own targets once your first apprentices finish a full year.
Safety Compliance
The mechanic checks the apprentice's habits on the job: pit and car top entry steps, waiting for lockout before reaching in, and barricades at open hoistway doors. Log each check and any near miss the apprentice reports.
On-Time Task Completion
Tasks the mechanic hands over each morning, such as cleaning a pit, wiping down a hydraulic power unit or cleaning door sills, checked off by quitting time. Each week, see whether misses came from the apprentice or an overloaded list.
Skills Improvement
Modules or classes passed each quarter, from NEIEP or your own program, alongside the hands-on tasks the mechanic has watched the apprentice do safely on real units. Keep both on one record the field supervisor reviews.
Customer Satisfaction
Survey scores from buildings where the apprentice worked, read next to the mechanic's notes. Comments on clean machine rooms, polite answers to tenants and a neatly blocked-off work area are the apprentice's part of the score.
Career path
Elevator apprenticeCleans, oils and hands up parts, then takes on repairs as each skill is signed off.
Elevator technicianEarns mechanic status, plus a state license where one exists, then takes a route.
Is an elevator helper the same as an elevator apprentice?
Not under the IUEC's contract with the big makers. Since July 1997, every new hire there has started as a probationary apprentice, headed for the mechanic exam. Helpers who still work under it joined the trade before that date. They earn seven tenths of the mechanic's rate until they meet the fourth-year apprentice bar. So a union opening today is an apprentice opening.
How much does an elevator apprentice make?
Helpers, construction trades who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $24.16 an hour ($50,250 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $38,930 and $80,540 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Can an elevator apprentice help on modernizations?
Yes, and helping tear out an old car teaches how one goes together. The IUEC contract with the big makers lets an apprentice do any kind of work a mechanic directs. But it caps headcount. Helpers and apprentices can't outnumber mechanics on a job, apart from a small allowance when several teams work it. There's no cap, under a mechanic, for wrecking old equipment, moving and hoisting material, or foundation work. Swapping the cables on an existing car allows two per mechanic. OSHA's limits on live electrical work still apply.
Should an open shop register its elevator apprenticeship?
Registration puts in writing much of what a union shop gets from its contract. Under federal rules, each apprentice signs an agreement. Pay climbs in steps as the apprentice learns. The standards fix how many apprentices each mechanic may have. Probation can last a year at most, or a quarter of the program if that's shorter, and either side may end it without a reason. NAEC's elevator and lift programs need an employer to sponsor each apprentice, and its education staff can help you register.
What does an elevator apprentice lift, climb and carry?
The template's physical lines, stamina included, stand for tasks like these. In a building whose only car is down, the apprentice hauls tool bags and parts up the stairs to a machine room on the roof. They climb into pits by ladder, kneel and crouch on car tops, and lift items in the template's 25 to 35 pound range, like boxed parts or a full tool bag. The visual acuity line means reading small print on wiring diagrams in a dim hoistway. Put these in the posting, and say whom applicants can ask about accommodations.
