An elevator project manager runs the big jobs: new controllers, door equipment, machines and hydraulic jacks. They order the gear, file permits, plan each shutdown with the building, watch the costs, and hand the finished car to its route once it passes inspection.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other building equipment contractors · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $69,160, middle half $82,860 to $142,220, 90th percentile $173,750. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Operations Manager
Department
Operations
Schedule
Weekdays on the mechanics' shift · Office time and machine rooms, plus early-morning, night or weekend shutdowns when a building can't spare a car by day
Also called
Modernization project manager · Elevator modernization manager · Elevator construction manager · Construction project manager
Elevator project manager job description template
This is our Role Blueprint, word for word. Replace the highlighted fields and adjust the example targets and pay to fit your company.
You'll manage our elevator modernizations and major repairs, such as controller, door equipment, machine and hydraulic cylinder replacements. You order long-lead equipment, file permits, plan shutdowns with building owners so tenants keep a working car, and book the acceptance inspection. The Field Supervisor runs the mechanics; you run the schedule, the money and the paperwork.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Turn each sold modernization or repair proposal into a plan: scope, equipment list, crew needs, shutdown dates and budget.
Review layouts and equipment submittals with the manufacturer, and track controller, machine and door equipment lead times.
File installation or alteration permits with the state or local elevator authority, and schedule the acceptance inspection.
Plan car shutdowns with building owners and property managers so each building keeps service, and post tenant notices well ahead.
Coordinate Phase I fire service recall testing with the fire alarm contractor, and machine room or pit work with electricians and general contractors.
Write change orders for hidden conditions, like hoistway, pit or rail repairs, and get them approved before the work starts.
Close each job with the inspection certificate, wiring diagrams, warranty, and a handoff of the car to its maintenance route.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Check equipment ship dates and move installation dates when a controller or machine ships late.
Walk a modernization in progress with the Field Supervisor to check progress, safety and the return-to-service date.
Tell property managers when each car will be back in service, and warn them early about changes.
Chase permit status and inspector dates with the elevator authority.
Review mechanic hours and material costs against each job's budget.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Cars returned to service by the promised date: [your target].
Acceptance inspections passed on the first visit: [your target].
Modernization gross margin: [your target].
Tenant complaints during shutdowns: [your target].
Callbacks on modernized cars after turnover: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[3+] years managing elevator modernization or new installation projects, or [5+] years as an elevator mechanic.
Knows traction, hydraulic and machine-room-less elevators well enough to scope a modernization and review a layout.
Understands how your state permits and inspects new and altered elevators, including acceptance tests.
Has planned work in occupied buildings with property managers and tenants.
Writes clear shutdown notices and schedules that property managers can pass straight to tenants.
6. Preferred Experience
Working knowledge of ASME A17.1, the elevator safety code, as your state has adopted it.
A state elevator mechanic license where your state issues one, or NAEC Certified Elevator Technician (CET) status.
Experience with escalator, wheelchair lift or destination dispatch projects.
Experience with public agency bids and certified payroll.
7. Physical Requirements
Stand in machine rooms and climb pit ladders during job walks, with a mechanic present.
Lift and carry drawings, parts samples and tools up to [25] pounds.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Time in the office and in machine rooms of buildings across [your service area].
Weekday hours: [7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.], matched to the mechanics' shift.
Early-morning, night or weekend shutdowns when a building can't spare a car during business hours.
Machine rooms and hoistways can be hot, cramped, noisy and greasy.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new project manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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
A modernization happens inside a building that stays open. The car comes down on a set date, and every week it stays down, someone takes the stairs or waits for the one car left.
The car comes down after the gear arrives
Controllers and machines can ship weeks late, and a permit can run out while you wait. In Montana, for example, an elevator permit ends six months after it's issued, or once work has stopped for 60 days, unless the permit sets a shorter limit. Time the permit to the delivery date. Keep the old car running until the new gear is on the dock and checked. Source: Example state: Montana Code 50-60-709 (elevator permits).
Ask for the asbestos survey before tear-out
OSHA's asbestos rule reaches alterations and repairs, so it covers a modernization. The building owner has to locate any asbestos before work begins and warn the contractors bidding on or working near it. Where a building went up in 1980 or earlier, OSHA presumes that insulation on pipes and ducts and sprayed-on or troweled-on surface coatings contain it, unless testing rules it out. Ask for the owner's survey with the bid papers, before a machine room wall or hoistway gets opened. Source: OSHA: 29 CFR 1926.1101, asbestos in construction.
Alter one car, alter its group
In buildings the ADA covers, the 2010 Standards say that when you change a part of an existing elevator, such as its buttons, you change the same part on every elevator that answers the same hall call. Put a new button panel in one car of a pair that shares hall buttons, and the other car needs one too. Catch this while you scope the job, so the quote covers both. Source: U.S. Access Board: 2010 ADA Standards, 206.6.1 Existing elevators.
One federal contract can carry two wage rules
Say a federal contract pairs years of upkeep with a new controller. The Labor Department's rule can put the two under different wage laws: the Service Contract Act for the upkeep, and Davis-Bacon for the controller job if that work is substantial and separate enough to be done on its own. The Davis-Bacon side brings weekly certified payrolls and wage rates posted on site. Log each mechanic's hours to the side they worked. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 4.116, contracts for construction activity.
In-ground jacks can hide surprises
Replacing an in-ground hydraulic jack can mean drilling a new hole under the pit. Water, rock, old casing or oily soil may turn up once the drill goes down. Put an allowance or a set price per foot for those finds in the proposal. Write the change order the day the driller reports, before more work goes in.
How much elevator project managers make
The closest BLS group for elevator project managers is construction managers. Construction managers who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $105,500 a year ($50.72 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $114,990 median for construction managers in all industries. About 3,840 of the 380,360 construction managers in that survey work for other building equipment contractors.
The template leaves pay blank. A bonus on top of salary fits job margin and on-time return to service, two of the template's own measures.
Other building equipment contractors
$105,500$105,500 median Middle half $82,860–$142,220 10th–90th $69,160–$173,750
All industries
$114,990$114,990 median Middle half $88,550–$151,640 10th–90th $69,690–$189,440
$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k
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
$69,160
$82,860
$105,500
$142,220
$173,750
All industries
$69,690
$88,550
$114,990
$151,640
$189,440
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.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has run elevator modernizations in occupied buildings from order to turnover
Builds a schedule around equipment ship dates and inspector openings
Has priced pit, rail and hoistway surprises in the middle of a modernization
Tracks labor and material costs against the budget every week
Tells property managers about delays early and in plain words
Teach these on the job
The job cost and scheduling tools you use
Permit and inspection steps with each elevator authority you deal with
Your equipment suppliers' layout and order process
Certified payroll steps for federal work
Your turnover checklist and handoff to the maintenance route
Expect job cost software tied to payroll, a schedule built around equipment ship dates, supplier order portals, and the permit portal of each elevator authority you work with. Hand finalists a supplier's layout drawing and ask what they'd check before approving it.
Elevator project manager 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 · Handling a late shipment
The controller for a modernization ships [three] weeks late, and the building already sent tenants notices about the shutdown. What do you do?
A strong answer: Tells the property manager right away, keeps the car running until material arrives, reschedules the shutdown, sends new notices and pushes the manufacturer.
Behavioral · Working in occupied buildings
Tell me about a time an elevator shutdown or similar work disrupted daily life in an occupied building. How did you keep people informed?
A strong answer: Clear notices ahead of time, regular updates through the manager, quick answers to complaints and accurate dates.
Pick targets from big jobs you've already turned over, and score each job on the day its car rejoins a maintenance route.
Cars returned to service by the promised date
Cars back in service on or before the date given to the property manager, out of all cars returned. For every late car, log what held it up: shipping, the permit, the inspection or field work.
Acceptance inspections passed on the first visit
Acceptance inspections passed without a return visit, out of all booked. Log each write-up item so the crew's checklist catches it next time.
Modernization gross margin
Contract value plus approved change orders, less labor, equipment, subcontracts and permit fees, compared with the estimate at closeout. Check jobs still in progress every month, so a slipping budget gets caught.
Tenant complaints during shutdowns
Complaints logged by the property manager or your office during each outage, counted per job. Read them for missed notices and dates that moved without warning.
Callbacks on modernized cars after turnover
Trouble calls on each modernized car in its first months back on a route, from dispatch records, sorted by cause: install, adjustment, equipment or misuse.
Career path
Elevator technicianInstalls and repairs cars and sees how modernizations go in.
Assistant project managerOrders gear, files permits and posts tenant notices for a project manager's jobs.
Project managerRuns modernizations and major repairs from order to turnover.
Operations managerOversees routes, repairs and the modernization schedule.
What does the ADA say about taking a building's only elevator out of service?
For businesses open to the public, the ADA rule says accessible features must be kept in working order, and it allows isolated or temporary breaks in service for maintenance or repairs. It sets no length, and state or city codes can ask for more. A one-car building still feels every day of a long outage. Agree in writing with the owner on how long it lasts, the notices, and help for people who can't use stairs. Tell the owner the day a date moves.
How much does an elevator project manager make?
Construction managers who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $105,500 a year ($50.72 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $82,860 and $142,220 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Which calls belong to the project manager, and which to the field supervisor?
The template draws the line: the field supervisor runs the mechanics, and the project manager runs the schedule, the money and the paperwork. It gets tested when a car isn't ready on the promised day. The supervisor decides whether it's safe to run. The project manager tells the property manager that day and resets the date, rather than pushing the crew to make the old one.
What should a shutdown notice to tenants say?
Which car is out, the dates and hours, which car or stairway to use instead, and a phone number for questions. Add a line inviting people who need help getting in and out to tell the property manager. Post it well ahead, again the day before, and update it the moment a date changes.
Can an elevator mechanic step up to project manager?
Often, yes. The template's experience line accepts years as an elevator mechanic in place of project management. To see how a mechanic handles the office side, give them a sold proposal and a controller that will ship three weeks late. Ask for a new schedule and the note they would send the building.
