Maintenance

General maintenance jobs include the repairing and maintenance of equipment, machines, vehicles and buildings. People in this industry need to be mechanically inclined for this type of work because they will often be called upon to fix electrical systems including heating and air-conditioning systems.

However, maintenance people are usually ‘jacks of all trades’, required to be able to repair plumbing and do light carpentry work, too.

Maintenance apprenticeships

School leavers could do a property maintenance operative Intermediate Apprenticeship while working in roles like Maintenance Assistant, Property Engineer, Facilities Assistant, Maintenance Engineer, Maintenance Manager, Maintenance Technician, Caretaker, Janitor, Multi-Skilled Technician and Premises Manager.

The primary role of a Property Maintenance Operative is to optimise property condition and quality and to ensure the building is kept in a safe working condition. Property Maintenance Operatives need to maintain a high level of quality, providing maximum satisfaction to customers, clients, guests and team.

They will understand the mechanism of buildings including electrical, plumbing, plant, safety systems and equipment. They will provide first and immediate response to fault finding, whilst maximising quality and ensuring cost effectiveness. They will ensure prevention of major damage that could result in extensive costs and minimise reactive intervention.

School leavers could also do an Advanced Apprenticeship in mechanical maintenance, learning the basics of hand tools before moving onto learning the operations of various machines such as milling machines, pillar drill and lathes.

These apprentices will pick up a variety of skills including setting up rigs, maintenance and set up of  basic pipe fittings, and making crank sets and frost coils. Other tasks will include disassembling and reassembling equipment such as vacuum pumps, Ogden pumps and calorifiers.

Further experience gained during the Advanced Apprenticeship could include using hydraulic lifting equipment, cranes, compressed air, heater batteries and air ventilation systems. There are also Advanced Apprenticeships in electrical maintenance.