Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of an establishment in repair. Duties may involve pipe fitting; boiler making; insulating; welding; machining; carpentry; repairing electrical or mechanical equipment; installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment; and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs.
U.S. Workers
1,531,700
Median Salary
$48,620
10-Year Growth
+3.8%
Annual Openings
159,800
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
30 of 30 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Diagnose mechanical problems and determine how to correct them, checking blueprints, repair manuals, or parts catalogs, as necessary.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems can analyze sensor data, schematics, manuals and catalogs to identify likely mechanical faults and recommend corrective actions with high reliability in 2025.
Order parts, supplies, or equipment from catalogs or suppliers.
AI: Fully automatable - Ordering parts and supplies is a transactional, data-driven task that AI can fully automate via catalog parsing, vendor integrations and approval workflows.
Plan and lay out repair work, using diagrams, drawings, blueprints, maintenance manuals, or schematic diagrams.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can interpret diagrams, blueprints and manuals to generate repair plans and layouts, and coordinate resources and steps effectively in 2025.
Record type and cost of maintenance or repair work.
AI: Fully automatable - Recording maintenance types and costs can be fully automated with digital forms, voice-to-text, asset-management software, and AI cost-estimation tools available by 2025.
Estimate costs to repair machinery, equipment, or building structures.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can aggregate parts/labor databases, analyze photos/specs, and produce reliable repair cost estimates automatically given adequate input data.
Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze sensor data and run diagnostics, but hands-on inspection and certain complex operational tests still require human technicians in many contexts.
Dismantle machines, equipment, or devices to access and remove defective parts, using hoists, cranes, hand tools, or power tools.
AI: Partial - Dismantling varied machinery involves complex, variable physical tasks and safety judgments that are only partially automatable with current robotics and tools.
Perform routine maintenance, such as inspecting drives, motors, or belts, checking fluid levels, replacing filters, or doing other preventive maintenance actions.
AI: Partial - Routine monitoring and predictive maintenance can be largely automated, but many physical preventive tasks (fluid changes, filter replacement, belt adjustments) still need human work or specialized automation.
Repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices.
AI: Partial - Physical repair requires dexterous, context-sensitive manipulation that remains only partially automatable, though robots and AI-guided tools can handle some repetitive or structured repair tasks.
Assemble boilers at installation sites, using tools such as levels, plumb bobs, hammers, torches, or other hand tools.
AI: Partial - AI can provide instructions, diagnostics, and augmented-reality guidance for boiler assembly, but the varied, manual, and safety-critical hands-on work at installation sites prevents full automation in most cases.
Maintain or repair specialized equipment or machinery located in cafeterias, laundries, hospitals, stores, offices, or factories.
AI: Partial - AI can provide diagnostics, schedules, and guided procedures for specialized equipment, but actual hands‑on maintenance across varied real‑world sites remains only partially automatable.
Assemble, install, or repair wiring, electrical or electronic components, pipe systems, plumbing, machinery, or equipment.
AI: Partial - Assembly, installation and repair of electrical/plumbing systems are safety‑critical and environment‑dependent, so AI can assist and automate some repetitive sub-tasks but cannot fully replace skilled humans yet.
Test and treat water supply.
AI: Partial - Automated sensors, analytics, and dosing systems can handle routine water testing and treatment in many systems, but complex or novel water-quality issues and field operations still require human oversight, so automation is partial.
Clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery.
AI: Partial - Cleaning and lubricating specific machine parts can be automated in controlled industrial settings and scheduled by AI, but general application across diverse sites is only partially automated in 2025.
Adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges.
AI: Partial - AI can guide and control precise adjustments in structured environments, but field adjustments requiring flexible judgment and manual tool use are not fully automated.
Perform routine maintenance on boilers, such as replacing burners or hoses, installing replacement parts, or reinforcing structural weaknesses to ensure optimal boiler efficiency.
AI: Partial - AI can support diagnostics, parts ordering, and step-by-step guidance for boiler maintenance, but the physical replacement and reinforcement tasks remain manual and not fully automatable across real-world contexts.
Install equipment to improve the energy or operational efficiency of residential or commercial buildings.
AI: Partial - AI can design, model, and optimize equipment upgrades for energy efficiency, but physically installing diverse building equipment in varied sites remains largely a manual activity in 2025.
Set up and operate machine tools to repair or fabricate machine parts, jigs, fixtures, or tools.
AI: Partial - CNC and CAM systems automate much of machine-tool operation and AI can generate programs, yet physical setup, fixturing, and ad-hoc repair machining typically require human skilled operators, so automation is partial.
Perform general cleaning duties of buildings or properties.
AI: Partial - General cleaning can be largely automated for routine floor and surface tasks with robots and AI scheduling, but comprehensive building cleaning with variability and fine detail remains only partly automatable.
Train or manage maintenance personnel or subcontractors.
AI: Partial - AI can generate training materials, track performance, and assist with scheduling or recommendations, but cannot fully replace human leadership, judgment, and responsibility in training or managing personnel and subcontractors.
Paint or repair roofs, windows, doors, floors, woodwork, plaster, drywall, or other parts of building structures.
AI: Partial - Painting and many building repairs involve complex access, surface judgement and safety considerations, so AI and robots can assist or handle some tasks but not fully automate all such work yet.
Align and balance new equipment after installation.
AI: Partial - Specialized sensorized systems can automate alignment and balancing for certain equipment types, but across the wide variety of installations encountered in maintenance work, these tasks still require human technicians, making automation partial.
Provide groundskeeping services, such as landscaping or snow removal.
AI: Partial - Autonomous mowers and some snow-clearing robots exist for limited contexts, but comprehensive groundskeeping (landscaping design, complex terrain, large-scale snow removal) is not fully automatable as of 2025.
Operate cutting torches or welding equipment to cut or join metal parts.
AI: Partial - As of 2025, robotic welding systems and AI planning can fully automate welding in controlled industrial settings but cannot broadly replace on-site, variable maintenance welding tasks, so AI can only partially automate this.
Inspect used parts to determine changes in dimensional requirements, using rules, calipers, micrometers, or other measuring instruments.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze measured data and guide automated metrology systems to determine dimensional changes, but manual use of handheld calipers/micrometers and ad‑hoc inspection still typically requires a human or specialized robotic hardware.
Fabricate or repair counters, benches, partitions, or other wooden structures, such as sheds or outbuildings.
AI: Partial - AI can generate plans, CNC/CAM instructions, and guide prefabrication or robotic assembly for standard wood structures, but on‑site, varied carpentry and adaptive problem‑solving remain largely manual.
Position, attach, or blow insulating materials to prevent energy losses from buildings, pipes, or other structures or objects.
AI: Partial - AI can control blowing equipment and predict optimal insulation placement in regular cavities, but complex geometries and manual attachment or finishing still need human installers.
Grind and reseat valves, using valve-grinding machines.
AI: Partial - AI can control valve‑grinding machines and optimize grinding parameters with sensor feedback, but setup, fixturing, and some finishing steps still require human oversight or specialized operators.
Design new equipment to aid in the repair or maintenance of machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures.
AI: Partial - Generative design and simulation tools let AI produce novel equipment concepts and CAD models, but full end‑to‑end invention, detailed engineering judgment, and prototyping validation still need human engineers.
Lay brick to repair or maintain buildings, walls, arches, or other structures.
AI: Partial - Robotic bricklaying prototypes and automated prefabrication exist for repetitive tasks, yet on‑site masonry repair involving irregular shapes, mortar work, and finishing remains largely a human trade.