Maintenance tech training

Who has developed their own training for repair of such items as

• Installing a new weather strip
• Installing a hot water tank
• Changing a electrical switch
• etc
• etc

I have just taken this position and they have no writen procedures or training so standards are all over the place.

Hello George,

Have you checked in with your local apartment association? They should have a good training program. They may also have a line on some professional personnel that have retired that may come in and give you a hand in training on site on an as needed basis.

Maybe you need to change out your maintenance person. If they are not cutting the mustard they can have a negative impact on your customer satisfaction and occupancy rate! Maintenance can also affect your budget. I always had my maintenance lead at all budget meetings. There are those managers for whatever reason think that the maintenance worker does not need to be involved for whatever reason and I was never of this mindset. We were linked at the hip and we made each other smarter! You got some retired maintenance folks out there that do not want a full time job and would like nothing more than a 4 hour job to train and assist. So, there are two avenues to look at!

I might check with your local Home Depot store; sometimes they offer free trainings for some basics. PLUS most of the people they hire can speak to particular project because many of them were contractors in the past.

Also, check with your local HDS rep to see what training they offer.

There may also be a local community college or ROP program you can tap into.

What bugs me is the fact that it appears that your maintenance team may not know what they need to in order to be successful and keep costs down.....

I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but aren't those basic skills a person would need before even applying for a maintenance position? Heck even I know how to do those things, well maybe not the hot water heater .
Our company does not have a set training program. Do you have other communities nearby with maintenance who could mentor your team? Nate and Johnny both have great ideas. I have never used Home Depot for training (I'm gonna check it out though, we managers do love the word FREE), but I have used HD and out local apt. association.

I agree with Stephani. However, my last property had Corian countertops with integrated sink basins in the kitchen AND in the bathroom (including the shower surround) and my maintenance guy did not have the tools or the training to handle how to repair issues such as ground in dirt/stains, chips, or cracks in the material. I came to learn that the process to repair many issues requires special handling as the material that is used is toxic. This is where a contractor is needed for some work; but with the proper training and tools, some could be handled in house.

In house training is very important for a successful property and reduces expenses. Working for 2 large REITs and a large management company, I have been involved in training hundreds of associates in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, appliance, general repairs and CFC certifications.

No matter what a technician tells you, they can always learn more and find more effecient ways of doing things. Apartment Associations, private training companies and HD Supply all supply training. However, in my opinion, the best trainers are people that have been in the business a good amount of time, are familiar with company rules, are supportive of their peers and have nothing to sell except an education to their associates.

I highly recommend you look for these features in a training program and your expenses will decrease and morale will increase. It works and over several years we had the numbers to prove it. Good luck.

But the OP led me to believe that the maintenance person was actually lacking a base level of knowledge. Perhaps I misunderstood and the situation is that you may have a porter/janitor that is part time and looking to move up? This is where a strong internal program is needed; either entirely internal, or a combination of internal/HDS/Apartment Association/ROP (community college) structured training comes into play. It is not necessarily important to have the training entirely internal; just to have it available to any team member that may desire to refresh or add skills.

Training technicians should fall into 4 basic categories.
Industry Specific Training
Company Specific Training
Trade Specific Training
Individually specific training based on their role

What are you looking for specificially? I see what you posted abopve but are you looking for a manual, diagrams, or something else?

Water Heaters are not brain surgery, but not a job for a novice, either. I have 20 years experience in plumbing, have changed more than I have memory of, and don't like doing them. Why? The apartment water heater is probably going to be the 40 gallon low boy type sitting under the air handler of the HVAC in the closet. The working clearance is tight. Many times they will be corroded and can't be easily drained. Some times, there is not even a working water shut off valve. (The valve is there, it just won't shut off the water). The heater being old, it is rusty corroded and will most likely need to be sawed off at the piping. Getting a heater out of the closet is a two man job at best. The mess to the tenant's unit is unavoidable, so you would spread plastic or drop cloths to move the heater over. In almost every case you will need to solder fittings in reinstalling. You need experience in soldering and protecting the wall so you won't burn down the apartment.
If electric, your dealing with a 220V line. Yes a rather simple hook up, but do you know how to make the connection according to code? It is required to be right! If gas, do you know how to seal test the system in a safe manner?
The water heater looks simple to some folks, and it is in theory. Every one of them will have it's own sneaky problems. While, yes, I do them, I would prefer a licensed plumber to do it, with helper(s). I have seen a lot of them carelessly installed in the past. Not for the beginner!