No building or construct is ever complete without a good working electricity that provides power and lighting. As such, in every construction job, there always lies an electrician which specifically does the job of installing wiring systems. This is a job that is beyond just the average labor worker who follow instructions. It takes a professional in the electrical field to handle the job—aptly, a Construction Electrician.
But not all cases of electrical problems in every construct involves needing a fresh installation of electrical system. Other times, particularly among already established buildings, it pertains to tasks rooted simply in the maintenance of electric circuits such as fixing a faulty wiring system, replacing a fuse, or upgrading to a better or new equipment as needed. Although this is a task which a Construction Electrician is itself able to handle, there is also another branch of the trade that specializes in electrical maintenance—a Maintenance Electrician.
See Also: Electrician Levels / Ranks
Now, being either or both a Construction and Maintenance Electrician is not any different than its brethren on other branches of the same trade. What separates these from the rest is often the work area. The nature of the work is fundamentally the same.
Therefore, to be either or both a Construction and Maintenance Electrician is to be put in the same advantages and disadvantages as the rest of the peers.
Pros of Being a Construction and Maintenance Electrician
• The Path Towards Becoming a Journeyman Electrician (Construction and/or Maintenance) is a Paid Learning Experience
Learning the basics up to the advanced learnings of the electric system is no simple feat. What was previously just a 4-year training experience, it has now extended to a year or two more.
Luckily, going on a training as an apprentice in the trade is not as financially-burdening as with the other fields of study which put people in debt before or after graduating college.
By this, it meant that those who aspire of becoming a full-fledged electrician—officially referred to as a “Journeyman Electrician”—are getting paid as they learn. A “Journeyman Electrician” is also an umbrella term for all electricians in all its branches who succeeded in getting past the apprenticeship program and passing the official test after it.
Consequently, to become an apprentice is like getting an on-the-job training as soon as you get to do field work on your first year until you graduate. Meaning, no fledgling electrician ever leaves his tutelage without some money at the palm of his hands.
See Also: Electrician Types
• Valued Trade with Great Pay
It is no longer a secret that a Construction Electrician is the highest paid worker in the field—but for a very good reason. Unlike the average labor worker who mostly only follow instructions and apply common knowledge at work, a Construction Electrician draws from everything he had learned, beginning from his apprentice days, in both classroom and actual work. This makes the Construction Electrician an invaluable component of the force, hence the bigger pay.
The same is also as true towards Maintenance Electricians whose important knowledge about electric circuit—and to emphasize, its fixing—is not something easily replicated, even by the most skilled laborer.
• Significantly In-demand
With still yet a lot of space to cover for establishing new building units and even to maintain on existing ones, the demand for both a Construction and Maintenance Electrician remains, if not prospectively more demanded in the future. This implies that, in the coming years, there is a significant security of tenure among Construction and Maintenance Electricians, whether member of a union or not.
• Growing Career Path
One of the major perks of choosing the path of an electrician is that of its relatively attainable career growth. Once assumed the role of a Journeyman Electrician, taking one’s career to the next level only requires a short two years of active experience before pursuing another major test to advance to the role of a “Master Electrician” which opens a slew of possibilities for better career and salary along the way.
See Also: Electrician Tools
Cons of Being a Construction and Maintenance Electrician
• A Risky Job
When you deal with electricity, there is always the risk of harm that could be deadly in some extent. As an either or both a Construction and Maintenance Electrician, you are always at risk of a life-or-death situation. Even experienced individuals in the trade are not immune to this level of danger, only less susceptible to it when applying due prudence while on the job.
But that was only speaking of a scenario where the danger lies in the electrical system being worked on. In a construction site, there are also a myriad of other hazards that put a worker’s life in danger, such as falling debris, heights, etc.
• Strenuous Work Nature
The job of a Construction or Maintenance Electrician does not just involve a simple task of installing new wires or fixing defective ones or upgrading to better equipment which mostly require hand movements. In reality, the work of this kind of electrician requires many twists and turns for the body which could be physically-taxing and prone to injury.
Although this is a nature of the job that is not necessarily alien to the electricians themselves, it is so much of an issue towards the physically unfit or to those who already at the senior level of the trade. Meaning, the job can get a little more difficult when the task becomes repetitive and when the body imposes constraints.
See Also: Electrician Safety Clothing
• Inconsistent Work Hours
There are certain elements at play that affects the successful completion of each project. Nowhere is this seemingly more visible than a work committed to every day. Not only does a day of work sometimes require an overtime extension to expedite the development of the project; other times, you will also find yourself working at a bad time of the day such as during the night.
If you are the type of person who expects a certain consistent work hour as a job, you might find the aforementioned problems rather dejecting.