Handyman Job Description: Template, Duties, Requirements & Pay (2026)
A handyman fixes a little of everything — doors, drywall, fixtures, minor plumbing and electrical, paint — so a building or a home keeps working between the jobs that need a licensed trade. This page is written for the employers who hire them on payroll: property management companies, facilities teams and home-services businesses. Below is a copy-ready handyman job description template, the requirements worth keeping, the federal lead-paint rule that applies to older housing, and what the BLS says the work pays in each setting.
What a handyman does
An employed handyman works from a list. In an apartment community that list is resident work orders and unit turns: a running toilet, a sticking door, a dead outlet, a hole in the drywall, a disposal that hums, and the patch-and-paint that gets a vacant unit ready for the next lease. On a facilities team it is the same kind of work across offices, schools or a campus. For a home-services company it is booked jobs in customers' homes, often several a day, with the handyman as the face of the business.
The BLS counts this work under general maintenance and repair workers (SOC 49-9071); BLS Employment Projections lists "mechanics handyman" among that occupation's example titles. Its reported job titles include maintenance technician, maintenance worker, building mechanic and facilities technician, and its task list covers repairing machines, equipment or structures with hand and power tools; assembling, installing or repairing wiring, plumbing and fixtures; routine preventive maintenance such as replacing filters; and ordering parts and recording the type and cost of each repair.
Two BLS statements shape the posting. "For more complex tasks, workers may need to be licensed or certified in a particular specialty, such as electrical or plumbing work." And general maintenance and repair workers "have one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations." A good handyman posting is clear about both where the job stops and what the physical work involves.
Handyman job description template
Copy this into your ATS or careers page, replace the bracketed fields, and cut what does not apply. The setting-specific changes are in the section after the requirements table.
Job title
Handyman / Maintenance Technician — [Full-time], [Property or company name], [City]
Summary
[Company] is hiring a handyman to keep [our 240-unit apartment community / our portfolio of X buildings / our customers' homes] in good repair. Pay is $[XX.XX]/hour [plus $X per on-call week]. Hours are [Monday–Friday, 8:00am–4:30pm] with [one on-call week a month]. You will complete work orders, get vacant units ready, and handle the repairs that do not need a licensed trade. [Company truck / tool allowance] provided.
Responsibilities
- Complete [resident / customer / facility] work orders in [system name], closing each with notes and parts used
- Repair and replace doors, locks, hardware, blinds, fixtures, faucets, toilets and disposals
- Patch and paint drywall; replace trim, flooring transitions and cabinet hardware
- Replace outlets, switches and light fixtures within the limits of [state] law and company policy
- Complete unit turns to the make-ready checklist within [X] days of move-out
- Perform preventive maintenance: HVAC filters, smoke and CO detector checks, [pool / grounds] checks
- Follow lead-safe work practices in buildings built before 1978 [and hold or obtain RRP certified renovator training]
- Take [emergency on-call] rotation and respond within [X] minutes
Requirements
- [2]+ years of hands-on repair experience in [apartments / facilities / residential service]
- Own basic hand tools [we supply power tools and specialty equipment]
- Valid driver's license [and a clean driving record, if driving a company vehicle]
- Able to lift [50] lbs, climb ladders and work in attics, crawlspaces and outdoors
- Able to pass a background check [because you will enter occupied homes]
Preferred
- EPA Lead-Safe (RRP) certified renovator training
- EPA Section 608 certification [for HVAC refrigerant work]
- [Certified Apartment Maintenance Technician] or similar industry training
- Conversational [Spanish]
Schedule and pay
- $[XX.XX]–$[XX.XX]/hour depending on experience
- [Monday–Friday, 8:00am–4:30pm]; on-call [one week in X], paid $[X] per week plus hours worked
- [Overtime at time and a half after 40 hours]
Benefits
- Health, dental and vision after [X] days; [401(k) with X% match]
- [Housing discount at our communities]
- [Company truck, fuel card and phone] / [tool allowance of $X a year]
- [Paid certification training]
Requirements: what to keep, what to soften, and what to drop
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Trade licenses | Do not require an electrician's or plumber's license for a handyman role, but do say where the job stops. Licensing rules for repair work are set by states and sometimes cities and they differ, so check your state's contractor licensing board and write the scope to match. |
| Years of experience | Keep a number, but keep it low. Two years of hands-on repair tells you more than five years of any title. Accept experience from property turns, construction, the military or running a side business. |
| Own tools | Be exact. "Basic hand tools" is reasonable; expecting someone to bring a full power-tool kit to a salaried job reads as a cost you have moved onto them. |
| On-call | Disclose it, with the rotation and the pay. On-call discovered after hire is one of the fastest ways to lose a maintenance hire, and experienced candidates ask about it first. |
| Driver's license and background check | Keep them when the job needs them — driving a company vehicle, entering occupied units or customers' homes — and say why. Candidates accept a reasoned requirement. |
| Résumé upload | Remove it. Name, phone, years of repair experience and a yes or no on on-call are enough for a first call. |
Pre-1978 buildings: the EPA lead rule a handyman posting should mention
If your properties include housing or child care facilities built before 1978, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule applies to your maintenance staff. The EPA says firms performing work that disturbs lead-based paint in those buildings "must be EPA- or state-certified and must use certified renovators," and that "this includes in-house maintenance staff." That covers the everyday handyman jobs — patching, sanding, replacing a painted door or window — not just renovation projects.
The rule has a minor repair and maintenance exception: work that disturbs 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside, is excluded, provided no prohibited work practices are used and the job does not involve window replacement or demolition of painted surfaces. Jobs in the same room within 30 days count as one job (40 CFR 745.83). A unit turn can easily cross that line. The work is also excluded where a certified inspector, risk assessor or renovator has determined the components are free of lead-based paint (40 CFR 745.82).
For the job description, that means listing RRP certified renovator training as preferred, or saying you provide it, and naming lead-safe work practices in the responsibilities. It tells candidates you run a compliant shop, and it tells the ones who already hold the certificate that it counts. This is general information, not legal advice.
How to customize it for your setting
Apartment and multifamily property management
Unit turns, work-order volume and on-call are the job. State the number of units, how many techs share the load, the turn standard in days and how on-call is paid. A housing discount at the community is a strong benefit and belongs in the first lines if you offer one.
Commercial facilities, schools and campuses
Say what kind of buildings and what hours. Facilities roles often mean a daytime schedule without resident emergencies, which is the selling point for candidates coming from apartments. Name any specialty systems they will touch, such as boilers, rooftop units or life-safety equipment, and whether you train on them.
Home-services companies
Here the handyman is customer-facing. Say how many jobs a day is typical, whether pay is hourly or per job, whether the company provides the vehicle and tools, and how jobs are booked and priced. Candidates coming from self-employment want to know that the company handles scheduling, billing and materials, which is the main reason they would give up their own clients. Our residential home improvement hiring guide covers that market.
Handyman or maintenance technician?
Use both titles. Candidates who have held the same job search either, and O*NET's reported titles for the occupation include maintenance technician and maintenance worker. "Handyman / Maintenance Technician" in the title catches both searches. If the role is the only maintenance person on a site, our maintenance worker job description covers the broader version; if it is a plant or industrial role, see the maintenance technician job description.
What handymen earn by setting
The BLS publishes May 2025 medians for general maintenance and repair workers by industry, and the spread is the main thing a property manager should know when setting a rate:
| Industry (BLS, May 2025) | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | $61,500 |
| Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals | $51,160 |
| Educational services; state, local, and private | $50,270 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | $48,360 |
| Accommodation and food services | $39,590 |
Real estate is the largest employer of these workers but not the best payer, and a handyman who can do apartment maintenance can usually do plant or school maintenance too. If your rate is at the real estate median, the benefits, the schedule and the on-call terms have to carry the offer, and the posting should say so plainly.
What it costs to reach handymen on social
Our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) does not segment handyman roles, so we do not attribute a role family to them. The reference point is the report-wide median: $13.88 per applicant, with the middle half of all campaigns between $6.48 and $29.74.
That is advertising cost only; it buys an applicant, not a hire. Across the benchmark, what happens after the click explains 70% of the difference between campaigns, so the form matters more than the ad. Two or three questions — years of repair experience, on-call yes or no, driver's license — and a same-day call do more for cost than any change to the ad.
If you are hiring rather than describing the job, our skilled trades recruiting page covers where hands-on workers are and what the ad has to say, and our maintenance technician recruiting guide covers the closest adjacent role.
Writing the ad version
The template is for your ATS and careers page. The ad on Facebook or Instagram needs pay, schedule, on-call and one concrete perk in two lines. For example: "Maintenance Tech / Handyman — $24–$28/hr. Mon–Fri, 8–4:30, on-call 1 week a month (paid). Company truck and tools. 2 years' repair experience. Apply in 60 seconds, no résumé."
Name the kind of work, not a list of trades: "unit turns, fixtures, drywall, minor plumbing" is more believable than "all phases of building maintenance." Then keep the form short. Our candidate conversion rate guide explains why, and our help wanted ad examples library has worked examples for trades roles.
Frequently asked questions
What does a handyman do for a property management company?
A property management handyman completes resident work orders and gets vacant units ready for new tenants: repairing doors, locks, fixtures, faucets, toilets and disposals, patching and painting drywall, replacing outlets and light fixtures within legal limits, changing HVAC filters and checking smoke detectors. Most roles also include an on-call rotation for after-hours emergencies.
How much does a handyman make?
The BLS groups handymen with general maintenance and repair workers, whose 2025 median pay was $23.84 an hour, or $49,590 a year. Pay varies by setting: the May 2025 median was $61,500 in manufacturing, $50,270 in educational services and $48,360 in real estate and rental and leasing, the largest employer of these workers.
Does a handyman need a license?
It depends on the state, sometimes the city, and the kind of work. The BLS notes that more complex tasks may require a license or certification in a specialty such as electrical or plumbing work. Employers should check their state's contractor licensing board and write the handyman's scope so that licensed work goes to licensed trades.
Does the EPA lead paint rule apply to maintenance staff?
Yes, for housing and child care facilities built before 1978. The EPA says its Renovation, Repair and Painting rule includes in-house maintenance staff. Minor repair and maintenance that disturbs 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside, is excluded if no prohibited practices are used and no windows are replaced.
What is the difference between a handyman and a maintenance technician?
Usually very little. The BLS counts both under general maintenance and repair workers, and O*NET lists maintenance technician and maintenance worker as reported titles for the occupation. Handyman tends to mean residential and light commercial repair; maintenance technician is more common in apartments, facilities and plants. Using both in the job title catches both searches.
Supervising a maintenance team rather than hiring into it? The maintenance supervisor job description covers the lead role.
Other job description templates
- Maintenance worker job description
- Maintenance technician job description
- Painter job description
- Carpenter job description
- Groundskeeper job description
- HVAC technician job description
See all job description templates — free, editable templates for frontline, trades, healthcare and warehouse roles.
Hiring handymen and maintenance techs?
The job description is the document; the ad is what gets read. We write it, run it where hands-on repair workers are actually scrolling, and report what each applicant cost — cost per applicant, not cost per hire.
Pay, employment, openings, largest employers, median pay by industry, licensing, schedule and injury statements: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, General Maintenance and Repair Workers (last modified August 27, 2026; 2025 employment, May 2025 wages). Tasks and reported job titles: O*NET OnLine 49-9071.00. Lead rule: EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Rules (last updated December 15, 2025), 40 CFR 745.82 and 40 CFR 745.83 on eCFR. All read at source on September 28, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Cost per applicant: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark; handyman roles are not a reported family, so only the report-wide median is used. Advertising costs only; cost per applicant is not cost per hire. Updated September 2026.