Working as a maintenance technician: training and career
The technician who keeps installations running: solving breakdowns, performing preventive maintenance and protecting production against downtime.
At a glance
| Where you work | Production sites in metal, chemicals, pharma and food, data centres, facility and maintenance companies and the technical services of large buildings. |
|---|---|
| Status | Blue-collar or white-collar, depending on the employer |
| Joint committees | PC 111, PC 209, PC 116, PC 207, PC 118, PC 220 |
| Bottleneck profession | Yes, according to VDAB |
| Working hours | Often shifts |
| Certificates | BA4 and BA5 (instructed and skilled person), VCA diploma (B-VCA, VOL-VCA, VIL-VCU), Forklift certificate, Aerial platform certificate (IS-005, IPAF) |
What you do as maintenance technician
- Locate and repair breakdowns on mechanical, electrical and pneumatic installations
- Perform preventive maintenance to schedule and log the results in the maintenance system (CMMS)
- Analyse recurring breakdowns and propose structural improvements
- Work with production, contractors and the safety department
- Manage spare parts and keep technical documentation up to date
What employers ask for
- A technical education in electromechanics, electrical engineering or equivalent through experience
- Reading electrical schematics and measuring with the common instruments
- Electrical competence attestation and often a VCA safety certificate
- Analysing breakdowns independently and staying calm under time pressure
- Willingness to work shifts or standby duty, depending on the site
What does a maintenance technician do?
In the VDAB occupational information, working as a maintenance technician falls under Industrieel onderhoudstechnicus. You maintain industrial machines, installations and systems, plan that maintenance and work to the safety rules.
Training and certificates
In Flanders you become a maintenance technician through the third-stage secondary programmes in electromechanical techniques or preventive maintenance of machines and installations, or through a seventh year as electromechanic or industrial electricity technician. In higher education, the associate degree in electromechanical systems and the professional bachelor in electromechanics lead to this job, and VDAB runs a maintenance technician course for job seekers.
For work as a maintenance technician, employers often ask for BA4 and BA5 (instructed and skilled person), VCA diploma (B-VCA, VOL-VCA, VIL-VCU), Forklift certificate and Aerial platform certificate (IS-005, IPAF).
Shift work and standby duty
On full-continuous production sites maintenance technicians work shifts or standby duty; in building services, utilities and field service, day jobs are more common. If you work as a maintenance technician between 20:00 and 06:00, the FPS Employment counts that as night work, for which new rules apply since 1 June 2026.
Growing as maintenance technician
The classic path runs via senior technician to maintenance supervisor or work planner. If you prefer staying technical, you specialise in a technology such as HVAC, high voltage or instrumentation; those expert roles often pay as much as a leadership position.
Moving to field service (customer installations instead of one site) or into automation is also common, especially with additional PLC training.
Pay at a glance
Our pay range: €2,900 - €4,200 gross per month, without premiums and fringe benefits, based on the vacancies we fill.
Sector minimum
- PC 111, national minimum hourly wage: 16.2682 to 17.1244 euros gross per hour, valid from 1 July 2026
- PC 209, technical staff: 2,648.62 to 2,948.60 euros gross per month, valid from 1 July 2026
- PC 116, minimum hourly wage per weekly schedule: 15.7495 to 16.7690 euros gross per hour, valid from 1 November 2026
- PC 207, minimum monthly wages per category and experience: 2,516.24 to 4,001.24 euros gross per month, valid from 1 November 2026
- PC 220, minimum monthly wages per category and experience: 2,333.06 to 4,363.42 euros gross per month, valid from 1 January 2026
Lowest and highest amount in the pay scale table; which amount applies to you depends on your class or category and your experience.
Sources for this data: see the list at the bottom.
What public sources report
| Source | Job title at the source | What the source reports | Sample and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indeed | Onderhoudsmonteur (m/v) | Average 19.37 euros per hour; minimum to maximum: 15.38 to 24.41 (base pay, gross or net not stated) | about 6,500 salaries reported; updated 8 November 2026; different job title from ours |
| Jobat | Onderhoudstechnieker | Average 3,250 euros per month; minimum to maximum: 2,500 to 4,000 (gross) | number not stated; no date stated |
| Talent.com | Onderhoudstechnieker | Median 37,050 euros per year; low to high: 36,918 to 38,334 (gross or net not stated) | 878 salaries reported; no date stated |
| Statbel | ISCO 723 Monteurs en reparateurs van motorvliegtuigen, vliegtuigmotoren, industriële- en landbouwmachines en fietsen | Average 3,488 euros per month (gross) | number not stated; figures for October 2022, full time, companies with 10 or more employees; broad occupational group |
Not included: Glassdoor (blocks automated reading), StepStone (blocks automated reading), PayScale (too few salaries reported or incomplete data).
Why do these figures differ so much? They don't measure the same thing. Glassdoor, Indeed, PayScale and Talent.com count salaries people report themselves or that appear in job ads, often without saying whether they are gross or net. Jobat gives an average gross salary without a sample. Statbel measures officially, but per broad occupational group and for October 2022, so before the indexations of the following years.
The unit differs too: per hour, per month or per year. We convert nothing, because an annual salary may include twelve or thirteen months and holiday pay, and an hourly wage depends on your weekly schedule. A small sample can be far off because of a few outliers.
Open vacancies
Still in doubt? Take the job quiz → · Read the job profile →
Frequently asked questions
Is maintenance technician a bottleneck profession?
Yes, working as a maintenance technician is on the VDAB list of bottleneck professions for 2026, as "Industrieel onderhoudstechnicus" and "Onderhoudstechnicus industriële automatisering". According to VDAB, finding a maintenance technician is hard because there are too few job seekers available and candidates often lack the right experience or training.
Which joint committee covers a maintenance technician?
As a maintenance technician you fall under the joint committee that matches your employer's activity, not a committee for your job. For a maintenance technician these are usually PC 111, PC 209, PC 116, PC 207, PC 118 and PC 220. As a maintenance technician you work as a blue-collar or white-collar employee, depending on the employer.
Sources
Checked on 3 November 2026 unless stated otherwise.
- VDAB, beroepeninformatie Industrieel onderhoudstechnicus (checked on 13 November 2026)
- VDAB, Knelpuntberoepen 2026
- Onderwijskiezer (CLB), overzicht studierichtingen derde graad secundair onderwijs
- Vlaamse overheid, Hogeronderwijsregister: erkende graduaats-, bachelor- en masteropleidingen, academiejaar 2026-2027
- VDAB, opleiding onderhoudstechnieker voor werkzoekenden
- FOD Werkgelegenheid, minimumlonen.be: sectorale minimumlonen per paritair comité
- Codex over het welzijn op het werk, boek III titel 2 Elektrische installaties (FOD WASO, pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- BeSaCC-VCA: VCA info (checked on 23 October 2026)
- FOD Werkgelegenheid: attest voor het besturen van een gemotoriseerd transportwerktuig (opleidingsplicht Codex I.2-16 tot I.2-21) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- FOD Werkgelegenheid: attest voor het besturen van een gemotoriseerd transportwerktuig (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Codex over het welzijn op het werk, boek IV titel 3 Mobiele arbeidsmiddelen (FOD WASO, pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Codex over het welzijn op het werk, boek I titel 4 Gezondheidstoezicht (FOD WASO, pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- BeSaCC-VCA: Register van Risicovolle Taken, versie 2020-01 (pdf) (checked on 23 October 2026)
- BeSaCC-VCA: info risicovolle taken (checked on 23 October 2026)
- Indeed, lonen voor Onderhoudsmonteur (m/v) in België (checked on 13 November 2026)
- Jobat, lonen voor Onderhoudstechnieker in België (checked on 13 November 2026)
- Talent.com, lonen voor Onderhoudstechnieker in België (checked on 13 November 2026)
- Statbel, gemiddelde bruto maandlonen per beroep (oktober 2022), ISCO 723 (checked on 13 November 2026)
- minimumlonen.be, PC 111 metaalverwerkingsondernemingen, geldig vanaf 01/07/2026
- minimumlonen.be (FOD Werk), PC 209 metaalfabrikatennijverheid, geldig vanaf 01/07/2026
- minimumlonen.be (FOD Werk), PC 116 scheikundige nijverheid, nationaal minimumuurloon, geldig vanaf 01/11/2026 (checked on 9 November 2026)
- minimumlonen.be (FOD Werk), PC 207 scheikundige nijverheid, nationaal minimumbarema, geldig vanaf 01/11/2026 (checked on 9 November 2026)
- minimumlonen.be (FOD Werk), PC 220 voedingsnijverheid (andere dan de groentenconservennijverheid), geldig vanaf 01/01/2026
- FOD Werkgelegenheid, Nachtarbeid (regels vanaf 1 juni 2026)
Spotted an error or an outdated source? Report it to the editorial team
General information based on the law and the sources listed. Your collective agreement, your contract and your payroll provider or union remain decisive for your own situation.
What does the next indexation do to your pay?
Pick your joint committee and enter your gross salary. You get by email your net pay today, what the next indexation adds gross and net, and the end-of-year premium and eco vouchers of your sector.
We send you the report, nothing else. If you tick the updates, we email you at most once a month about the indexation of your sector; unsubscribing takes one click. No vacancy spam. Privacy policy
Hiring technical people yourself? See the employer cost report →
Looking for your next job? Browse vacancies with salary ranges →