How To Become A Building Superintendent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a building superintendent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Building superintendents work under the watch of property managers, supervising buildings in residential, commercial, or industrial use. They keep in contact with the inhabitants of the buildings servicing requests, providing information, and managing maintenance work.

Overseeing the work of maintenance staff, managing contractors during renovations, and keeping track of expenses related to building maintenance will be your job here. You will be responsible for hiring and training maintenance staff and taking care of minor repairs in a pinch. Working at industrial sites, it will be your job to make sure the premises comply with safety standards.

A high school diploma is generally enough to get you hired. A college degree in architecture, facility maintenance, or a related area will not set you back, though. Having experience with maintenance work yourself is generally a requirement for this position. If you know your way around plumbing, electrical upkeep, heating systems, or landscaping, you will likely be favored by employers. Applicants with certifications in fire safety or the use of sprinkler systems usually also enjoy priority.

ScoreBuilding SuperintendentUS Average

Salary

4.5

Avg. Salary $57,406

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.6

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.98%

Asian 1.35%

Black or African American 4.44%

Hispanic or Latino 26.39%

Unknown 3.79%

White 63.05%

Gender

female 5.21%

male 94.79%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress Level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.1

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Building Superintendent in Columbus, OH

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Key steps to become a building superintendent

Explore building superintendent education requirements

Most common building superintendent degrees

Bachelor's

32.4 %

High School Diploma

29.8 %

Associate

20.5 %

Start to develop specific building superintendent skills

Skills	Percentages
Plumbing	14.18%
OSHA	9.95%
Sub Contractors	9.20%
Safety Standards	8.44%
Construction Projects	5.92%

Complete relevant building superintendent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New building superintendents learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a building superintendent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real building superintendent resumes.

Research building superintendent duties and responsibilities

Demonstrate leadership, accountability, and teamwork when managing the budget by empowering staff members to participate in controlling expenditures.
Handle all aspects of building maintenance, including force air computerize HVAC system, lawn care, carpentry, and pluming.
Charge with the running and testing of electrical lines, changing switches their connect receptacles.
Negotiate contracts for maintenance, repairs, cleaning, HVAC, and general upkeep of building and grounds for multiple buildings

Prepare your building superintendent resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your building superintendent resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a building superintendent resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Building Superintendent Resume templates

Build a professional Building Superintendent resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Building Superintendent resume.

Apply for building superintendent jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a building superintendent job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do building superintendents rate their job?

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Building Superintendent reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

What do I like the most. Mmh I like the entire industry I mean change of scenery all types of people's personalities travel challenges the self satisfaction of a well earn paycheck. I just love it

Cons

This one crushes my spirit I see how much people is loosing the work ethic. Everyone wants more wages less work more personal time