Occupation
Stationary engineer
Stationary engineers operate and maintain the boilers, chillers, compressors, and pumps that heat, cool, and power hospitals, campuses, industrial sites, and large buildings. They hold responsibility for pressure equipment that has to be watched, tested, and logged whether or not anything is going wrong. Certificate classes usually govern how large a plant a person may take charge of.
Also known as: Power engineer · Boiler operator · Building operating engineer · Plant operating engineer
Occupation content
Part of Utilities, energy, mining and resources
What the work involves
- Operate and monitor boilers, chillers, compressors, and pumps and adjust to building or process load.
- Test water chemistry and dose treatment to protect boilers and cooling systems.
- Test safety valves, low-water cut-offs, and alarms and record the results.
- Perform preventive maintenance and minor repairs on plant equipment and controls.
- Respond to plant alarms and building system failures, including outside normal hours.
- Keep the plant log, statutory records, and permits current for inspection.
How people commonly enter
- A power engineering or stationary engineering apprenticeship with a facility or contractor.
- A college certificate or diploma in power engineering leading to graded operator certificates.
- Transferring from a mechanical trade such as millwright, HVAC, or pipefitting and adding plant certification.
- Marine or military engineering experience converted through the civilian certificate route.
Typical training: Apprenticeship
Licensing: Regulated in most jurisdictions — confirm the current requirement with the regulator in your province, state, or country.
Typical work context
Shift work · Physically active · High responsibility · Predictable routine · Team based
Related interests
Realistic (hands-on) · Conventional (organizing)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
- Mechanical comprehension
- Technical reasoning
- Safety judgment
- Attention and concentration
- Error detection
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Utilities, energy, mining and resources.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- US BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators · United States
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- O*NET OnLine — occupation search: stationary engineer and boiler operator · United States
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- Employment and Social Development Canada — National Occupational Classification (NOC) · Canada
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Utilities, energy, mining and resources in Canada, not a figure for Stationary engineer. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Utilities, energy, mining and resources family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Utilities, energy, mining and resources: education pathways
Some roles in Utilities, energy, mining and resources may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Utilities, energy, mining and resources: licensing
Find jobs
These are live, user-controlled searches on each source's own site for “ Stationary engineer”. Novus Learn does not fetch, store, or rank these results, and job availability never changes your exploration match score.
- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)