Tracking? A work order.

I'm just getting lost in the jargon. What is "tracking" a work order and why would you want to do it?

Okay, so from the lack of response I'm going to assume that no one actually "Tracks" work orders. Once completed, they end up in a file drawer and never seen the light of day again. Right?

Apologies, I haven't had a chance to reply yet!

Tracking a work order, to me, is following it from creation to completion then following up with the resident.

1. Resident places request -OR- Management identifies a deficiency to be corrected
2. Office team creates the work order in the management system. Enter in any access notes, permission to enter, or relevant notes that may impact the technician (Example: CAUTION - Drain Cleaner used in bathroom sink prior to call)
3. Assign the work order to the maintenance technician.
4. Technician checks out keys (if necessary) and responds to the location to begin work.
4(a). Technician identifies inventory / parts not available and places the work order into a delayed status.
5. Technician completes the work, indicates what they identified as the source of the problem (if possible), what parts / inventory was used, and signs off as complete.
6. Office Team receives the completed work order, enters the notes and inventory into the system, and then initiates follow-up with the resident.
7. Management reviews, then files the work order appropriately.
8. The issue pops back up, but is in the system already so we can identify a trend. ("Why are we having to snake this toilet every three weeks?")

Thank you very much for responding. How does or ideally should management know that the toilet needs to be snaked every three weeks? Is someone actually looking at the closed work orders? Pulling them out of the file and spreading them on a table to read them? Is there someone in charge of reviewing work orders as part of the weekly routine? That would be news to me certainly. I'm writing some new software for apartment work orders so I'm trying not to miss anything.

That's a matter of company / property policy, but since I'm on a smaller property I'm able to notice trends simply because I remember entering in the clogged toilet a few days ago.

Our company uses Yardi, so you can actually pull a history by apartment / location for work orders, in the event that it feels like "we just did that, didn't we?" when you're taking a request.

That was very helpful, thanks again. any more suggestions for the software? Maybe something Yardi doesn't do but you wish that it would?

Well, I thought I would post what I have got in regards to the maintenance software that I am developing. I would emphasize that this will be FREE software so the mod(s) don't think I'm trying to make a buck where I shouldn't. Why am I writing freeware? I'm just trying to get a maintenance job. If you like the software you should see me replace a wax ring!

This is very old-school software. It will run on Windows-anything except maybe 3.1. It's text based and very early stage. No, it doesn't contain a virus. It doesn't even need the internet. I've posted pictures and a description of what I have so far and how it works. It's really more of a doodle at this point than anything a person can use but you're welcome to a copy of it. Check it out at www.freewebs.com/sacksonuts on the top of the page. Any suggestions would be very welcome. If you've got to "Track" work orders, this is the real deal.