Work order
A work order is a record that authorizes and describes a specific piece of work, such as a repair, inspection or installation, and tracks who is doing it, by when and its status until it is completed and closed.
Also known as: job ticket · service ticket · work ticket · job card
A work order is the basic unit of work in maintenance and operations. It states what needs doing, where, who is responsible, how urgent it is and when it is due, and it tracks progress from open to closed. A complete work order also records what was actually done: notes, parts or materials, time spent and evidence such as a photo.
Example
A tenant on level 9 reports that the corridor light outside unit 905 is flickering. The building manager creates a work order: location “Level 9 corridor, outside 905”, category “Electrical”, priority “Normal”, due “tomorrow 17:00”, assigned to the maintenance technician on duty. The technician accepts it, replaces the faulty driver, attaches a photo of the working light and marks it complete.
Typical fields
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Location or asset | Where the work happens |
| Description | What is wrong or what is needed |
| Priority and deadline | How urgent it is |
| Assignee | Person or department responsible |
| Status | For example open, accepted, in progress, done |
| Completion record | Notes, photo, time stamps |
How it relates to neighbouring terms
A work request or guest request is the ask; the work order is the assigned job. Work orders can be corrective (fix something that is broken) or preventive (planned to stop failures). A CMMS is software built largely around managing work orders.
Where TaskLoop fits
In TaskLoop, a request becomes a task with an assignee, priority, deadline and instructions. Staff receive it on the mobile app, update its status and can attach a photo when they complete it, and overdue tasks escalate to supervisors. See work orders.