Work Order Triage

Work Order Triage

Workflow purpose

Convert an incoming work order into an actioned task with the right priority, the right vendor or tech, the right cost expectation, and the right approvals. Enforce life-safety SLAs, license and insurance verification, and vendor-rotation discipline.

Trigger conditions

• Explicit: "triage work orders", "priority this WO", "daily WO review", "assign vendor to WO X".
• Implicit: new WorkOrder created; P1 item reaches acknowledgment SLA boundary; aging bucket transition; repeat WO detected for same unit + category.
• Recurring: daily P1 screen; weekly backlog review.

Inputs (required / optional)

Outputs

Required context

Asset_class, segment, form_factor, management_mode, market. Jurisdiction required if entry-notice communication will be drafted.

Process

1. Classify each WO. Apply the priority playbook: P1 life-safety (gas leak, live electrical exposure, fire/smoke, no heat in cold season, no AC in hot season per overlay, flooding, lockout after hours per overlay, child-safety hazard); P2 habitability (major appliance, plumbing non-emergency, security); P3 comfort; P4 cosmetic.
2. Confirm category and trade. Map category to trade (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, appliance, general, landscaping, pest). Flag licensed-trade requirement per overlay.
3. Licensed-trade verification (gate). If the trade requires a license, verify the vendor's license and insurance are current. Stale or missing = refuse dispatch; escalate to maintenance_supervisor. The system does not mark any vendor preferred with stale licensure data.
4. Vendor or tech selection. Prefer on-staff tech if capacity and skill match; otherwise select from approved vendor list with rotation discipline. Pull cost estimate from rate card.
5. Cost gate (decision point). If estimated cost above disbursement thresholds (row 6 or 7), open approval_request before dispatch. Contract signature triggers row 19.
6. Entry-notice communication (if required). Draft resident entry notice per jurisdiction overlay; legal_review_required if jurisdiction treats as statutory.
7. Dispatch. Record ETA. P1 acknowledgment SLA is hard; miss escalates automatically.
8. Track to completion. Update status; on close, compute whether WO is a repeat (same unit + category within 30 days); flag vendor if repeat_work_order_rate exceeds overlay threshold.
9. Daily queue snapshot. Counts by priority; aging distribution; vendor performance summary.
10. Confidence banner. Surface reference as_of_date and status; surface vendor certification freshness.

Metrics used

open_work_orders, work_order_aging, repeat_work_order_rate.

Reference files used

• reference/normalized/work_order_priority_playbook__middle_market.csv
• reference/normalized/approved_vendor_list__{market}.csv
• reference/normalized/vendor_rate_cards__{market}.csv
• reference/normalized/approval_threshold_defaults.csv

Escalation points

• P1 SLA breach: maintenance_supervisor -> property_manager -> regional_manager.
• Licensed-trade verification failure: maintenance_supervisor -> property_manager; vendor not dispatched.
• Disbursement above threshold: regional_manager -> asset_manager (row 6 or 7).
• Safety-critical scope change: maintenance_supervisor + property_manager + regional_manager (row 4).

Required approvals

• Disbursement above threshold (row 6 or 7).
• Vendor contract signature (row 19).
• Safety-critical scope deferral (row 4).

Failure modes

1. Auto-deferring a life-safety item. Fix: P1 never deferred without approval matrix row 4.
2. Dispatching to an out-of-cert vendor. Fix: licensure/insurance verification is a gate.
3. Treating all WOs equally. Fix: priority playbook governs.
4. Silent repeat patterns. Fix: repeat flag opens vendor scorecard review via workflows/vendor_dispatch_sla_review.
5. Sending entry notice without jurisdiction rules. Fix: overlay required; missing -> refuse entry-notice draft.

Edge cases

• After-hours emergency: P1 on-call rotation per overlay; if on-call unassigned, escalation path fires immediately.
• Resident refuses entry: workflow documents refusal; entry notice tracked; legal counsel if blocking a safety issue.
• Multiple units same issue: batch dispatch; root-cause investigation flagged.
• Warranty-covered: route to warranty vendor; do not pay; flag if warranty expired.
• Resident-caused damage: WO still completed; chargeback captured and routed through ledger via workflows/move_out_administration or lease-violation process.

Example invocations

1. "Triage the daily work-order queue for Ashford Park."
2. "WO 1842 reports a gas smell — handle."
3. "What does the WO backlog look like for Willow Creek this week?"

Example outputs

Output — Daily WO triage snapshot (abridged, Ashford Park)

Queue. P1 x 0, P2 x 4, P3 x 14, P4 x 5. open_work_orders within band.

P1 status. None open. Trailing week P1s acknowledged within SLA.

Dispatch this cycle.

• 2 P2 plumbing: dispatched to preferred vendor, licenses current; cost within threshold; no gate.
• 1 P2 HVAC: dispatched to preferred vendor, licenses current; estimated cost above threshold; approval_request row 6 opened.
• 1 P2 appliance: on-staff tech assigned.
• 2 P3: scheduled for next week.

Repeat flags. One P3 in unit 204 is second in 21 days for same category; vendor flagged for scorecard review via workflows/vendor_dispatch_sla_review.

Entry notices. 3 drafted per Charlotte overlay, legal_review_required banner; PM to confirm send.

Confidence banner. approved_vendor_list__charlotte@2026-04-01, status=starter. vendor_rate_cards__charlotte@2026-04-01, status=sample. Vendor license check freshness surfaced per vendor.