One of the top questions we receive from clients is, how to do we handle maintenance requests? We get it. Maintenance can be unexpected and pop up at inconvenient times. On top of that, you want to make sure we are taking good care of your investment. This blog will cover how we handle work orders or maintenance requests at Access.
Step 1: Work Order is Received
The first step is…the work order is entered online by tenants. We require work orders to be put in online through their tenant portal or in writing via email, but we really prefer the online route. That’s the way we have to send them out anyway. So once that tenant fills out the work order…whatever broken chandelier, broken light or whatever it may be, the minute they press submit on their computer we get an email and you as the owner would also get an email. So all our work orders are done in real time. You know everything the same time we do.
Step 2: Assign a Vendor
Next we take that work order and assign a vendor. We will see what the problem is and where the home is located and from there we will assign the correct vendor, whether it’s an electrician, a general handy person, plumber or whatever that may be. We will assign that vendor and we will email that vendor the work order that has all the pertinent information about the tenant, the problem, if there pets, the way to access, if there is a dollar limit that the vendor can spend and so on. So all of that information will be on the work order that we email out.
Step 3: Work is Scheduled
From there the vendor and the tenant work out a time to schedule the work and then to complete the work.
Step 4: Invoice Received
Once the work is completed the company or the vendor we send out will email us an invoice which we upload to our system and we then close out the work order.
Step 5: Work Order is Closed
When we close it out we add in all the comments that the vendor put in on their invoice which would be rehung chandelier that fell or whatever it may be that the vendor did with those details. Those are entered into the work order and you will see those comments in the owner statement. So every month when you get your statement it will have the cost and a work order number and what was done and for how much.
When a work order goes in you will be notified via email IN REAL TIME, so you will never be out of loop when something happens.
Step 6: Comments to Owner
Again, we assign vendors and all our vendors are licensed, insured and they sign a non-discrimination waiver. They set up their own time to meet the tenants. When invoices come in we pay within 1-2 weeks. Work orders are closed out and all the comments are in there and you can also email us if you want to know ahead of time, but you should always have the comments about what was done in the owner statement when you get that on the tenth of the month.
So that is the process for maintenance work orders or maintenance requests when they come in. The only other thing would be an emergency call. So those if they come in on a weekend or 1am, we are going to take care of those and that next morning is when you will see that work order come over. So that’s one of the only difference that wouldn’t be on this list is just that delay from an emergency, because the first thing we want to do is stop the problem. So that explains our maintenance work orders.