Maintenance requests and work orders

A request becomes a job when somebody gives it a number, an owner and a status. Software makes that routine. Without it, a leaking pipe lives in one person's inbox until they go on holiday.

The examples here use New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Who repairs what varies by place.

Who the request goes to

The NSW Government says the owners corporation is responsible for maintenance and repair of common property, while owners repair anything in their own property¹. It lists examples. Roof and gutters, windows and balcony doors sit with the owners corporation. Carpet and internal painting inside a lot sit with the owner¹.

So the first step of a work order is a decision: is this common property or a lot? A tool can't make that call, but it can hold the answer. Ask whether the request form has a field for it and whether the reason is kept.

Minor and major jobs

The same page says minor common-property repairs can be handled by the committee, a manager or a building manager "without the need for a meeting"¹. Larger jobs need a different path. The NSW page says schemes must get at least two independent quotes for work valued at $30,000 or more¹. Another part of the same page says "more than $30,000"¹, so check the exact threshold with NSW Fair Trading. The page also says the requirement "does not apply where the work is for emergency repairs"¹. Its examples are burst or blocked water or sewerage pipes and serious fire or storm damage. It also lists unexpected electrical or security system failures. The last example is broken glass that affects the security of a building¹. That's an Australian dollar figure and a NSW rule.

A work order needs more than a status. Look for these fields:

• a place to attach quotes, with the date and the contractor's name
• a record of who approved the spend, and when
• a link to the meeting minute that approved a major job
• the lot or common area the job affects
• photos from the person who reported it

Photos, invoices and the paper trail

After an emergency repair that an owner paid for, the NSW page says to take photographic evidence. It also says to ask the tradesperson for written details of the problem and the fix¹. A tool with photo upload on the request makes that evidence easy to keep with the job.

When strata money pays a tradesperson, NSW says you must keep copies of all invoices and receipts². The work order is the natural home for them. Check that an invoice can be attached and that the job doesn't close until one is there, if that's how your committee works.

Contractors

Ask how the tool stores contractor details, such as a licence number or an insurance certificate. Your own regulator or lawyer can say what you must hold. The NSW repairs page reminds owners to make sure a tradesperson is licensed when they arrange their own repairs¹.

Chasing and closing

Open jobs get stale. Ask the maker how the tool shows jobs that have sat untouched, and whether the owner who reported the problem is told when it closes. Ask for the log, too. A closed job should still show who did what and when.

Software holds the trail. It doesn't decide responsibility for a repair. If an owner and the scheme disagree, the official strata guidance in your state or a lawyer is the place to go.