Create a Work Order

availability

Platform:	WebMobile
Plan Type:	BasicEssentialPremiumEnterprise
User Type:	RequesterFull UserAdministrator

Help us improve this article

Take this 2-minute survey to let us know us what is and isn't working. Take the survey.

This article explains how to create a work order, set a repeating schedule, and duplicate an existing work order.

Create a New Work Order

Web

1. From the sidebar, select Work Orders.
2. Select + New Work Order.
3. Enter a title for the work order in the What needs to be done? field.
4. In the work order details, fill in the other fields that you need, as described in Work Order Fields.
5. Select Create to save the new work order and add it to the queue.

Other ways to create a work order

You can create work orders on the fly for entities like assets, parts, etc. In the entity details, do any of the following:

• Select Use in New Work Order.
• Select (more options) menu in the entity details then Use in New Work Order

You can also use the CoPilot AI assistant to generate a work order. See MaintainX CoPilot.

Mobile

1. Do one of the following:

   • From the Overview screen, select + Create then Work Order , or
   • From the bottom navigation bar, select Work Orders.
     • Select + New Work Order.

2. Enter a title for the work order in the What needs to be done? field.

3. In the work order details, fill in the other fields that you need, as described in Work Order Fields.

4. Select Create to save the new work order and add it to the queue.

Other ways to create a work order

You can create work orders on the fly for entities like assets, parts, etc. In the entity details, do any of the following:

• Select Use in New Work Order.
• Select (more options) menu in the entity details then Use in New Work Order.

Work Order Fields

This section explains how to fill out a new work order. You can fill in all the fields you need when you first create the work order or create the work order with a minimal amount of information and edit it later. The only mandatory field is the title (What needs to be done?).

Field	Description
What needs to be done	Enter a title for the work order. You can't create a new work order without a title. The title can be up to 255 characters long.
Add or drag pictures	Attach images to the work order. Thumbnails of any images you attach appear here. For details, see Attach Pictures.
Description	Add a detailed description of the work to be done. The description can be up to 4096 characters long.
Estimated Time	Add the approximate work time in hours and minutes to complete the work order.
Procedure	Add procedures to the work order. You can also preview and edit them. For more information, see Create or Add a Procedure in a Work Order.
Assign to	Assign the work order to one or more users or teams. For more information about users and teams, see About Users and Teams.
Due Date	Set the date work is due to be completed. After you set a Due Date, you can also set a Due Time. For more information, see Add a Due Date and Time or Start Date and Time.
Start Date	Set the date the work is scheduled to start. After you set a Start Date, you can also set a Start Time. For more information, see Add a Due Date and Time or Start Date and Time.
Recurrence	Choose the frequency (e.g., weekly, monthly, etc.) at which you want the work order to recur, or select Does not recur to make the work order a one-off (non-recurring). If the work order is recurring other options appear to set up the repeating schedule. For more information, see Set a Repeating Schedule.
Work Type	Specify what kind of maintenance the work order for is: Preventive Reactive Other Usually, Preventive work orders are recurring, and Reactive work orders are non-recurring.
Priority	Set the priority for the work order.
Location	Specify the location where the work will take place. You can choose from any of your organization's locations. A work order can only have one assigned location. The location you choose should be the location associated with the asset specified in the Asset field. If the asset is associated with a different location, MaintainX sets the Location field to that location automatically.
Asset	Specify the asset to perform maintenance on. You can choose from any of your organization's assets. A work order can only have one assigned asset.
Files	Attach files to the work order. For details, and a list of supported file formats, see Attach Files.
Parts	Add the parts required to complete the work order. You can choose any part configured for your organization. When you add a part, you must also specify the Amount Used.
Categories	Assign one or more categories to the work order. These can be built-in categories such as Safety or Standard Operating Procedure, or custom categories configured for your organization.
Vendors	Add one or more vendors to the work order. You can choose from any of your organization's vendors.

Attach Pictures or Files

Attach one or more pictures or other files to work orders to provide additional information about the work that needs to be done.

Supported File Types

You can attach the following types of files:

File Type	Supported Formats
Documents	.doc, .docx (Microsoft Word) .xlsx (Microsoft Excel - see note below) .csv (Comma-separated values) .pdf (Adobe PDF)
Images	.gif .jpg .png
Video	.mp4

note

MaintainX doesn't support .xls files. If you want to attach a .xls file, convert it to .xlsx format first.

For best performance, files should be smaller than 50MB.

Attach Pictures

Web

On the work order, select Edit.

Do one of the following:

• From the work order details, select Add or drag pictures. Then use the file dialog to choose one or more images to upload.
• Drag one or more image files from a file browser on your machine, and drop them in the Add or drag pictures area.

Mobile

On the work order, select Edit.

From the work order details, select Add or take pictures. You can do one of the following:

• Take a photo using your device's camera.
• Upload an existing picture from your device.

Take a photo using your device's camera

1. When prompted, use your device's camera to take a photo. MaintainX adds it to a list of photos to upload.

2. If you want to annotate the photo select it from the list. You can do the following:

   • Scale, crop, and rotate the picture.
   • Draw on the picture.
   • Add written annotations.

   When you're finished annotating the photo. MaintainX returns you to the list.

3. Do one of the following:

   • Select Add another to take another photo.
   • Select Done to return to the work order an upload your photos.

Upload an existing picture

1. Follow the prompts on your device to select a picture.

2. Annotate the picture as needed. You can do the following:

   • Scale, crop, and rotate the picture.
   • Draw on the picture.
   • Add written annotations.

3. Select the arrow to upload the picture.

Attach Files

Web

On the work order, select Edit.

1. In the work order details, go to the Files field and select Attach files. A file picker opens.
2. Choose one or more files to upload.

Mobile

On the work order, select Edit.

1. In the work order details, go to the Files field and select Attach >. A file picker opens.

2. Follow the prompts on your device to do one of the following:

   • Take a photo using your device's camera.
   • Attach an existing image from your device.
   • Attach a file from your device.

tip

If you attach a photo or another image file, you can annotate it as described in Attach Pictures.

Add a Due Date and Time or Start Date and Time

Use the Due Date field to set a due date and, optionally, Due Time for the work order. You must set a due date before you can set a due time.

Web

1. In the work order details, select the Due Date or Start Date field to open a date picker.
2. Select the due date/start date.
3. If you want to set a due time/start time, select Add due time/Add Start Time.
4. Select a time from the drop-down.

Mobile

1. In the work order details, go to the Due Date or Start Date field and select Set > to open a date picker.

2. Select the due date/start date.

3. Do one of the following:

   • If you don't want to set a due time/start time, select Done to confirm the due date/start date and close the date picker.
   • If you do want to set a due time/start time, select Set Time/Set Start Time to open a time picker.

4. Select a time from the time picker. Then select OK to return to the date picker.

5. Select Done to confirm the due date and time/start date and time, and close the date picker.

Use start dates to manage your work order queue

Setting start dates can help keep your work order queue focused on upcoming tasks.

Suppose you have a preventive maintenance work order that repeats yearly. You can give it a start date so that it only appears in the queue a few days before each recurrence, rather than appearing for the full year between recurrences.

Or suppose you create a reactive work order to repair an asset, but it isn't due for two weeks. You can set a start date closer to the due date to keep the work order out of the queue while your team focuses on higher priority work.

Set a Repeating Schedule

Use the Recurrence options to make the work order repeat at pre-set intervals. A series of repeating work orders is also called a work order chain.

A work order must have a due date before you can make it repeat. If you set the Recurrence before you set a due date, MaintainX will add the next day's date as the due date automatically.

To set a repeating schedule for a work order:

Web

1. In the work order details, go to the Recurrence section.

2. Choose a repeat frequency and a repeat interval. The interval is the amount of time between repeats. For example if the frequency is Weekly, the interval is the number of weeks between repeats.

   Frequency	Interval Options
   Does not repeat	None
   Daily	None. Work order repeats every day.
   Weekly	Number of weeks between repeats. Which days of the week the work order repeats on. E.g., the work order could repeat every 2 weeks on Wednesday.
   Monthly by date	Number of months between repeats. Which day of the month the work order repeats on. E.g., the work order could repeat every 2 months on the 5th of the month.
   Monthly by weekday	Number of months between repeats. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or last weekday in the month the work order repeats on. E.g., the work order could repeat every 2 months on the last Tuesday of the month.
   Yearly	Number of years between repeats. E.g., the work order could repeat once every year. Yearly work orders repeat on the due date of the original work order.
   Periodically	Number of minutes between repeats. E.g., the work order could repeat once every 30 minutes.

Mobile

1. In the work order details, go to the Recurrence field, and select Set.

2. On the Recurrence screen, choose a repeat frequency and a repeat interval. The interval is the amount of time between repeats. For example if the frequency is Weekly, the interval is the number of weeks between repeats.

   Frequency	Interval Options
   Does not repeat	None
   Daily	None. Work order repeats every day.
   Weekly	Number of weeks between repeats. Which days of the week the work order repeats on. E.g., the work order could repeat every 2 weeks on Wednesday.
   Monthly By Date	Number of months between repeats. Which day of the month the work order repeats on. E.g., the work order could repeat every 2 months on the 5th of the month.
   Monthly By Weekday	Number of months between repeats. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or last weekday in the month the work order repeats on. E.g., the work order could repeat every 2 months on the last Tuesday of the month.
   Yearly	Number of years between repeats. E.g., the work order could repeat once every year. Yearly work orders repeat on the due date of the original work order.
   Periodically	Number of minutes between repeats. E.g., the work order could repeat once every 30 minutes.

3. After you set the repeat interval, select Done to return to the Recurrence screen, then select Save.

Duplicate a Work Order

Web

1. From the sidebar, select Work Orders.
2. Locate the work order you want to duplicate, and select it to view its details.
3. In the work order details, select (more options).
4. Select Copy to New Work Order.
5. Update the work order information as needed.
6. Select Create to save the work order and add it to the queue.

Mobile

1. From the bottom navigation bar, select Work Orders.
2. Locate the work order you want to duplicate, and select it to view its details.
3. In the work order details, select (more options).
4. Select Copy to New Work Order.
5. Update the work order information as needed.
6. Select Create to save the work order and add it to the queue.