Work Request System: Best Tips, Design, Setup

OVERVIEW

What is a Work Request?

A Work Request lets staff, tenants, residents and other building or workplace contacts report a maintenance issue quickly and easily, for any type of problem. It can route automatically to a preferred contractor, or be reviewed and assigned by building management, strata management or a facility manager.

Contractors receive work requests in the field and action them with ETAs, progress updates, and notifications when the job is complete.

A Work Request is the method of logging a maintenance issue for action — commonly by the building or tenant contact who experienced it, but it may also be logged on their behalf by a facility or building manager after a verbal report, a walk-by, or an audit or inspection of the premises. It might be logged by a tenant, property manager, staff member, building owner, or a contractor. Once received, a facility, project or property manager assigns the work request to a preferred contractor to begin the job.

View Work Request Forms, Registries & Templates

THE FORM

Work Request Form

Every work request form should include the essential details needed to give whoever reviews it context and clarity, plus a deadline so everyone knows the time constraints.

Name
Phone
Email
Exact location
Access instructions
Point of contact
Description of the maintenance issue
Type of maintenance issue
Priority

View Sample Form >

Common Work Request Categories

The work request is the first report of a maintenance problem, and can be filled out by a range of building or facility contacts depending on the nature of the request.

Carpentry Grounds Maintenance Sprinkler Services Gutter Cleaning Painting Property Cleaning Plumbing Smoke Alarm Maintenance Tree Surgery Window Furnishing Electrical Fire Services General Maintenance / Handyman Locksmith Pest Control Waste Removal Air Conditioner Service Security Test and Tag – Electrical Building Trade Glazier Paving Door Repairs

CONTRACTORS

A Work Request Contractor Workflow

Contractors juggle a lot of work requests at once. A dashboard keeps track of what's assigned, what's still open, what needs an update, what's overdue, what's new, and which sites are next.

Contractor registry of open work requests
Recurring work requests with scheduled dates
Updates on jobs as they progress
ETA for parts or arrival on site
Ability to flag a job as complete

CONTRACTOR ACCESS

Let Contractors View Assigned Work Requests

Contractors can view work requests assigned to them and provide updates directly — from ETA on parts to job completion or other progress notes.

View currently assigned work requests
Registry of previous work requests
ETA on parts and job completion updates
Updates on progress

CUSTOMISE

Create a Custom Work Request Form

Build a custom work order form specific to your organisation — custom maintenance categories, how you classify work orders by site, property, unit or department, or fields that match your trust accounting setup.

Setup custom forms
Create custom field classifications
Integrate with your trust accounting
Setup custom workflows from initial work request through to contractor assignment and notifications
Create custom work order registries

PROCESS

Work Request System: Common Workflow

1

Log a Work Request

What happened, where, what needs to be fixed, who it affects, category, and priority.

2

Review

The work request is received and reviewed to confirm the details are correct.

3

Assign to a preferred contractor

Issue the work request to one or many contractors.

4

Provide updates

Whether it's the facility or building manager providing updates, or updates coming straight from contractors.

5

Work Request complete and closed

Once the last update is made and the job is complete, the request is closed and moved to the closed work request registry.

A Work Request system is often used by facility management to track and manage maintenance requests, providing a streamlined workflow for submitting, reviewing and approving them. Facility managers create and submit requests, assign them to the right personnel, review status, and track progress — with a shared platform for communication between managers and contractors, and visibility into maintenance costs and labour hours.

A centralised database stores and retrieves every request, so facility managers can easily locate, review and edit previous requests, generate reports, and analyse trends in maintenance costs and labour hours — enabling an efficient, organised workflow where requests are handled in a timely, cost-effective manner.

View Work Request Templates, Forms & Registry

COMPONENTS

Common Areas in a Work Request System

Request Form

A form to capture the details of the work request.

Workflow Engine

A mechanism to route the request to the appropriate personnel or department.

Task Manager

A system to assign and track tasks associated with the request.

Communication System

A way to keep stakeholders informed of the progress of the request.

Reporting & Analytics

A system to generate reports and analyse trends around the requests.

Security

A system to ensure only authorised personnel can access the system and its data.

REGISTRY

Work Request Registry

The Work Request Registry lets organisations document, track and manage requests from customers, employees and other stakeholders — helping them manage resources, prioritise tasks and monitor progress.

Users can view requests, prioritise tasks, assign them to the appropriate personnel, create new requests, and track the progress of each one. It also helps organisations better understand feedback and track performance, so the most important tasks get focus first.

Overall, the work request registry is a powerful tool for managing resources and improving efficiency — helping ensure every request is completed in a timely manner.

GET STARTED

Setting up a Work Request System

It's easy to set up a work request system — specific to a single building or facility, or across an entire portfolio of sites.

Setup a dedicated Work Request portal where different user types (tenants, workers, building staff, customers, or any other role) can log maintenance work requests
Setup a contractor register of compliant and approved contractors to assign work requests to
Live registry of updates, works in progress and assigned job tasks
Integrated preventative maintenance registry
Setup custom form workflows around costs, quotes, schedules, notifications and more
Asset register

A Work Request system tracks, manages and reports on requests for work in the workplace, giving the structure needed to ensure requests are processed quickly and accurately — prioritised, tracked, and visible at every stage.

It can also reduce costs by automating the process of logging, tracking and managing work requests, cutting the time spent processing them manually, improving data accuracy, and improving communication between departments and employees with real-time tracking. Reporting on progress supports better decision-making and highlights areas for improvement, giving managers clearer insight into team performance.

Work Request System: Best Tips, Design & Setup