Work Order Processing and Resident Service
The work order lifecycle
Every request moves through the same stages: intake (phone, resident portal, walk-in, inspection), triage and prioritization, dispatch and assignment, repair, documentation, close-out, and follow-up. A candidate should be able to name each stage and say who owns it. Emergencies get immediate 24/7 response regardless of office hours: no heat, no water, sewage backup, active leaks or flooding, gas odor, burning or sparking smells, lockouts, broken exterior doors or windows that compromise security, and elevator entrapment. Urgent items (one appliance down, a slow drain) get same-day or next-business-day service. Routine and cosmetic items are scheduled into the normal queue.
Administrative traps
Most questions in this domain are about process, not tools. Non-emergency entry generally requires notice under the lease and state law, commonly 24 hours; emergencies allow entry without notice, but the reason must be documented. Never promise a specific completion time you cannot control, commit to a response window instead. Fair Housing applies to maintenance too: apply identical priority standards and communication to every resident, and never discuss one resident's unit, balance, or situation with another. Notes should be factual and objective ("resident reports water on bathroom floor"), not opinions about the resident.
Worked example
At 9 p.m. one resident reports a dripping bathroom faucet, another reports an electrical burning smell. The drip is routine; schedule it for the next business day and offer a bucket or shut off the angle stop. The burning smell is an electrical hazard; dispatch immediately, and if there is smoke or flame, tell the resident to evacuate and call 911 before anything else.
Rule of thumb: if it threatens life, health, or property, treat it as an emergency until proven otherwise.