Academy/Maintenance Fundamentals
Work orders
The one document that turns "someone should fix that" into a repair that actually gets done, and proven done.
A work order is the document that authorizes, schedules, and tracks one maintenance task from request to completion. It turns "someone should fix that" into a record: what's wrong, who approved the work, when it's due, and proof it got done. Skip that step, and a real repair often quietly becomes deferred maintenance instead.
What a work order actually captures
A work order is not a text message to the landscaper or a sticky note on someone's desk. A complete one names the problem, who approved spending on it, who is doing the work, when it is due, and confirmation that it was finished. That written trail matters because who has authority to approve a repair, and up to what dollar amount, is set by your CC&Rs and bylaws, and it differs from one association to the next. A work order is also the proof that the board followed its own rules when it spent the money.
The paperwork is what stands between a fix and deferred maintenance
An inspection or a resident complaint surfaces a problem, a cracked roof shingle, a loose handrail, a leaking valve. Finding the problem is only half the job. The work order is what turns "we found something" into a repair with a name, a date, and someone accountable for finishing it. Skip the write-up and the finding just sits there, which is exactly what APPA defines as deferred maintenance.
"Preventive, predictive, or corrective maintenance that assets and systems should have undergone but have not yet done so."
Source: Deferred Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, APPA
APPA states that deferred capital renewal can lead to "possible fiscal instability," "loss of facility use," and "hampering program activities," on top of the safety and moisture problems a delayed repair can cause. A work order is the mechanism that keeps a found problem from drifting into that category. See Deferred maintenance for what happens once something does slip through.
One task, one work order, then it belongs in the log
A work order's job ends once a task is authorized, scheduled, and confirmed complete. What happens to that record afterward is a separate step: the completed repair gets entered into the association's maintenance log, the cumulative record of everything that has actually been done. That is a different tool from a reserve study. A reserve study's condition assessment periodically re-rates what remains of a component's useful life; it does not track individual repair tasks, and it is re-run on its own cycle, not every time a work order closes. Don't expect one system to do the other's job.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Spring inspection turns up a cracked roof shingle and loose flashing. What should happen next?
A damaged fence post has just been repaired. What should the board do with the now-finished work order?
A board member says, "We don't need a work order, I already told the landscaper what to do." What's the problem with that?
Sources
- Deferred Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, APPA
- National Reserve Study Standards, explained, Association Reserves
- Regular Roof Inspections: NRCA Recommendations, Priority Roofing and Restoration
Maintenance Fundamentals
Next, see how a completed work order becomes part of your maintenance log, the record you'll want in hand before your next reserve study.
Who can approve a repair, up to what dollar amount, and what documentation your insurer or lender may require for a completed work order vary by association and by state law governing board authority.