How to create a work order

A work order turns "the pump is making a noise" into a tracked job with an owner, a deadline, and a cost.

When to use this

Create a work order when work needs doing and you want it tracked — a reported fault, a scheduled service you are doing manually, or a formal inspection.

You do not need to create one for:

• Work that already happened. Record a service record instead.
• Overdue preventive maintenance. A PM rule raises that work order for you.
• A failed checklist item. That raises a corrective work order automatically.

Requirements

• Available on: Orbit, Odyssey, Cosmos
• Roles: Owner, Admin, Manager

Employees can work on orders assigned to them but cannot raise new ones.

Steps

1. Go to Dashboard → Work Orders.
2. Click New Work Order.
3. Complete the form:

1. Click Create.

Tip You can also raise a work order straight from an asset. Open the asset and use the work order action there — the asset is filled in for you.

What happens next

• The work order is created with status Open and appears at Dashboard → Work Orders.
• Assigning it notifies the assignee.
• On Odyssey and above, assignment starts the SLA clock — the deadline is computed from the priority's response hours and the asset's criticality.
• When the order is closed, UniAsset writes a service record against the asset, carrying the cost into your reports.

Choosing a priority

Planned requires a scheduled date — that date is its deadline.

For the other three, priority matters most on Odyssey and above, where it drives the SLA deadline. Below that it still orders your queue and appears on every list, but no deadline is computed.

Common mistakes

Making everything Emergency. If everything is an emergency, nothing is. Reserve it for safety risk or a stopped operation.

One work order for five assets. A work order belongs to one asset. Five failing machines are five work orders — otherwise the cost lands on one asset and the other four look maintenance-free.

Putting the diagnosis in the title. Titles are read in lists. "Replace drive belt" is a good title; a paragraph is not.

Using a work order as a to-do list for non-asset work. UniAsset tracks work on assets. General facility jobs unrelated to a tracked asset do not belong here.

Troubleshooting

Work Orders is locked in the sidebar. Work orders need Orbit or above. See Plans and capabilities.

There is no New Work Order button. Creating work orders needs Manager or above.

The asset I want isn't in the dropdown. Archived and disposed assets cannot take new work orders. Check the asset is still active.

I can't set a due date directly. For Planned work orders, set the Scheduled Date. For the other priorities, the deadline is derived from your SLA configuration on Odyssey and above — see Work order settings.

"Your subscription has expired." An expired subscription blocks creating new records. Existing work orders stay fully readable. Renew at Settings → Billing.

Related articles

• Understanding work orders
• Work order lifecycle
• Assigning work orders
• Corrective maintenance
• SLA deadlines and escalation
• Work order settings