How preventive maintenance work orders are raised automatically
You do not create preventive work orders by hand. An overdue PM rule raises one for you.
Requirements
- Available on: Orbit, Odyssey, Cosmos
- Roles: Owner, Admin, Manager to set up the rule; the assignee does the work
How it works
PM rule ──► next due computed ──► warning window ──► overdue ──► work order raised
- The rule computes its next due date from the last completed maintenance.
- Inside the warning window you get a due-soon notification. No work order yet.
- When the due date passes, the rule is overdue.
- An overdue rule raises a preventive work order automatically.
- Completing and closing that work order writes a service record, which resets the rule's next due date.
Important The work order appears when the rule goes overdue, not when it enters the warning window. The warning is your chance to act before that happens.
What the automatic work order contains
- Type: Preventive
- The asset the rule applies to — for a category rule, the specific asset that fell due
- A link back to the PM rule that raised it
- The rule's checklist template, if one is configured, ready to be completed
It arrives unassigned, in Open. Someone still needs to assign it.
Completing the cycle
- Assign the work order.
- Do the work, completing the checklist if one is attached.
- Complete the order with resolution notes and actual time.
- Close it. This is the step that writes the service record and resets the schedule.
If you stop at Completed, the schedule does not reset and the rule stays overdue.
Category rules
A rule attached to a category governs every asset in it, including assets added later. Each asset that falls due gets its own work order — you are not left with one order covering forty pumps.
Common mistakes
Waiting for the work order before acting. By the time it exists, the maintenance is already late. Act on the warning.
Closing the work order without doing the work. The schedule resets and the asset now looks serviced.
Attaching a checklist template and never completing it. The checklist is where a failed item raises a corrective work order automatically — skipping it removes that safety net.
Deleting the PM rule to stop the alerts. Rules are archived, not deleted. Archive the rule if the schedule no longer applies; the history stays.
Troubleshooting
No work order appeared even though the rule is overdue. Preventive maintenance needs Orbit or above. Confirm your plan at Settings → Plan & Usage.
Two work orders exist for the same service. Check whether someone also raised one manually. The automatic one links back to the PM rule; a manual one does not.
The schedule didn't reset. The order must be Closed, not just Completed.
The checklist isn't on the work order. The template has to be set on the PM rule itself. Adding a template afterwards affects future occurrences, not one already raised.
The rule is overdue for an archived asset. Archived assets leave alert evaluation. If it is still alerting, the asset is probably still active.
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