The work order lifecycle in UniAsset is the sequence of statuses a work order moves through from the moment it is created to the moment it is permanently closed — with every transition timestamped and attributed to the person who made it.
The eight statuses explained
1. Open
What it means: The work order has been created but not yet assigned to a technician.
What triggers it: A manager creates the work order. This is the starting status for all new work orders.
What happens next: A manager assigns the work order to a technician. Status moves to Assigned.
2. Assigned
What it means: A technician has been assigned to the work order but has not started work yet.
What triggers it: A manager selects a technician from the work order detail page. The technician receives an in-app notification immediately.
What happens next: The technician begins work. Status moves to In Progress.
3. In Progress
What it means: The assigned technician is actively working on the task.
What triggers it: The technician updates the status from Assigned to In Progress when they begin the work.
What happens next: Work is completed and the technician submits for review (moves to Awaiting Approval), or work is blocked and the technician places it On Hold.
4. On Hold
What it means: Work has been paused — typically because parts are unavailable, access to the asset is restricted, or a third-party vendor is required.
What triggers it: The technician or manager changes status to On Hold and adds a reason (visible in notes).
What happens next: Once the blocker is resolved, the technician resumes and moves status back to In Progress.
5. Awaiting Approval
What it means: The technician has completed the work and submitted it for manager review before the work order can be closed.
What triggers it: The technician marks the work as done. Status moves to Awaiting Approval automatically.
What happens next: A manager reviews the work order — logged time, materials, photos, notes — and either approves (moves to Completed) or requests further action (moves back to In Progress).
6. Completed
What it means: A manager has reviewed and approved the work. The work order is considered done but not yet administratively closed.
What triggers it: A manager approves the work order from the Awaiting Approval state.
What happens next: The manager closes the work order. Status moves to Closed. Costs are locked at this point.
7. Closed
What it means: The work order is fully closed. No further edits are permitted.
What triggers it: A manager closes the Completed work order.
What happens next: UniAsset automatically creates an AssetMaintenance record on the linked asset. The labour cost, material cost, and total cost logged on the work order are transferred to that record and added to the asset's total maintenance spend. See What happens when a work order is closed below.
8. Reopened
What it means: A previously closed work order has been reopened because the issue has recurred or the resolution was inadequate. This is a terminal status on the original work order.
What triggers it: A manager selects Reopen on a Closed work order. UniAsset creates a new child work order linked to the original.
What happens next: The original work order stays in Reopened status permanently — it is preserved as part of the asset's repair history. The new child work order follows the normal lifecycle from Open.
Valid status transitions
| From | To | Who can trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Assigned | Manager |
| Assigned | In Progress | Technician (assigned) |
| Assigned | Open | Manager (reassignment) |
| In Progress | On Hold | Technician or Manager |
| In Progress | Awaiting Approval | Technician |
| On Hold | In Progress | Technician or Manager |
| Awaiting Approval | Completed | Manager |
| Awaiting Approval | In Progress | Manager (sends back for further work) |
| Completed | Closed | Manager |
| Closed | Reopened | Manager (triggers child work order creation) |
Employees (technicians) can only move status on work orders assigned to them, and only within the transitions available to their role.
What happens when a work order is closed
Closing a work order does more than mark it done. UniAsset automatically:
- Creates an AssetMaintenance record on the linked asset. This record captures the date, type, description, technician, labour cost, material cost, and total cost from the work order.
- Adds the cost to the asset's maintenance total. The asset's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) card updates immediately — purchase cost + all accumulated maintenance costs including this work order.
- Logs the event in the asset's maintenance history. The closed work order is visible in the asset's maintenance tab as a completed service entry.
- Resets the PM due date (for PM work orders only). If the work order was generated by a PM rule, the asset's last-serviced date updates and the next PM due date recalculates automatically.
For more on maintenance cost tracking and TCO, see Maintenance cost tracking.
Reopening a work order
When a resolved issue recurs — the same fault reappears, or the repair proved inadequate — use the Reopen action rather than creating a new unrelated work order.
What happens:
- The original closed work order is set to the Reopened terminal status.
- UniAsset creates a new child work order linked to the original. The child work order is pre-populated with the same asset and work order type.
- The link between parent and child is visible on both work orders, making the repeat-failure pattern clearly traceable.
Why this matters: Assets that generate a chain of reopened work orders accumulate a visible repair history. When the total maintenance cost on an asset is high and the repair chain is long, the data supports a replace-vs-repair decision. See Replace vs. repair decision.
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