Work Order Intake & Triage
Where requests live
All maintenance requests live in AppFolio — created by the tenant via the portal where possible, or by the PM if the request comes in by phone, email, or text. Include photos wherever possible (tenant-uploaded or PM-added) to clarify the issue and support triage and approvals.
Preventive & recurring maintenance
Enter recurring maintenance as recurring work orders in AppFolio — not one-time requests — so they generate automatically on schedule.
Examples: monthly landscaping, quarterly HVAC inspections, annual fire-extinguisher checks, seasonal gutter cleaning. This prevents oversights and maintains compliance documentation.
Acknowledge every request
Acknowledge within 2 hours during business hours (aim for same-day if after-hours). Send a quick, clear message via the AppFolio portal, text, or email that confirms receipt, gives next steps and a realistic timeline, and reassures the tenant.
Hi [Tenant Name], we've received your request for [issue] at [Unit/Address] — thank you for the
photos! We're reviewing it now and will update you with next steps and a timeline by [specific time,
e.g., EOD tomorrow]. Appreciate your patience!
Triage & decision-making
Classify every incoming issue with the Triage & Severity Framework (Critical / Urgent / Standard / Low) to set the response window and where it's logged. Then determine scope using good judgment:
- Prioritize tenant safety, habitability, and owner interests (e.g., don't let a small fix turn into a big claim).
- Check the internal pricing sheet for the fix:
- If it's covered and pricing is in range → proceed with the existing/preferred vendor.
- If it's not covered, out of scope, or pricing exceeds the range → obtain bids via the 1-3-1 process.
For anything ambiguous, recurring, or higher-cost, run the Decision-Making Framework — investigate the root cause before dispatching.