An essential component of property management services for community associations is maintaining their common areas through routine maintenance, minor and major repairs, and capital improvements. The challenge lies in tracking all this work, including work locations, approved amounts, the RFP process, vendor selection, estimated costs, and job status. To address this challenge, the CiraNet Management/Board Portal offers the Maintenance Work Order module to effectively track and manage all maintenance jobs, from bidding to completion. This Process and Service Description provides a detailed look at how this helpful tool can manage the vendor engagement process.

Table of Contents

• Maintenance Work Order Overview
• Use Cases
• Accessing the Maintenance Work Orders Interface
• Maintenance Work Order Access
• Starting a New Maintenance Work Order
• Job Details Tab
• Manage Proposals
• Manage Work Authorizations
• Linking Maintenance Work Orders to AAP Workflows
• Linking Maintenance Work Orders to Project/Tasks

Maintenance Work Order Overview

All open community association business action items should be detailed in either a Project/Task, a Maintenance Work Order, or both to ensure that expectations are communicated between the board and management. Work Orders are useful internal management tools for ensuring that employees provide the service expected by the board. A work order typically progresses as shown below:

Users can manage projects using Projects/ Tasks and launch or link multiple Maintenance Work Orders. However, while board members can create Projects/ Tasks, only internal users can create and manage work orders.

Use Cases

Maintenance Work Orders assist CAMs in managing community associations' maintenance in several ways, from the RFP process to awarding the tasks and validating that invoicing aligns with the approved parameters and costs by linking the work order to the workflow. Here are a few examples of utilizing this flexible and robust tool.

Maintenance Work Orders serve as electronic purchase orders to track orders, monitor spending to align with the board's authorization for any project, and act as an agreement between the community association and vendor through Work Authorizations, particularly when work does not require a formal contract. Traditionally, purchase orders assist managers in tracking costs to ensure the invoice matches the authorized scope and cost by coupling the purchase order to the invoice and submitting it. We support this process electronically by enabling you to link the work order to the workflow. We will examine how to do this in the section below.

For communities where part of the service involves providing maintenance for units, such as condominiums, tracking maintenance performed by lot/unit can assist with billing, monitoring, and assessing work done in each unit. For example, meticulously tracking maintenance in a unit can help identify if there are recurring leaks or electrical problems in specific units or buildings. It can also inform your owners about the requested work status since they can view Work Orders on the Resident Portal. Consistently using Maintenance Work Orders when owners report maintenance issues allows them to check the status of their requests, reducing the need to contact the office for updates. You can also attach documents for their access, such as bills for any time and materials if applicable. It is essential to keep up with work order statuses and complete them promptly when the work is finished.

Use a combination of a Project/Task and multiple Maintenance Work Orders to help manage a larger project. Create a Project/Task for the overall topic, such as work to open a pool for the season or upgrades to park equipment, and then link all Maintenance Work Orders that pertain to the project to it. This allows all parties, including board members, to keep apprised of the work progressing and the vendors involved.

Accessing the Maintenance Work Orders Interface

The Maintenance Work Order module is nested in the My Work Queue node under Community Management and can be accessed in both portfolio and community views. The work orders are housed in one of two tabs: Open Work Orders, the default view, or Closed Work Orders. Both lists are presented in a grid format. Internal users can manage work orders, including opening, editing, and closing/completing them. In contrast, executive users (board, committee, and constituent users) can merely view them, provided they have been granted that access.

The Open Work Orders tab provides the status of each work order, which can be listed as an Initial Request, Approved, Out to Bid, In Progress, or On Hold.

Some of the key data elements found in the grid and work order form are defined below:

The user can do the following in this interface:

1. Click on the File Name to download/view the document.
2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove any document (note that a user can only remove documents that they added).
3. Click on any of the Attach buttons to attach a new document. The user can upload multiple file types (e.g. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Adobe - pdf, picture - jpg, etc.).

This feature can be used to attach addition information such as pictures and executed proposals.

Overall Job Description

Maintenance Work Order Access

Maintenance Work Orders can be accessed from the following locations in the CiraNet application:

• CiraMail. From the Actions menu, navigate to the Start option, then choose Create Work Order.
• Invoice Approval Screen. Click on the Work Orders icon to access existing Work Orders or create a new one.
• Maintenance Work Orders Module. On the main page, click the Add New Work Order button at the top right corner of either the portfolio or community view.
• Projects/Tasks. From the Action button, choose Create Work Order.
• Property View. From the Account node, select Work Orders and click on the option to Add New Work Order, which is located on the top right-hand side of the page.
• Vendor Management Module. Users can create a Work Order from a vendor line item by clicking Action and selecting Generate New Work Order.

Starting a New Maintenance Work Order

No matter where you are when launching the new work order, follow these steps once the pop-up form opens:

Fields denoted with a red asterisk (*) are mandatory.

1. Community. This field is pre-filled if the Work Order is opened from a community, property, or attributed CiraMail view, but in a portfolio view, you will need to select the community from a menu.
2. Work Order #. The system will automatically assign this once the work order is saved.
3. Created by. This will be automatically assigned to you.
4. Date Created. The system also automatically assigns this.
5. Status. The status will be Initial Request by default, but users can select a different status from a drop-down menu to best suit their situation.
6. Responsible. A single individual must be appointed as the responsible party for the work order. This does not necessarily mean they will do the work, but they oversee ensuring it is done. The creator is assigned by default, but this can be changed to other team members. However, an outside vendor is not assigned here.
7. Priority. The system will initially default to Normal priority, but like the other fields, it can be changed from a drop-down menu. Refer to the definitions above for more details on the intended meanings of the different status selections.
8. Due Date. The user selects the date by which the job should be completed. A best practice is to set it far enough out to be practical.
9. Job Type. Select this from a drop-down menu that fits the situation best.
10. Authorization Amount. If the board has determined an amount that this job can or should cost, it can be noted here.
11. Reference Type: This required field will dictate the options available in the following field. Users can choose from: a. Property. Which will enable the list of lots/units in the community. b. Commercial Lot. If available in the community, this option is available to select from. The following selection will enable the list of commercial tracts in the database. c. Common Area: This also depends on the presence of common area lots; selecting this option will display the list of common lots in the following field. d. Amenity. This is wholly dependent upon the amenities entered in the Amenity and Access Control module, but once they are, this selection enables those entries to be selected. e. Other. If none of the other options apply, the user can choose Other and provide clarification in the free-form selection below.
12. Reference. As mentioned above, this field will depend on the Reference Type selected. To select the correct address/lot/amenity, click on the ellipsis to open the list available.
13. Location and Contact Special Instructions. This free-form field will guide a vendor or maintenance team on where and how to access the required repair area and any special instructions you need them to follow, such as calling you once they arrive. This will be printed in a Work Authorization.
14. Manage Proposals and Manage Work Authorization. These options are not initially accessible. The initial form must be completed and saved before they are enabled.
15. Save, Save & Close and Close. Select Save to finish this form and proceed to the Job Details or create a proposal or Work Authorization. You can save and close the form if you don't need to provide those additional details. Choosing Close exits the form without saving any of your work.

Job Details Tab

This tab can help the vendor understand more details about the job. The data will be reflected on a Work Authorization Form and can be used for more refined cost control.

The Work Order Line Items Description field is fillable, but the Service Code column is selected from a drop-down menu. The Amount field is not mandatory but is fillable. If you use it, the line item amounts will be automatically added.

Manage Proposals

Maintenance Work Orders allow managers to manage the bidding process by issuing RFPs and organizing responses through a simple interface.

Before we step you through generating the RFP, it is important to note that the information that will populate that form with the information the author of the work order added to the Job Info and Job Detail tabs (see above for instructions).

1. Add Vendor for Proposal. Clicking here allows you to select the vendors you will invite to bid. The pop-up that opens allows three selections: a. Community. This is the list of all active vendors for the community. b. All. This is a list of all the company's active vendors. c. Temporary. Checking this radio button lists any ad hoc vendors you have added before or allows you to create a new one. This does not add the vendor to the system; it is merely a list in this module to invite them to bid on the job.
2. Action. This allows you to Edit the entry, Remove them from the list, Regenerate that vendor's RFP, or Accept their bid. As vendors return their bids, select Edit to open a small pop-up where you can enter the bid amount and upload your proposal (which can also be attached via the paperclip icon).
3. Email. Clicking on the Email icon opens a CiraMail email composer with the latest version of the RFP attached. If the vendor has an email contact entered in the Vendor Management module at the community level, it will populate there automatically.
4. Accepted Work Order Vendor Info. If you select Accept from the Action menu, the winning vendor's name and their estimate will populate this section, and you will be ready to issue the Work Authorization.

Suppose you need to update the RFP specifications at any point. In that case, you can click the Regenerate Proposal Requests button to update them for all listed vendors and replace the previous version in the RFP column. However, this does not automatically notify the vendors, so ensure they are aware of any updates.

Manage Work Authorizations

Whether you send the job out for bids or not, you can create a Work Authorization document to issue to the vendor. This document will help set the job parameters and provide the vendor with contact information. The illustration below has the vendor pre-selected since it went through a bid process. However, if bidding out the job is unnecessary, you can go straight to the action of Manage Work Authorization and select the vendor directly from that pane.

In either scenario, as with the RFP, the data is pulled from the information entered in the Job Info and Job Details tabs. To create a PDF of the Work Authorization, click the New Work Authorization button on the left and select from the resulting options. If you choose Upload, you can either upload a document from your local drive or select a community document if you need to use a document different from the one produced by the interface. Note that you can click on the Email Latest Work Authorization at any time after you generate or upload a document to open a CiraMail email composer with the document attached to send to the vendor.

Any Work Authorizations generated will populate the grid below.

Linking Maintenance Work Orders to AAP Workflows

Maintenance Work Orders serve multiple purposes to help you and your boards manage your purchases and vendor engagements. As such, you can link them to AAP Workflows, either from the workflow itself or from a Maintenance Work Order.

Users can click on the Work Orders icon at the top of the form from the AAP Workflow. This opens a two-tab form listing the open and closed work orders linked to that vendor. If they do not see the right one, they can use the window to add a new one.

From the Maintenance Work Orders module, click Action for the work order that applies to a pending AAP Workflow and select Manage Invoice References. This will open a pop-up window listing any open and closed invoices that match that vendor.

The caveat is that the system will match the vendor's name to allow them to be linked if they are the same. Therefore, if a job was awarded to a vendor initially entered as a Temporary vendor, make sure it has been updated to the vendor as entered into Vendor Management. Subtle differences in how the name is styled (e.g., "Black and Gold is Awesome, Inc." vs "Black & Gold LLC") can prevent a match.

Linking Maintenance Work Orders to Project/Tasks

Users can also link one or more Maintenance Work Orders to Project Tasks. From the Project/Task Action button, users have these options:

• Create Work Order. If, as one example, a board member opens a task that will require maintenance work to resolve, CAMs can create the Maintenance Work Order directly from the Project Task.
• View/Edit Work Orders. This option lets users open any previously linked work orders

(they can also access them from the grid).

• Manage Work Order References. This option allows an internal user to link an existing work order to the Project/Task.