A maintenance request form for property managers that becomes a work order
A maintenance request that says “the sink is broken” usually needs a phone call before anyone can be sent. A request form that asks where, what, how bad and when someone can get in turns it straight into a work order for the right trade.
What should property managers ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which property and unit is it? | With more than one building, a request without a unit is a phone call. |
| What kind of problem is it: plumbing, electrical, heating or cooling, an appliance, a lock or door, or something else? | The category decides which trade or vendor gets the work order. |
| Where in the unit is it? | The kitchen sink and the bathroom sink can be different jobs. |
| Is it causing damage right now, such as water spreading, no heat, or a door that will not lock? | It separates an emergency call-out from the next routine visit. |
| Can maintenance enter if nobody is home, and are there pets to know about? | Access is a common reason a first visit is wasted. |
| Can you add a photo or describe exactly what you see? | A photo often tells the tech which part to bring. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
Tell tenants on the form what to do in a real emergency, such as a gas smell, a fire or a flood, and give the number to call. A form is not where an emergency should wait.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “The sink is broken.” | Is it leaking, blocked, or is the faucet not working, and is it the kitchen or a bathroom? |
| “It’s urgent.” | Is water spreading, is something unsafe, or are you without heat, water or a working lock right now? |
| “Anytime is fine.” | Is it all right for maintenance to come in when you are not home? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
Emergencies are still phone calls, and some tenants will always prefer one. The written request is for everything else, which is most of what comes in. It arrives with the unit, the trade, the urgency and the access already settled, so the coordinator dispatches instead of calling back to ask.
How do you set this up from the Support ticket triage template?
Acquainto has a Support ticket triage template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Support ticket triage, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
The template asks for a short description, the type of issue (a bug or error, a billing question, a feature request or something else) and how urgent it is, and branches on type. For maintenance, ask the property and unit first, replace the types with your trades, keep the urgency question and word its choices around damage and safety, and add the location, access and photo questions to every branch.
To see it from the other side, answer a demo built from the questions on this page. It is a demo: your answers come to Acquainto, not to a business, so leave out real names and contact details.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.