> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nyumbazetu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Service requests

> Take a maintenance issue from report to resolution — logging, triage, assignment, cost and closure.

**Operations → Service Requests → `/service-requests`**

A service request is a piece of work to be done on a unit or a property: a leak, a broken lock, a
lift fault, a scheduled repair. It is the operational counterpart to the financial modules — the
record of what was wrong, who fixed it, when, and what it cost.

## How requests arrive

| Route                   | Notes                                                                                                    |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Tenant portal**       | Residents raise their own requests, which land in your list. See [Tenant portal](/guides/tenant-portal). |
| **Staff logging**       | Someone reports it by phone or in person and staff log it.                                               |
| **Planned maintenance** | Scheduled work raised against an [asset](/guides/assets).                                                |
| **Inspection findings** | Issues found during a visit or [assessment](/guides/assessments).                                        |

## Logging a request

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add the request">
    **Service Requests → Add.**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Identify the location">
    The unit or block. Attribution matters — it decides whose cost this is and whether it is
    recoverable from a tenant or an owner.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Identify the reporter">
    The tenant or staff member who reported it, so follow-up has an addressee.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Describe the problem">
    Write what was observed, not what you assume the cause is. "Water on the kitchen floor" ages
    better than "burst pipe".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set category and priority">
    Category routes the work; priority sets the expectation. Be honest about priority — if
    everything is urgent, nothing is.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attach evidence">
    Photos at the point of reporting settle most later disputes about scope and condition.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    The request enters the queue for triage and assignment.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Triage and assignment

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm it is real and correctly located">
    A request against the wrong unit sends a contractor to the wrong door.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide who does it">
    In-house staff, or a [vendor](/guides/vendors). Assign it explicitly — an unassigned request is
    an unowned request.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the due date">
    Against your service-level commitment for that priority.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tell the reporter">
    A tenant who knows the job is assigned stops calling. See
    [Communications](/guides/communications).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Working a request

Status moves through the lifecycle as work progresses — typically **open → in progress →
completed**, with the request's history recording each transition.

Along the way, record:

* **Notes** — what was found, what was done.
* **Costs** — parts and labour, so the true cost of a unit is visible.
* **Vendor** — who attended.
* **Attachments** — before and after photos, invoices, sign-offs.

## Cost and recovery

A service request that costs money should end in an [expense](/guides/expenses) attributed to the
right unit or block. That attribution is what lets the cost:

* appear in the property's cost reporting;
* flow into the [owner's statement](/guides/owner-statements) where the owner bears it;
* be recharged to a tenant where the lease makes them liable, as an invoice line.

<Warning>
  An expense recorded without unit or block attribution never reaches an owner statement. The cost
  silently stays with you — the single most common leak in managed-property economics.
</Warning>

## Scheduling and planned maintenance

Recurring work — servicing, inspections, statutory checks — is driven from the
[asset](/guides/assets) maintenance schedule and from [scheduled tasks](/guides/scheduled-tasks),
rather than from someone remembering. Planned work raised this way arrives in the same queue as
reactive requests, so one list shows everything outstanding.

## Views and reporting

The list supports grid and kanban views — kanban by status is the natural shape for a work queue.

**Service request reports** (`/reports/service-request-reports`) answer:

* What is outstanding, by age and priority?
* Which units generate the most work?
* Which categories dominate — and is that a maintenance problem or a specification problem?
* How long are we taking, against our commitments?

## Closing a request

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm the work is actually done">
    Photos, a sign-off, or a tenant confirmation — not just the contractor's word.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Record the cost">
    Close the financial loop while the detail is fresh.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tell the reporter">
    Closure without notification generates a duplicate request within a week.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Close">
    Set the final status with a resolution note.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Common problems

| Symptom                                   | Cause                                                                                   |
| ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Requests sitting untouched                | Nobody assigned. Filter for unassigned and fix the triage habit.                        |
| The same fault reported repeatedly        | Closed without being fixed, or a symptom of an asset problem the register should carry. |
| Costs not appearing in property reporting | Expense not attributed to unit or block.                                                |
| Tenants say nobody told them anything     | No communication at assignment or closure.                                              |