New Maintenance Request

Maintenance Request Settings

Most buildings are set up so that both residents and staff can submit maintenance requests through BuildingLink. The Maintenance module can also be set to "Internal Only," which prohibits residents from submitting maintenance requests online. If you would like to turn the "Internal Only" option on or off (or turn the entire Maintenance module on or off) please contact BuildingLink Support.

For all other Maintenance settings and notification options, click on the Settings tab and select General Building Set-Up Options. (You must have a Management-level BuildingLink authority or higher to change any of these settings.)

Within the General Building Set-Up Options screen, scroll down to section (13) Maintenance Request to view all additional settings. See options below:

To set up or change maintenance notifications, go to General Building Set-Up Options in the Settings tab and scroll down to section (14) Maintenance Request Options (Notifications). The first option will allow you to select the events that should trigger a notification email to building management. Once you've selected which notifications you'd like to receive, input the address or addresses of the person(s) who should receive those notification emails. You can then select the events that should trigger a notification email to your residents; at the very least, we recommend automatically notifying the resident when a request has been opened or closed. If you'd like to be able to easily communicate with your residents about specific maintenance requests, it's also a good idea to notify your residents "When Building Staff posts an Action/Comment." 

No non-board member resident will ever receive an email notification  for another resident’s unit or be able to view maintenance requests for a unit other than their own.

If you would like Board Members to be able to view all maintenance request for all units, view our Board Options Help Topic.

To allow employees to be assigned to maintenance requests, go to the Manage tab and select Employees. Click on Employee List at the top of the screen to view all employees. There will be a blue Edit button to the right of each employee, which you can click to change any employee settings.

Within the "Edit Employee" page, make sure to select "Yes" next to "Allow Maintenance Requests To Be Assigned To This Employee?".

If you would like to email a work request to an employee once it is assigned to him or her, be sure to add the appropriate email address in the email field for that employee. Then click Save All Changes.  

To customize your Maintenance Categories, view our Maintenance Categories Help Topic.

Entering a new Maintenance Request

To enter a new maintenance request, click on the Maintenance tab and select New Request. You'll be taken to  a screen where you can fill out all relevant details. At a minimum, enter the Unit #, Problem Description, and Maintenance Category and select whether the Maintenance person has permission to enter the apartment to fix the issue. Under the "Permission to Enter" section, there is also a field for "Entry Instructions," where you can input instructions like "Come after 2 pm," "Please call first," or "Watch out for the dog." 

If the maintenance request is for a common area (a building-wide issue), select Mgmt Unit to populate the "Unit #" field.

If you wish to perform a Move Out inspection or repair for a unit but do not want the resident in that unit to be able to view the request or receive any notifications, you can check the box next to "Make Private." 

To Assign an Employee to a specific maintenance request, that employee must appear on the dropdown menu under "Assigned Employee." To control which employees appear on this menu, please see Section 1 above, which details how to allow employees to be assigned to maintenance requests. Once you've chosen an employee from the drop-down menu, you'll see the ability to "Email request to employee" if that particular employee has an email address saved to his or her profile. 

If you’d like to use Assigned Vendor/Contractor or Equipment field please see the Equipment and/or Vendors Directory help topics.

Please note that the fields you fill out on this form will vary, depending on how your building is using the Maintenance module. Once you've filled out the appropriate fields, check the box next to “Print Work Order” if you’d like to print the maintenance request right away. You will also be able to print the request after saving.

To add a photo/document to a Maintenance Request, click on the blue header for "Attachments and Photos". Then, select the "Add Photo" or the "Upload Document" button. 

On the Upload Photo/Document screen, select the correct photo or document from the files saved to your computer. If your photo or document exceeds the size limitations within BuildingLink, please view our tips on shrinking/compressing documents and photos. 

Then, add a caption to describe the image or document and choose a Photo or Document Type. The Photo Type allows you to indicate if the photo was taken before, during, or after the repair. When finished, make sure to click Save. 

Entering Multiple Maintenance Requests

If you have multiple maintenance requests that need to be added in one sitting, use the Save and add another Request button to quickly save one request and start entering another. If you are entering the same request across multiple units, see our Replicate help topic.

More Information on Maintenance Requests

Be sure to check out our help topics on how to change the status of a work request (close it out or put it on hold), how to add comments and charges, how to maintain an Inventory or Equipment database, how to schedule Recurring Tasks (preventative maintenance), and how to run Maintenance Reports.

Staff can also access the Maintenance module through our Geo app.