Equipment Categories, Items, and Reporting

Note: Click on the images to enlarge them.

Setting Up Equipment at Your Building (For First-Time Equipment Users!)

Using the Equipment Module does require some initial setup, but once you have everything set up correctly, it can be a straightforward way to manage your building’s Equipment. To set up the Equipment Module, follow these steps:

1. Create Equipment Categories 

2. Create Equipment Items (housed within your Equipment Categories) 

Creating/Editing Equipment Categories

Before you can track Equipment Items, you must create equipment categories. In other words, if you are using the Equipment Module for the first time, you need to create at least one category before you can begin adding your items. add

To create a new equipment category, click on the Maintenance Tab, select Equipment, then select the middle tab Equipment Categories. 

Then select Add New Category. 

Simply name your category (i.e., “Boilers” or “HVAC Units”) and save your category. 

Editing the Name of an Existing Category

If you need to edit the name of an existing category, you may click on the category name rather than the Add New Category button. This will bring you to a form where you can update the text in the “Category Name” field.

Adding/Editing Equipment Items

On the Maintenance Tab, select Equipment, then click the Create New Item button in the Equipment Items Tab. 

Required Fields

The only fields you are required to fill out are the item’s name, an abbreviated name, and an appropriate category.

Example: You might create an item called “West Elevator” and place it in the “Elevator” category. 

Optional Fields

Many other fields are available for data input. The more data you provide on each Equipment Item, the more robust Equipment reporting will be. 

Attaching Documents and Photos

You can attach documents or photos to each piece of Equipment under Attachments and Photos. Documents like manuals, receipts, and schematics are commonly uploaded to Equipment Items. Photos of the item may also be prudent to upload. 

Editing Equipment Items

If you need to edit an existing Equipment Item, click Maintenance, Equipment, then Equipment Items, and use the search panel to find the item you wish to edit by name; you may select an appropriate category to help refine your search. Click Search to display your results onscreen. 

After your results appear onscreen, click the Edit button on the line of the item you are looking for and edit. You will be returned to the View/Edit Equipment Item window, where you can make and save changes. 

Linking Equipment Items to Maintenance Requests

When inputting or editing a maintenance request, building management and staff can specify which Equipment Item the request pertains to. 

Search Maintenance Requests by Equipment

You can also search maintenance requests by Equipment Item to see maintenance issues pertaining to specific pieces of building equipment. When using Search Requests under the Maintenance Tab, you and find the Equipment filter under the advanced search options. 

Viewing Equipment Reports

Using the Equipment Module, you’ll be able to run three types of equipment-related reports. You can access two of these reports, the Equipment Detail Report and the Equipment Replacement Report, by going to the Maintenance Tab, selecting Equipment, and navigating to the Equipment Reports Tab. 

The Equipment Detail Report allows you to print out all information you have stored for your Equipment Items, either for all items in all categories or for all items belonging to a category of your choice. Other report detail options are available to customize your report further. Once you have made your selections, click Search or Output to Excel to display or export your report.

Clicking Search will bring the report up in a new tab or window while clicking Output to Excel will trigger a .xls download to your local device or computer. 

The Equipment Replacement Report - Projected Costs by Year 

The report will calculate equipment replacement dates for you and let you know how much you can expect your total equipment replacements to cost within the date range you select. 

Note: To use this report, you must input, when adding each Equipment Item, its installation date, useful life, and replacement cost.

Once you set your search parameters, click Search to display the report on the screen where you can export the information to Excel. 

The final equipment-related report is found in the Maintenance Tab by selecting Maint Reports and then clicking on Summary Report - Maintenance Requests by Equipment Item. Here, you can specify any date range and other criteria. Your search will reveal how many maintenance requests have been linked to each of your Equipment Items during that time frame. This report is useful in helping you determine whether a piece of Equipment is faulty or may need replacement (by way of increased frequency or number of maintenance requests).

Keep in mind that this report is interactive and allows you to see a list of maintenance requests equating to that number by clicking on any bolded numbers in the columns on the right. This will allow you to see all of the details about the specific requests listed rather than the summary view.