A work order is a documented request that authorises and tracks a specific maintenance or repair task, including who does it, on what asset, and by when.
A work order is a documented request that authorises and tracks a specific maintenance or repair task: what needs doing, on which asset, by whom, with what parts, and by when. It turns “someone should look at that” into an assigned, dated, traceable job - and once closed, it becomes a permanent entry in the asset’s maintenance history.
What a work order includes
The fields are stable across industries, whether the form is paper or software:
- The asset - which machine, with its ID, so the record lands on the right history.
- The task - what is wrong, or what is to be done, in enough detail to act on.
- Priority - is the job blocking work today or routine for next month.
- Assignee - the technician, team, or external repairer responsible.
- Due date - when the asset is needed back, which drives scheduling.
- Parts and costs - materials used, labour hours, invoices for outside work.
- Completion notes - what was actually found and done, signed off and dated.
The first and last items are the ones most often skipped, and the ones that matter most: a work order with no asset link and no closing notes is a job that happened, but history that did not.
From request to completion
A work order’s lifecycle is short but specific. Someone notices a problem and reports it - often as a service ticket - and the request is triaged: is it urgent, is it worth doing, who should do it. Approved, it is assigned and scheduled; in progress, it may pause as “awaiting parts”; completed, it is closed with notes on what was found, what was replaced, and what it cost. One easy win during triage: check the asset’s warranty status before anyone touches it, because a repair the supplier should pay for is the cheapest repair there is.
Timing context matters too. A snow plough work order raised in September is routine; the identical fault discovered in the first storm of November is an emergency. Seasonal kit earns its pre-season inspection orders.
Work order vs purchase order
The names get confused because both are numbered authorisations. A work order authorises work and tracks it to completion. A purchase order authorises buying and tracks goods to delivery. They meet when a repair needs parts: the work order for “replace hydraulic hoses” may sit awaiting parts until the purchase order for the hoses is received. Keeping the two linked - this PO bought parts for that job, on that machine - is what makes repair costs traceable per asset later.
Why closed work orders matter
The pile of completed work orders against an asset is the most honest document an organisation holds about it. It shows which machines and which attachments consume the maintenance budget, whether a unit is approaching the end of its useful life, and when repair costs justify starting end-of-life planning instead of another fix. Teams running AMPthilly get this trail through the service desk: issues reported with photos, moved through statuses, with repair invoices attached and the whole thread kept permanently on the asset record. The pattern matters more than the tool - work done off the record is the expensive kind, because it gets paid for twice and learned from never.
Related terms
- Service Ticket - the fault report that typically triggers a work order
- Warranty Tracking - the triage check that can make a repair free
- Useful Life - the span repeated work orders help you judge
- End of Life (EOL) - where a worsening repair history should lead
- Asset Decommissioning - the final work order an asset receives